Most historians generally refer to the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to the People's Republic of China as the formal recognition of the UK's end of colonization, though it still maintains several other lands that were colonized. These colonized nations are members of the Commonwealth of Nations and maintain close ties to the UK.

Several reasons why the British decided to stop supporting colonies. I'll name the most important factor. One was the growing scarcity of natural resources. Africa became a haven for European interests because of its vast amounts of natural resources. They were exploited so extensively that most deposits of ivory, oil, rubber, etc. were actually being depleted to the point where it was actually turning into an economic loss to support these regions where natural resources were being excavated and harvested.