[Racehorse]

it didn't END until that time, but it had plateaued around the 1860s

Strictly speaking, the empire did not end until Hong Kong was turned over to China in 1997.  Britain was still adding new territory to the empire through the 1890s.

[Cronos]

Strictly speaking, the empire did not end until Hong Kong was turned over to China in 1997. Britain was still adding new territory to the empire through the 1890s

Well, we're BOTH wrong ;-P I should have written that the Empire plateaued by the late 1800s. It was adding a few pieces of land through to the 1890s but it had effectively reached the End of it's expansion, kind of like after TRajan, in Hadrian's time

And the British Empire hasn't ended -- there are still self-governing lands like Canada and Australia that have the Queen as their head of government and there are still colonies like the Bahamas, Pitcairn and Dulcie, Diego Garcia and the Falkland islands