Colonialism is a system in which a state claims sovereignty over territory and people outside its own boundaries, often to facilitate economic domination over their resources, labor, and often markets. The term also refers to a set of beliefs used to legitimize or promote this system, especially the belief that the mores of the colonizer are superior to those of the colonized.

Advocates of colonialism argue that colonial rule benefits the colonized by developing the economic and political infrastructure necessary for modernization and democracy. They point to such former colonies as the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore as examples of post-colonial success.

Dependency theorists such as Andre Gunder Frank, however, argue that colonialism actually leads to the net transfer of wealth from the colonized to the colonizer, and inhibits successful economic development.

Post-colonialist critics such as Franz Fanon argue that colonialism does political, psychological, and moral damage to the colonized as well.

Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy said that debating the pros and cons of colonialism/imperialism "is a bit like debating the pros and cons of rape".

Critics of neocolonialism see neocolonialism as the continuation of the domination and exploitation of the some countries with different (and often the same) means.

Related topics

• Colonial
• Colony
• Mercantilism
• Protectorate
• Colonization
  • Colonization of Africa
  • Arab colonization of North Africa
  • Bantu colonization of Eastern and Southern Africa
  • European colonization of Africa
  • Colonization of Europe
  • Roman colonization of Europe
    • Arab colonization of Spain
    • Soviet colonization of eastern Poland and southern Finnland
    • Osmanic colonization of the Balkans
    • German colonization of Eastern Europe
  • European colonization of the Americas
    • British colonization of the Americas
    • Danish colonization of the Americas
    • Dutch colonization of the Americas
      • New Netherland
    • French colonization of the Americas
      • New France
    • Portuguese colonization of the Americas
    • Russian colonization of the Americas
    • Spanish colonization of the Americas
      • Spanish Conquest of Yucatan
      • Conquistador
      • California mission
      • New Spain
    • Swedish colonization of the Americas
  • US colonization outside North America
• New Imperialism
• Neo-colonialism
• Independence

• Imperialism
  • Cultural imperialism
  • Media Imperialism
  • Imperialism in Asia
  • The White Man's Burden

• Ethnocentrism
• Slavery
• Third world

• British Empire
  • The British East India Company, founded in 1600
  • British Raj
  • British colonization of the Americas
  • Pax Britannica
  • The Great Game
  • Governor
  • Governor-General
  • Lieutenant governor
  • Viceroy of India
  • Crown colony
  • Dominion
  • Imperial Conferences
  • Balfour Declaration 1926
  • Statute of Westminster 1931
  • Commonwealth of Nations
    • Commonwealth Realm
    • Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
    • Commonwealth Games
  • British Crown Overseas Dependencies
  • Dependent territories of the United Kingdom
  • British nationality law

• The Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602
• The Dutch West India Company, founded in 1621

• French colonial empire
  • The French East India Company, founded in 1664
  • French colonization of the Americas
    • New France
  • French Indochina
  • French Equatorial Africa
  • French Union
  • Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans
  • La Francophonie

• Portuguese Empire
  • Portugal in the period of discoveries
  • Portuguese colonization of the Americas

• Darién scheme
• Japanese expansionism

• "Former Colonies" section in List of extinct countries, empires, etc.