Did The Sun Really Never Set On The British Empire?
Or is this simply a hyperbolic part of speech?
One of the most famous phrases in the English-speaking world is that the sun never set on the British Empire. (The original Victorian phrase was the “empire on which the sun never sets.”) The idea was that the British Empire was so large that it had territory in every one of the 24 time zones on the planet. No matter where the Earth was in its rotation or in its orbit, there was always sunlight shining on British soil. It is a romantic idea that highlights the immense size of the British Empire at its peak. But is it true?
For this phrase to be true, the British Empire would have to have territory strategically dotted around the globe in some of the most remote places on Earth. Some of the hardest places to hold and retain territory include the Central Pacific Ocean and the Central Atlantic Ocean. Did the British manage to achieve this feat? The answer is yes. Remarkably, the British managed to have territory in each and every one of the 24 time zones on the planet. At its peak, it was true that the British Empire was the empire on which the sun never set.
