The term “collecting stamps of the British colonies” is generally understood to mean collecting stamps issued by states and territories that were dependent on Great Britain, including colonies, protectorates, dominions, mandate territories, and similar entities.
Many collectors also include the British Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) within this category, although British legislation has never classified the Crown Dependencies as colonies, overseas territories, or protectorates. The Crown Dependencies have ALWAYS been self-governing territories with their own legal systems and independent governmental institutions.
Below is a list of British dependent territories of philatelic interest:
Australian Antarctic Territory
Anguilla
Aden
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Antigua and Barbuda
Afghanistan
Barbados
Bahamas
Bahrain
British Antarctic Territory
British Guiana
British Honduras
British Cameroons
British India
British Borneo (Sabah, Labuan)
Malaya
British East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Zanzibar)
British South Africa (Natal, Orange River, Transvaal, Bechuanaland, South-West Africa, Basutoland, Swaziland)
British Samoa
British Somaliland
Brunei
British Virgin Islands
Gambia
Hong Kong
Grenada
Dominica
Egypt
Ross Dependency
Gold Coast
Cayman Islands
Qatar
Cocos Islands
Kuwait
Mauritius
Maldive Islands
Malaysia
Mesopotamia
Montserrat
Nauru
New Hebrides
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Ascension Island
Gilbert and Ellice Islands
Cook Islands
Christmas Island
Oman
Palestine
Papua
Pitcairn Islands
Sarawak
St. Helena
Seychelles
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Lucia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Singapore
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands
Tokelau
Tonga
Tristan da Cunha
Trinidad and Tobago
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland)
Fiji
Falkland Islands
Ceylon
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Jamaica
