Which Countries Were Never Invaded By Britain?

By Serah N. Wanza on May 14 2018 in Politics







Sweden has never been invaded by Britain. Only 22 countries around the world were not invaded by the British Empire.

The invasions were not always followed up by colonization.

The data comes from the new book

The United Nations has 193 member states and two observer states. As of documentation released in the year 2012, out of these, only twenty two countries were not invaded by Britain which gives Britain almost a 90% dominance rate over the world's states. After British, France had the second most widespread invasion. The high invasion rate by the British can be attributed to various factors; a well-established nation with vast pool of resources, military prowess and the nation’s interests in amassing more resources for their development. Britain’s invasion occurred in various forms, the most common being military invasion. Other ways included settler farmers and explorer missions sanctioned by the British crown.

The 22 countries that escaped Britain’s invasion are Monaco, Mongolia, Marshall Islands, Mali, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Kyrgyzstan, Ivory Coast, Andorra, Bolivia, Belarus, DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Burundi, Central African Republic, Guatemala, Chad, Paraquay, Vatican City, Tajikistan, Sweden, Uzbekistan and Sao Tome and Principle. There have been several reasons brought forward as to why or how these countries escaped Britain’s invasion. Major factors are presence of an already established rule in that country by a powerful colonial master and existing good ties between Britain and the country.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Belgiums had already established a colonial presence under King Leopord II which made it difficult for Britain to invade as this would have meant mounting a war against the Belgium armies. This was also the case for others like Mali and Ivory Coast, both under France and Andorra which was already under an established rule by Russia. Sweden was in good ties with Britain for a long time considering many Swedish officers served in the British armies. These ties coupled with the fierce and ruthless nature of Swedish army men saved Sweden a Britain invasion.

Some of these countries remained neutral during the world wars, a factor that contributed to Britain sparing them in their invasion strategies. A good example is Vatican City, which under the able leadership of Pope Pius II remained neutral during the second world war of 1939-1945. Instead, it provided aid to all participating nations in the war. Despite Luxembourg’s close proximity to Britain, it was never invaded. It is documented that Britain did not have any interest in this country, thus spared it. There were also isolated cases of attempted invasion in which Britain was defeated, as is the case of Bulgaria which defeated Britain in the Macedonian territory battle. Other cases, like that of Mongolia, lack documented reasons despite the country being close to Russia which attracted the interests of Britain on a large scale.

The massive invasion into countries all over the world including the United States of America by Britain was geared by Britain’s need to fulfill their interests and availability of an established military force. The 22 countries that were spared owe it to their good friendly ties with Britain, Britain’s lack of interest in them, presence of a strong already established colonial rule and neutrality during the world wars.

Which Countries Were Never Invaded By Britain?