The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has closed eight embassies, five high commissions, and 18 consulates since May 1997. Operations were also suspended at our embassy in Abidjan in April 2005 owing to the security situation there.
During the same period, the FCO opened seven embassies, four embassy offices, one office and six consulates. Three consulates were also upgraded to embassies.
The FCO continuously reviews the deployment of its resources and aligns them flexibly in line with UK interests to the benefit of the British taxpayer.
April to March Country Post name Status Closed Temp closed 1997-98 Colombia Barranquilla BC 1 — 1997-98 Switzerland Zurich BCG 1 — 1998-99 Malaysia Kuching BC 1 — 1998-99 Thailand Chiang Mai BC 1 — 1999-2000 USA Cleveland BC 1 — 2000-01 Spain Seville BC 1 — 2003-04 Mali Bamako1 Embassy 1 — 2003-04 El Salvador San Salvador Embassy 1 — 2003-04 Honduras Tegucigalpa Embassy 1 — 2003-04 Nicaragua Managua Embassy 1 — 2004-05 Cameroon Douala BC 1 — 2004-05 Portugal Oporto BC 1 — 2005-06 Lesotho Maseru BHC 1 — 2005-06 Madagascar Antananarivo Embassy 1 — 2005-06 Swaziland Mbabane BHC 1 — 2005-06 Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan Embassy 1 — 2005-06 Bahamas Nassau BHC 1 — 2005-06 Paraguay Asuncion Embassy 1 — 2005-06 USA Dallas BC 1 — 2005-06 USA San Juan (Puerto Rico) BC 1 — 2005-06 Japan Fukuoka BC 1 — 2005-06 Vanuatu Port Vila BHC 1 — 2005-06 Germany Frankfurt BCG 1 — 2005-06 Germany Stuttgart BCG 1 — 2005-06 Yemen Aden BCG 1 — 2005-06 Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan Embassy — 1 2005-06 Tonga Nuku’ alofa BHC 1 — 2006-07 Australia Adelaide BC 1 — 2006-07 East Timor Dili1 Embassy 1 — 2006-07 Germany Hamburg BCG 1 — 2006-07 Sweden Gothenberg BCG 1 — 2006-07 USA Seattle BC 1 — Total 31 1
April to March Country Post name Status Opened 1997-98 Bosnia and Herzegovina Banja Luka BEO 1 1999-2000 China Chongqing BCG 1 1999-2000 Sweden Gothenburg BCG 1 2000-01 Guinea Conakry BC 1 2000-01 Mali Bamako1 BC 1 2000-01 Haiti Port-au-Prince BC 1 2000-01 USA Denver BC 1 2000-01 Serbia and Montenegro Pristina BO 1 2000-01 Libya Tripoli Embassy 1 2001-02 Afghanistan Kabul Embassy 1 2001-02 Korea DPR Pyongyang Embassy 1 2001-02 Tajikistan Dushanbe Embassy 1 2002-03 Moldova Chisinau Embassy 1 2002-03 East Timor Dili1 Embassy 1 2004-05 Iraq Baghdad Embassy 1 2004-05 Iraq Basra BCG 1 2004-05 Iraq Kirkuk BEO 1 2006-07 Kazakhstan Almaty2 BEO 1 Total 18 1 Posts opened and closed during this period. 2 Office left in place after embassy relocation to Astana. Note: Key to abbreviations: BE—British Embassy BEO—British Embassy Office BHC—British High Commission BO—British Office BCG—British Consulate General.