21.   It was split into hundreds of smaller airlines across the span of the former empire.

22.   More than half of coast was part of former Soviet empire.

23.   Russia remains the chief trading partner for the former Soviet states and retains a military presence around its former empire.

24.   The former colonial empire that had melted into a lucrative sphere of influence is now a burdensome zone of bad debts and potential immigrants.

25.   Three-quarters of the decline in arms sales has been in the former Soviet empire, it said.

26.   They are Slavic, predominantly Catholic and descendants of the former Habsburg empire.

27.   He also oversaw the withdrawal of Russian troops from Germany in August, effectively sealing the end of the former Soviet empire.

28.   He believes that eastern European countries should be allowed into meetings of EU justice ministers trying to combat organised crime in the former Soviet empire.

29.   He was speaking after a meeting of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council comprising NATO and the countries of the former Soviet empire.

30.   Celebrations started exactly three years before Britain will enjoy its last day in control of the last remaining jewel of its former empire.