Here’s a curious fact to trot out the next time a UK official accuses someone else of being militaristic: of the nearly 200 countries in the world today, only 22 have never experienced an invasion by the British.
That’s according to a new book, All the Countries We’ve Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To, which asserts that Britain (or its predecessor, England) have invaded almost 90 per cent of the countries around the globe during its history.
Among the select group never attacked, occupied or annexed by the United Kingdom are far-flung locales such as Kyrgyzstan, Sao Tome and Principe, and the Marshall Islands.
However, closer to home, the British have left unmolested Luxembourg and tiny Andorra, situated in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, as well.
Author Stuart Laycock worked his way around the globe through each country alphabetically, researching its history to establish whether, at any point, they have experienced an incursion by Britain, according to The Telegraph.
“Only a comparatively small proportion of the total in Mr. Laycock’s list of invaded states actually formed an official part of the empire,” according to the publication. “The remainder have been included because the British were found to have achieved some sort of military presence in the territory – however transitory – either through force, the threat of force, negotiation or payment.”
Festival welcomes all who survived riots
06/24/2011
Looks like there’s a party going on in Central Asia!
Kyrgyzstan’s southern oblasts are wrapping up the celebration of a goodwill initiative titled “There’s Enough Happiness for Everyone!”
(With a name like that, you just know it’s going to be a success, right?)
The event, which runs through today, began June 21 with a concert in the capital city of Bishkek’s Old Square, according to the press office of the State Directorate for the Restoration of the Cities of Osh and Dzhalal-Abad.
