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| In 1920 the British Empire controlled a fifth of the world’s land surface. Today the Empire has developed into a voluntary association of 49 independent states. The voluntary association of nations began when Britain’s older colonies – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa – became independent nations. Today Britain has only 15 “dependent territories”, which rely on Britain for their defence.
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| The Queen is Head of the Commonwealth. She is also recognized as Head of State in 18 countries, including Canada and Australia. Although Britain maintains a strong influence in the Commonwealth, and the Queen takes a keen personal interest in Commonwealth matters, she has little real power. The modern Commonwealth included republics and other monarchies in addition to states headed by the Queen. In 1950 India became a republic while remaining within the Commonwealth. Since then most of Britain’s former depended territories have become independent and have remained within the Commonwealth. Among the exceptions are South Africa, which left in 1961, and Pakistan, which left in 1972.
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| Britain joined the European Community in 1973, but its membership has not always been easy. There have been arguments over financial and agricultural policies, and for many people the way the Community operates remains a mystery. On the other hand, Britain’s poorer regions have benefited, receiving 24% of the Community’s regional and social funds in 1985, nearly half of Britain’s trade is with the rest of the Community.
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| Over the last 200 years the idea of a tunnel under the sea between Britain and France has been put forward a number of times. In 1987 a new Anglo-French group was chosen to construct a system which would link the road and rail networks of Britain and France and improve communications and commercial links inside the European Community. The Channel Tunnel is costing nearly 5.000 million pounds. There are two rail tunnels and a service tunnel, each nearly 50 kilometres long. There is also a possibility that a separate road tunnel for cars and lorries will be built in the future.
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