The natures of the administration of the Empire changed both by time and place. Most were fully integrated territorial possessions of the United Kingdom, after the First World War there were also several mandates granted by the League of Nations.
Types of control
The natures of the administration of the Empire changed both by time and place, but its various territories as they existed in the 1920s (the time of its greatest territorial extent) can be fairly easily grouped into the following categories: