This is a list of diplomatic missions of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of
diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other
Commonwealth of Nations member countries are known as
High Commissions (headed by '
High Commissioners'). For three Commonwealth countries (namely India, Nigeria, and Pakistan), the
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) still uses the term "Deputy High Commission" for Consulates-General (headed by Deputy High Commissioners), although this terminology is being phased out.[1] British citizens may get help from the embassy of any other
commonwealth country present, when in a country where there is no British embassy, including New Zealand and Australia, to help British nationals in some countries.
In 2004, the FCDO carried out a review of the deployment of its diplomatic missions, and subsequently over a two-year period closed its missions in
Nassau (in the Bahamas),
Asunción (Paraguay),
Dili (East Timor),
Maseru (Lesotho),
Mbabane (Swaziland),
Antananarivo (Madagascar),
Nuku'alofa (Tonga),
Tarawa (Kiribati), and
Port Vila (Vanuatu). Additionally several consulates and trade offices were also closed, including those in
Fukuoka (Japan),
Vientiane (Laos),
Douala (Cameroon),
Porto (Portugal), along with
Frankfurt,
Leipzig, and
Stuttgart in Germany, and
Phoenix,
San Juan, and
Dallas in the United States. Other consulates in Australia, Germany, France, Spain, New Zealand, and the US were downgraded and staffed by local personnel only.[2] In 2012,
Foreign SecretaryWilliam Hague announced the opening of embassies in
Liberia and
Haiti, the re-opening of embassies in Laos, El Salvador, and Paraguay, and the opening of a Consulate-General in
Recife (Brazil). He also said that by 2015, the UK would have opened up to eleven new embassies and eight new Consulates or Trade Offices.[3] In 2013, a UK government office was established in
Seattle.[4] In 2014, all services at the former UK Consulate in
Orlando were transferred to the nearby UK Consulate-General in
Miami.[5] In 2015, the UK Consulate-General in
Denver was reclassified as a UK Government Office.[6]
In 2018 the
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has announced that new High Commissions will open in
Antigua and Barbuda,
Bahamas,
Grenada,
Lesotho,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
Samoa,
Swaziland,
Tonga and
Vanuatu and a British office in
Somaliland like the one in Taipei,
Taiwan[7]
The
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office employs approximately 13,200 staff in the UK and in more than 260 Posts overseas. Approximately one-third of these employees are UK-based civil servants (including members of
HM Diplomatic Service) and two-thirds are employed locally by Posts overseas.[8]
The United Kingdom is one of two countries, the other being
Thailand, that use
diplomatic flags abroad. These special flags are flown at the chanceries of their embassies and consulates. For
High Commissions, the
Union Flag is used. In addition, there is a flag in use for British consular
vessels in
international or
foreign waters.
^The British Embassy to the Holy See is located outside Vatican territory in Rome.
^The embassy closed down on 24 April 1975, in the midst of the
Fall of Saigon, which marked the end of the
Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal reunification of Vietnam.
1 Diplomatic posts only with no consular facilities. 2 Consular posts only with no diplomatic functions. 3 The United Kingdom and Her Majesty's Government do not recognise or have formal bilateral intergovernmental, diplomatic or consular relations with the (generally unrecognised) Government of the Republic of China in Taipei. Functions in Taiwan as an accredited informal and unofficial representative post and a semi-official informal consular post.