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The '''British''' refers to a person being a citizen of the [[United Kingdom]]. It is not usually used as an expression of nationality by British citizens, as many will prefer to use the expressions "English", "Scottish", or "Welsh", referring to which constituent country of those who are from the UK they self-identify with. An exception to this is its use in [[Great BritainNorthern Ireland]]by [[Unionist|Unionists]] to show their support for the continued inclusion of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom.
They Historically, "British" was also the name given to the largest empire the world has ever seen, administered in the United Kingdom in the name of the British monarch. British colonies were so sure that they knew established all over the best way world, covering roughly a quarter of the world's land surface area in 1921, even after losing much of its North American territory after the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The large empire was possible because Britain "ruled the seas" through the stong domination of the [[Royal Navy]], and used this to live that at one point ensure free trading for British interests. With up to a quarter of the Worldworld as British subjects, the Empire was also the world's population suffered under their ruleforemost military power. Gradually thoughFor many centuries, Her Majesty's Government populations lived under a period of relative peace and prosperity that was forced to give up her coloniesthe ''Pax Brittannica'', though from a modern perspective, starting with the North American colonies methods used to control and most recently Hong Kongensure this superiority on occasion were on occasion particularly vicious.
Sadly, the empire no longer exists, though its legacy can still be appreciated today, be it through the popularity of traditional British sports such as soccer, cricket, rugby and golf; or from the status of [[English]] as the current global [[lingua franca]]; or from the use of the [[Westminster system]] of government and English common law around the world. The Empire's successor is the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], which still features the British monarch [[Queen Elizabeth II]] as the [[Head of the Commonwealth]]. The commonwealth consists of the UK, [[Commonwealth Realms]] which still have the British monarch as Head of State, and republics. Recently, Australia Australians voted in a referendum to retain the British Head of State monarch as their own Head of State, rather than declare Australia a republic.