From midnight on 19 December, for the first time in more than half a millennium, no part of this giant continent will be under European control.

The final chapter of a decolonisation process that began in the aftermath of World War II will have been written.

(Click here for a detailed timeline of independence dates)

Indonesia was one of the first countries to proclaim a republic in 1945, but the Dutch were unwilling to let their only Asian colony go and fought a bitter four- year war before finally withdrawing in 1949.

The British too were unwilling to let India - the jewel in their imperial crown - go its own way, but growing nationalist unrest forced their hand and in 1947 India and Pakistan declared their independence.

A year later Burma and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) followed suit.

Eventually Malaya was granted independence in 1957, and the strategic naval base in Singapore followed suit eight years later in 1965.

In Indochina the French colonists also put up a fierce resistance to the growing nationalist movement, but a bruising military defeat at Dien Bien Phu in northern Vietnam in 1954 finally forced their withdrawal.

In the years that followed, the US - fearing a communist take-over across Asia - poured thousands of troops and billions of dollars into a war that cost the lives of millions.

In 1984 the oil rich sultanate of Brunei cut its last ties with the UK leaving Hong Kong as the only piece of British empire left in Asia.

That episode came to an end in 1997, when the 99-year lease on Hong Kong expired and the territory reverted to mainland control.

The return of Hong Kong left Macau as both the oldest and last outpost of European empire left in Asia.

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