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Story: Kiwis overseas

Britain’s empire in 1910

The Roderick map of the world was published about 1910, and indicates in red the countries possessed by Britain. At the height of its power the British Empire controlled one-quarter of the world’s population. Its scope was such that it was described as ‘the empire on which the sun never sets’. If you were a white member of this empire you could freely work and live in most of its colonies. Many Kiwis did just this.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: MapColl 100fg/[ca.1910]/Acc.7723

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Kiwis overseas – A nation of migrants, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/870/britains-empire-in-1910 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 4 March 2009, updated 17 September 2014.