What state was the phrase "the empire on which the sun never sets" originally coined for?
The phrase has been used to describe certain global empires that were so extensive that there was always at least one part of their territory that was in daylight. It was originally coined for the Spanish Empire, mainly in the 16th and 17th centuries. In more recent times, it was used for the British Empire, which in early 20th century has reached a territorial size larger than that of any other empire in history.