Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa, and known today as Zimbabwe.

Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia. Although it had features of a charter colony the territory's treaties and charter gave it protectorate status. From 1924 it was administered by the United Kingdom government as an official British protectorate. Northern Rhodesia became independent in 1964 as Zambia.

The geographical, as opposed to political, term "Rhodesia" referred to a region generally comprising the areas that are today Zambia and Zimbabwe.^[1] From 1964 it only referred to the former Southern Rhodesia.

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations^[3], more commonly referred to as Rhode Island ( /roʊd ˈaɪlɨnd/ (help·info)), is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area. By land Rhode Island borders Connecticut to the west and Massachusetts to the north and east. Rhode Island also shares a water border with New York to the southwest.

Despite being called Rhode Island in common usage most of the state is on the continental mainland. The name Rhode Island derives from the colonial-era name for what is now known as Aquidneck Island, which now comprises the city of Newport and the towns of Middletown and Portsmouth, the largest of several islands in Narragansett Bay.

Rhode Island was the second of the thirteen original colonies to declare independence from British rule (after New Hampshire) and the last to ratify the United States Constitution.

Rhode Island's official nickname is "The Ocean State", a reference to state's geography, as nearly one tenth of Rhode Island's inland area is covered by salt water. In addition, no resident of the state is more than a thirty-minute drive from the water's edge. Unofficially, and in other parts of the country, Rhode Island is referred to as Little Rhody^.

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. The state is Australia's second largest by area, following Western Australia, and the country's third most populous after New South Wales and Victoria.

The area was first occupied by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, who arrived between 40,000 and 65,000 years ago, according to various dating methods.^[2] Later, Queensland was made a British Crown Colony that was separated from New South Wales on 6 June 1859, a date now celebrated annually as Queensland Day. The area that currently forms Brisbane was originally the Moreton Bay penal colony, intended as a place for recidivist convicts who had offended while serving out their sentences in New South Wales. The state later encouraged free settlement, and today Queensland's economy is dominated by the agricultural, tourist and natural resource sectors.

The population is concentrated in South East Queensland, which includes the capital Brisbane, Logan City, Ipswich, Toowoomba, and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts. Other major regional centres include Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and Mount Isa. Queensland is often nicknamed the Sunshine State, since it enjoys warm weather and a sizeable portion of the state is in the tropics. The people of Queensland are colloquially known as 'Banana Benders' or 'Canetoads', the former possibly because of the large banana plantations in the tropics, the latter a reference born of the environmental disaster occurring when the cane toad was imported to rid the sugar cane fields of cane beetle pest.

Prince Edward Island (IPA: /ˌprɪns ˌɛdwɚd ˈaɪlɨnd/) (PEI or P.E.I.; French: Île-du-Prince-Édouard; Scottish Gaelic: Eilean a’ Phrionnsa (lit. "the Island of the Prince") or Eilean Eòin (lit. "John's Island" in reference to the island's former name of St. Jean's Island); Míkmaq: Abegweit or Epikwetk roughly translated "land cradled in the waves") is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population (excluding the territories). The island has a few other names: "Garden of the Gulf" referring to the pastoral scenery and lush agricultural lands throughout the province; and "Birthplace of Confederation", referring to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864.

According to the 2008 estimates, Prince Edward Island has 139,818 residents^[1]. It is located in a rectangle defined roughly by 46°–47°N, and 62°–64°30′W and at 5,683.91 km² (2,194.57 sq mi) in size,^[3] it is the 104th largest island in the world, and Canada's 23rd largest island. The island was named for Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767–1820), the fourth son of King George III and the father of Queen Victoria

Plymouth Colony (sometimes New Plymouth) was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 - 1691. The first settlement was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. At its height, Plymouth Colony occupied most of the southeastern portion of the modern state of Massachusetts.

Founded by a group of separatists who later came to be known as the Pilgrims, Plymouth Colony was, along with Jamestown, Virginia, one of the earliest colonies to be founded by the English in North America and the first sizable permanent English settlement in the New England region. Aided by Squanto, a Native American, the colony was able to establish a treaty with Chief Massasoit which helped to ensure the colony's success. The colony played a central role in King Philip's War, one of the earliest and bloodiest of the Indian Wars. Ultimately, the colony was annexed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.

Plymouth holds a special role in American history. Rather than being entrepreneurs like many of the settlers of Jamestown, the citizens of Plymouth were fleeing religious persecution and searching for a place to worship their God as they saw fit. The social and legal systems of the colony were thus closely tied to their religious beliefs. Many of the people and events surrounding Plymouth Colony have become part of American mythology, including the North American tradition known as Thanksgiving and the monument known as Plymouth Rock. Despite the colony's relatively short history, it has become an important symbol of what is now labeled "American".

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( /ˌpɛnsɨlˈveɪnjə/ (help·info)), often colloquially referred to as PA (its postal abbreviation which succeeds the archaic Penn. and Penna. as common abbreviations) by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and a water border with Canada to the north, and New Jersey to the east. The state's most populated city is Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania has been known as the Keystone State since 1802, based in part upon its central location among the original Thirteen Colonies forming the United States. It was also a keystone state economically, having both the industry common to the North, making such wares as Conestoga wagons and rifles, and the agriculture common to the South, producing feed, fiber, food, and tobacco.

Another one of Pennsylvania's nicknames is the Quaker State; in colonial times, it was known officially as the Quaker Province, in recognition of Quaker William Penn's First Frame of Government constitution for Pennsylvania that guaranteed liberty of conscience. He knew of the hostility Quakers faced when they opposed religious ritual, taking oaths, violence, war and military service, and what they viewed as ostentatious frippery.

Pennsylvania has 51 miles (82 km) of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles (92 km) of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary.

The Territory of Papua was a de facto Australian possession comprising the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea, existing from roughly 1902 to 1949. It had previously been administered from London as British New Guinea and remained a de jure British possession^{[citation needed]} until 1975 when Papua New Guinea was granted independence by Australia. The territory now forms the southern part of Papua New Guinea, and makes up roughly half of that country.

Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان Pākistān listen (help·info)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East.^[5][6] It has a 1,046 kilometre (650 mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast.^[7] Tajikistan also lies adjacent to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. In recent times, Pakistan has been called part of the Greater Middle East.^[8]

The region forming modern Pakistan was home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and then, successively, recipient of ancient Vedic, Persian, Indo-Greek and Islamic cultures. The area has witnessed invasions and/or settlement by the Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Afghans, Mongols and the British.^[9] It was a part of British India during the British Raj from 1858 to 1947, when the Pakistan Movement for a state for Muslims, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League resulted in the independence and creation of the state of Pakistan, that comprised the provinces of Sindh, North-West Frontier Province, West Punjab, Balochistan and East Bengal. With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic. In 1971, a civil war in East Pakistan resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. Pakistan's history has been characterized by periods of economic growth, military rule and political instability.

Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. The country is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies. Pakistan is a founding member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Developing 8 Countries, G20 developing nations, Asia Cooperation Dialogue and the Economic Cooperation Organisation. It is also a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, World Trade Organisation, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, G33 developing countries, Group of 77 developing nations, major non-NATO ally of the United States and is a nuclear state.

The Transvaal (Afrikaans, lit. beyond the Vaal River) is the name of an area of northern South Africa. Originally the bulk of the independent Boer South African Republic, after the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 it became the Transvaal Colony, and one of the founding provinces of the Union of South Africa, with its regional capital in Pretoria, from 1910 until 1994. The province no longer exists, and its territory now forms the provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga and part of the North West Province. Despite its official disintegration, the Transvaal is still a commonly used geographical term and retains its historical meaning.

Tokelau (pronounced /ˈtoʊkəlaʊ/) is a territory of New Zealand that consists of three tropical coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean. The United Nations General Assembly designated Tokelau a Non-Self-Governing Territory.^[1]

Until 1976 the official name was Tokelau Islands. Tokelau is sometimes referred to by Westerners by the older, colonial name of The Union Islands.

Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean Sea, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt.

The Thirteen Colonies were part of what became known as British America, a name that was used by Great Britain until the Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the original thirteen United States of America in 1783. These British colonies in North America rebelled against British rule in 1775, this was due to the taxation that Great Britain was imposing on the colonies. A provisional government was formed which proclaimed their independence, which is now celebrated as having occurred on July 4, 1776, and subsequently became the original thirteen United States of America. The colonies were founded between 1607 (Virginia), and 1733 (Georgia), although Great Britain held several other colonies in North America and the West Indies.

Not counting the areas west of the Appalachian Mountains (which were largely unsettled by Europeans at the time of the American Revolution), the Thirteen Colonies gave rise to 16 present-day states: the original 13 states, Vermont (which had been disputed between New Hampshire and New York and which was an independent republic from 1777 to 1791), Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts), and West Virginia (formerly part of Virginia.)

Tasmania is an Australian island and state of the same name. It is located 240 kilometres (150 mi) south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait. The state of Tasmania includes the island of Tasmania and other surrounding islands. The state has an estimated population of 500,000 (as of December 2008^[update]) with almost half located in the greater Hobart area, and an area of 68,401 square kilometres (26,410 sq mi), of which the main island covers 62,409 square kilometres (24,096 sq mi).^[4]

Tasmania is promoted as the Natural State and the "Island of Inspiration"^[5] owing to its large and relatively unspoiled natural environment. Formally, almost 37% of Tasmania is in reserves, National Parks and World Heritage Sites.^[6] The island is 364 kilometres (226 mi) long from the northernmost point to the southernmost point and 306 kilometres (190 mi) from west to east.

The state capital and largest city is Hobart, which encompasses the local government areas of City of Hobart, City of Glenorchy, City of Clarence and generally included is the satellite town of Kingston, part of the Municipality of Kingborough, into the Greater Hobart area. Other major population centres include Launceston in the north and Devonport and Burnie in the northwest. The subantarctic Macquarie Island is also under the administration of the state, as part of the Huon Valley Council local government area.

Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) (Arabic: السودان ‎al-Sūdān)^[2] is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World,^[3] and tenth largest in the world by area. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, Kenya and Uganda to the southeast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west and Libya to the northwest.

The people of Sudan have a long history extending from antiquity, which is intertwined with the history of Egypt, with which it was united politically over several periods. Sudan's history has also been plagued by civil war stemming from ethnic, religious, and economic conflict between Black Africans of the largely Arabized and mostly Muslim population to the north, and the non-Arabized Muslim and non-Muslim population to the south. Sudan is currently ranked as the second most unstable country in the world according to the Failed States Index, for its military dictatorship and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur. However, despite its internal conflicts, Sudan has managed to achieve economic growth.

The Straits Settlements were a collection of territories of the British East India Company in Southeast Asia, which were given collective administration in 1826 as a crown colony, as distinct from the native princely states, some of which later formed the Federated Malay States. Initially, the Straits Settlements consisted of Penang, sometimes officially named Prince of Wales Island, Singapore with about a score of islets of insignificant size lying in its immediate vicinity, the islands and territory of the Dinding, Province Wellesley, the town and territory of Malacca and the islands of Labuan



South Carolina ( /ˌsaʊθ kærəˈlaɪnə/ (help·info)) is a state in the southern region (Deep South) of the United States. It borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was originally named in honor of King Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland, as Carolus is Latin for Charles. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union and was a founding state of the Confederate States of America. According to an estimate by the United States Census Bureau, the state's population in 2008 was 4,479,800 and ranked 24th among the U.S. states.

Singapore (Chinese: 新加坡; pinyin: Xīnjiāpō; Malay: Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர், Cingkappūr), officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. The microstate lies 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At 710.2 km² (274.2 sq mi),^[4] Singapore, the smallest nation in Southeast Asia, is by orders of magnitude the largest of the three remaining sovereign city-states in the world (along with Monaco and Vatican City).

Before European settlement, the island now known as Singapore was the site of a Malay fishing village at the mouth of the Singapore River. Several hundred indigenous Orang Laut people also lived along the nearby coast, rivers and on smaller islands. In 1819 the British East India Company, led by Sir Stamford Raffles, established a trading post on the island, which was used as a port along the spice route.^[5] Singapore became one of the most important commercial and military centres of the British Empire, and the hub of British power in Southeast Asia. The city was occupied by the Japanese during World War II, which Winston Churchill called "Britain's greatest defeat".^[6] Singapore reverted to British rule in 1945, immediately after the war. Eighteen years later (1963) the city, having achieved independence from Britain, merged with Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak to form Malaysia. However, less than two years later it seceded from the federation and became an independent republic on 9 August 1965. Singapore joined the United Nations on 21 September that same year. It is also a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

Since independence, Singapore's standard of living has risen dramatically. Foreign direct investment and a state-led drive to industrialisation based on plans drawn up by the Dutch economist Albert Winsemius have created a modern economy focused on industry, education and urban planning.^[7] Singapore is the 5th wealthiest country in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) per capita.^[8]In December 2008, the foreign exchange reserves of this small island nation stood at around US$174.2billion.^[9]The Singapore government had for the first time in history tapped into her official reserves and withdrew some S$4.9 billion with the President's approval. The funds were then used as part of the S$20.5 billion Resilience Package unveiled by Finance Minister Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam on 05 February 2009. As at January 2009 Singapore's official reserves stood at US$170.3 billion.

In 2009, Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked Singapore the 10th most expensive city in the world to live in. It is the 3rd most expensive Asian city to live in, after Japanese cities Tokyo and Osaka.^[10]

The population of Singapore is approximately 4.86 million.^[2] Singapore is highly cosmopolitan and diverse with Chinese people forming an ethnic majority with large populations of Malay, Indian and other people. English, Malay, Tamil, and Chinese are the official languages.^[11]

The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore established the nation's political system as a representative democracy, while the country is recognised as a parliamentary republic.^[12] The People's Action Party (PAP) dominates the political process and has won control of Parliament in every election since self-government in 1959.^[13]

The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis (also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis),^[2] located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign nation in America, in both area and population.

The capital city and headquarters of government for the federated state is on the larger island of Saint Kitts. The smaller state of Nevis lies about 2 miles (3 km) southeast of Saint Kitts, across a shallow channel called "The Narrows".

Historically, the British dependency of Anguilla was also a part of this union, which was then known collectively as Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla.

Saint Kitts and Nevis are geographically part of the Leeward Islands. To the north-northwest lie the islands of Saint Eustatius, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten. To the east and northeast are Antigua and Barbuda, and to the southeast is the small uninhabited island of Redonda, and the island of Montserrat, which currently has an active volcano (see Soufrière Hills.)

Saint Kitts and Nevis were amongst the first islands in the Caribbean to be settled by Europeans. Saint Kitts was home to the first British and French colonies in the Caribbean.

Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest nation on Earth to ever host a World Cup event; it was one of the host venues of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla was historically an overseas territory of the United Kingdom located in the Caribbean Sea. This entity later became a province to the short lived West Indies Federation in 1958. When the regional federation of British islands collapsed in 1962, Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla became involved in several attempts by movements towards another union in the Caribbean region.

In 1967, the territory of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla was granted full internal autonomy. In 1971, the island of Anguilla rigorously sought and achieved separation; in 1980, the separation from the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis was formally accepted. The remaining state became the independent country of Saint Kitts and Nevis in 1983, and Anguilla still today remains a British overseas territory

The West Indies Federation, also known as the Federation of the West Indies, was a short-lived Caribbean federation that existed from January 3, 1958 to May 31, 1962. It consisted of several Caribbean colonies of the United Kingdom. The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single state—possibly similar to the Canadian Confederation, Australian Federation or Central African Federation; however, before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts.

Wessagusset Colony (sometimes called the Weston Colony or Weymouth Colony) was a short-lived English trading colony in New England located in present-day Weymouth, Massachusetts. It was settled in August 1622 by between fifty and sixty colonists who were ill-prepared for colonial life. After settling without adequate provisions^[1] and harming relations with local Native Americans,^[2] the colony was dissolved in late March 1623 with surviving colonists joining Plymouth Colony or returning to England. It was the second settlement in Massachusetts, predating the Massachusetts Bay Colony by six years.

Called by historian Charles Francis Adams, Jr. "ill-conceived, "ill-executed, [and] ill-fated",^[3] the short-lived colony is best remembered for the battle (some say massacre)^[4] there between Plymouth troops led by Miles Standish and an Indian force led by Pecksuot. This battle scarred relations between the Plymouth colonists and the natives and was fictionalized, two centuries later, in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1858 poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish.

In September 1623, a second colony led by Governor-General Robert Gorges was created in the abandoned site at Wessagusset. This colony, rechristened as Weymouth, was also unsuccessful and Governor Gorges returned to England the following year. Despite that, some settlers remained in the village and it was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.

Weihai (Chinese: 威海; pinyin: Wēihǎi); known in the past as the Weihai Garrison (simplified Chinese: 威海卫; traditional Chinese: 威海衛; pinyin: Wēihǎi Wèi) or Weihaiwei, and sometimes as Port Edward during the colonial period; is a prefecture-level city in eastern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The easternmost prefecture-level city in the province and a major seaport, Weihai borders Yantai to the west and looks out to the Yellow Sea to the east.

The Commonwealth of Virginia ( /vɚˈdʒɪnjə/ ) is an American state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The state is geographically shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, home to much of the state's flora and fauna. The capital of the commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The state population is over seven million.

The roots of Virginia trace back to the founding of the Virginia Colony in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London as the first permanent New World English colony. Slavery played a significant role in Virginia's early economy and politics. Virginia became one of the Thirteen Colonies in the American Revolution and subsequently joined the Confederacy in the American Civil War, during which the state of West Virginia separated. Although traditionally conservative and historically part of the South, modern Virginia is a politically competitive state for both major national parties.

Virginia has an economy with several sectors, including agricultural production, such as the Shenandoah Valley, federal agencies in Northern Virginia, such as The Pentagon, and military bases in Hampton Roads, home to the region's main seaport. The growth of the media and technology sectors have made computer chips the state's leading export, with the industry based on the strength of Virginia's public schools and universities.College sports are followed by many across the state. Areas where the state has lagged behind include obesity prevention and environmental protection.

Victoria is a state located in the southeastern corner of Australia. It is the smallest mainland state in area but the most densely populated and urbanised. Prior to European settlement, some 30,000 Indigenous Australians are estimated to have lived in the area now occupied by the state. By contrast, over five million people now inhabit the region. European settlement in Victoria began in the 1830s as a farming community. The discovery of gold in 1851 transformed it into a leading industrial and commercial centre. Victoria is the second most populous Australian state, after New South Wales, with an estimated population of 5,205,200 as of June 2007. Melbourne is Victoria's capital and largest city, with more than 70% of all Victorians living there.

The Province of Upper Canada (French: Province du Haut-Canada) was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario in Canada. Upper Canada officially existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841 and generally comprised present-day Southern Ontario and, until 1797, the Upper Peninsula of what is now part of the U.S. state of Michigan. Its name reflected its position closer to the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River than that of Lower Canada.

Upper Canada included all of modern-day southern Ontario and all those areas of northern Ontario in the 'pays d'en haut' which had formed part of New France, essentially the watersheds of the Ottawa River, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior. It did not include any lands within the watershed of Hudson Bay.

It passed from French control into British control with the Treaty of Paris (1763). It was incorporated into the Province of Quebec by the Quebec Act of 1774. Upper Canada became a political entity on 26 December 1791 with the Parliament of Great Britain's passage of the Constitutional Act of 1791. The Act divided the Province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada. The division was effected so that Loyalist American settlers and British immigrants in Upper Canada could have English laws and institutions, and the French-speaking population of Lower Canada could maintain French civil law and the Catholic religion.

The colony was administered by a lieutenant-governor, legislative council, and legislative assembly. The first lieutenant-governor was John Graves Simcoe. On February 1, 1796 the capital of Upper Canada was moved from Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) to York (now Toronto), which was judged to be less vulnerable to attack by the Americans.

Local government in the Province of Upper Canada was based on districts. In 1788, four districts were created:

• Lunenburgh District, renamed "Eastern" in 1792
• Mecklenburg District, later "Midland"
• Nassau District, later "Home"
• Hesse District, later "Western"

Additional districts were created from the existing districts as the population grew until 1849, when local government mainly based on counties came into effect. At that time, there were 20 districts; legislation to create a new Kent District never completed. Up until 1841, the district officials were appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor, although usually with local input. A Court of Quarter Sessions was held four times a year in each district to oversee the administration of the district and deal with legal cases

An unofficial member was a member of a colonial legislative council or an executive council, appointed by a governor to sit in the council(s) alongside with ex officio members. A senior unofficial member would be appointed by the governor from among the unofficial members. Unofficial members might also be appointed to unelected or partially-elected municipal and district councils, where there were ex-officio members.

Currently the Executive Council of Hong Kong is still composed of ex officio members (official members since 1997) and unofficial members (non-official members since 1997). One of the non-official members is appointed by the Chief Executive (until 1997 the Governor) as the convenor (until 1994 the senior unofficial member).

The United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to its east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories, or insular areas, scattered around the Caribbean and Pacific.

At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with about 305 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and third largest by land area and by population. The United States is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with an estimated 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) of US$14.3 trillion (23% of the world total based on nominal GDP and almost 21% at purchasing power parity).

The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and their formation of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence.A federal convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.

In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states' rights and the expansion of the institution of slavery provoked the American Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, the national economy was the world's largest. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. In 1945, the United States emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a founding member of NATO. The end of the Cold War left the United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for approximately 50% of global military spending and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world.

The United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia was the name informally given to the de facto amalgamation of the two crown colonies from 1866 until their incorporation into the Canadian Confederation in 1871