THE BRITISH EMPIRE

Taranaki Daily News, 15 November 1926, Page 10

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

SOME OF ITS WONDERS. MANY IMPORTANT FACTS. The Rev. Alexander Sharpe, in his periodical “The Wonderful British Empire,” gives many important -facts, some of which are as follows: “The British Empire is the greatest political fact in the world. “It is the most extensive Empire the world has ever seen. “Its area is about 14,000,000 square miles, or a quarter of the earth’s land surface. “It is seven times as large as the Roman Empire at the time of its greatest extent, under Trajan. “It has increased by about 4,000.000 square miles during the last 50 years. “Tho Empire includes: The ancient United Kingdom, the mighty Dominion of Canada, the giant Commonwealth of Australia, the vast Union of South Africa, the splendid Empire of India among its provinces. ‘tit is really an Empire of empires. “Its States and provinces are iouijd on every continent and in every ocean. “Of tlie Empire’s area, about 8,000,000 square miles are new countries; the bulk of the world's new countries are British. “These new lands have now about 20,000,000 inhabitants; they could hold 300,000,000. “It possesses more of the coast-line of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans than any other Power. “It has in its charge many' of the oldest countries known to history, e.g., Chaldea, Mesopotamia, Moab, Edom. “Palestine, the Holy Land, is under its sway —Judea, Samaria, Galilee. “It includes the old capital of Queen Candace now in the Sudan, with the greater part of her old kingdom of Ethiopia. “It has within its boundaries large parts of the once mighty Empires of Assyria, Babylonia, Persia; that of Alexander, 'those of Rome, and of the Great Mogul. “It contains most of the newest States of the world, e.g., New Zealand, Queensland, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Rhodesia, Kenya. “So, while being amongst the oldest Empire of the world, of all new countries. “Canada has half the fresh wale. . the earth. “The Empire has one of the world’s chief oceanic wonders—the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia; there is nothing like it in the world . “British Columbia lias one of the longest and most beautiful land-locked ocean routes in the world, about 1000 miles, between the islands and tlie mainland.

“The Empire holds most of the great ■gates’ of the world —Gibraltar, Suez, Aden, Singapore, Quebec. “It possesses many of the chief ‘keys’ of the world': Malta, of the Mediterranean, Mauritius, of the Indian Ocean, Hong Kong, of the China seas, Bermuda, of the North Atlantic. Falkland islands of the South Atlantic. “It possesses far . greater mineral wealth than any other country. “Transvaal surpasses every province or State of every country in the world in the production of precious metals. “Ontario surpasses every province and state of every country in the Western Hemisphere in the production of precious metals. “The Empire’s coal resources are the greatest in the world. “British Columbia has the largest coal fields on the Pacific Coast of America. “The Empire has the greatest known natural gas field in the world, in Alberta. “It has the w’orld’s richest iron mines, in Newfoundland. “An important authority has stated that Canada is likely to become the leading producer of minerals in the world. \ “The Empire has the world’s greatest forest areas. “It possesses the vastest wheat, areas, and is the world’s chief wheat producer. “Canada is the chief wheat exporting country in the world. “The Empire has the world's greatest wheat market—Winnipeg. “Newfoundland has the richest fishing grounds in the world. "The Australian wildernesses abound in subterranean rivers which may be tapped by artesian wells. Queensland already raises 61)0,000,000 gallons per day. The artesian belt of Australia is larger than all Argentina.