Lord Jim takes place at a time of history wherein naval travel and naval trade is crucial to the maintenance and expansion of the British Empire, which was near its zenith when Conrad published the novel in serialized form in 1899 and 1900. The British Empire existed over several centuries, expanding and contracting at points, but reaching a height in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when British holdings covered nearly one quarter of the globe. It spanned the globe, reaching from the Americas to Africa, Asia, and beyond. In the 19th century, it was a common expression to say that the sun never set on the British Empire—implying that the Empire spanned so much of the globe that some part of it was always in daylight. Its influence was so vast that the implications of its power still resonate today.

The astonishing number of connections that Captain Marlow boasts, which provide Jim seemingly limitless opportunities at ports around the globe, show not only the far-reaching nature of the Empire, but also the importance of British naval superiority in maintaining trade to and nominal control over those outer areas. Similarly, the sway of Stein & Company, controlling most of the trading in an area as remote as Patusan, shows how the expanse of empire involved governing or at least strongly influencing the economies of even the most outlying positions of the globe.