The cue sport snooker originated from which country during the second half of the 19th century?

Snooker was devised by British Army officers stationed in India.

During the 1870s, billiards was a popular pastime amongst the officers and several different variations were developed and played during this time. Snooker was one of these variants that combined the rules of two different pocket billiards games (pyramid and black pool). In 1884, Sir Neville Chamberlain who was stationed at Ooty, Tamil Nadu, finalised a set of rules. He then helped to develop and popularise the game.

The word snooker was a long-used military term for inexperienced or first-year personnel.

Snooker is played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth (or "baize"), with pockets at each of the four corners and in the middle of each long side. Using a cue stick and 21 coloured balls, players must strike the white ball (or "cue ball") to pot the remaining balls in the correct sequence, accumulating points for each pot. An individual game (or frame), is won by the player scoring the most points. A match is won when a player wins a predetermined number of frames.

Nowadays, it is played as a professional sport governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). The picture shows Mark Selby, a former snooker world champion, practising.