Someone said to me that independence from England is the most celebrated holiday in the world. Is this so? This year, 2023, on the Fourth of July, for the fun of it, I decided to wrestle it to the ground.

Of 225 the nations in the world, 163 celebrate independence. 65 of those countries secured their independence from the United Kingdom or some form of British military occupation according to Wikipedia (62, according to the Guinness Book of World Records). 48 of those have a national day of celebration. More countries were colonized by England than any other country in the world.

How many people do these nations represent? Telling those numbers in 2023 would be a task. A more simple estimate may be possible:

Prior to 1914, the British empire exercised authority over 1/5 of the world’s population. This exporting of British values, religion, economics, government is called colonialism. It shaped the modern world as we know it, and continues to do so today. Modernity began with the first transatlantic voyage, and Europe’s domination of the world. He created the modern consciousness, that European ways of thinking, and being are superior to all others. (This is the foundation of white supremacy.)

Today the global population is a little over 7.9 billion. For simplicity, let’s say 8 billion. Since Britain exercised authority over 1/5 of the worlds population, that’s roughly estimate that. Today that would represent 1.6 billion people. So roughly 1.6 billion people celebrate independence from England, or could celebrate it anyway. So is independence from England more celebrated than, say, Christmas?

This year, 2023, there are 2.6 billion Christians in the world (33% of the global population. (This is, by the way, a 44 million over 2022. The global Christian population is expected to reach 3 billion by 2050.) So, let’s say roughly 2.6 billion people celebrate Christmas each year (or could anyway). There are 1.8 billion Muslims in the world. So, roughly 1.8 billion people celebrate Eid-al-Adha each year.

I would have to conclude that more people celebrate Christmas and Eid-al-Adha each year then independence from England. it would be safe to say, however, that independence from England is the most celebrated national holiday in the world, if one excludes religious holidays.

So, Happy 4th of July everyone. Happy freedom from the dominance of empire. Happy freedom of speech. Happy freedom of religion for all people. Let’s do our best to not become what we thought so hard to shed.