It once was said that the sun never set on the British Empire, due to the number of countries it had invaded. It turns out that the expression wasn’t that far off.

A new book from historian Stuart Laycock says that over the course of British imperialism, the empire invaded nearly 90% of the 193 countries that are currently members of the United Nations and two others (Kosovo and Vatican City) which are not UN members but are recognized by the government of the United Kingdom.

Only 22 nations were spared, according to Laycock, a group that includes Guatemala, Luxembourg, Tajikistan and the Marshall Islands.

Laycock came to this conclusion after spending two years researching the histories of about 200 countries to locate any signs of the British military going ashore. His assessment includes incursions by British pirates, privateers or armed explorers operating with the crown’s blessing.

In his book (All the Countries We've Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To), Laycock notes which country the Brits invaded the most: France.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

British Have Invaded Nine Out of Ten Countries - So Look Out Luxembourg (by Jasper Copping, The Telegraph)

All the Countries We've Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To (book by Stuart Laycock)