In politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a geographically-distant state (or city, in ancient times). Some colonies were historically separate countries, while others were territories without definite statehood at the moment of colonization. The metropolitan state is the state that owns the colony. In Ancient Greece, the city that owned a colony was called the metropolis within its political organization. Mother country is the term used to refer to the metropolitan state by its citizens that live in a colony. In some cases colonies are referred to as overseas territories. Politics is the process and method of making decisions for groups. ... A history resource for kids -Chronology of Events in History, Mythology, and Folklore. ... A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government, and possessing internal and external sovereignty. ... A city is an urban area, differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. ... Colonization (or colonisation) is the act where life forms move into a distant area where their kind is sparse or not yet existing at all and set up new settlements in the area. ... Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ...

A colony differs from a puppet state or satellite state in that a colony has no independent international representation and the top-level administration of a colony is under direct control of the metropolitan state. A puppet state is a state whose government, though notionally of the same culture as the governed people - owes its existence (or other major debt) to being installed, supported or controlled by a more powerful entity, typically a foreign power. ... The term satellite state, by analogy to stellar objects orbiting a larger object, such as planets revolving around the sun, refers to a country that is formally sovereign but that is in fact dominated by a larger hegemonic power. ...

The term "informal colony" is used by some historians to describe a country which is under the de facto control of another state, although this description is often contentious.

Definitions

In the modern usage, colony is generally distinguished from oversea possession. In the former case, the local population, or at least the part of it not coming from the "metropolitan" (controlling) country, does not enjoy full citizenship rights. The political process is generally restricted, especially excluding questions of independence. In this case, there are settlers from a dominating foreign country, or countries, and often the property of indigenous peoples is seized, to provide the settlers with land. Foreign mores, religions and/or legal systems are imposed. In some cases, the local population is held for unfree labour, is submitted to brutal force, or even to policies of genocide. Settlers are people who have travelled of their own choice, from the land of their birth to live in new lands or colonies. ... Indigenous peoples are: Peoples living in an area prior to colonization by a state Peoples living in an area within a nation-state, prior to the formation of a nation-state, but who do not identify with the dominant nation. ... Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for forms of work, especially in modern or early modern history, in which adults and/or children are employed without wages, or for a minimal wage. ... Look up Genocide in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Genocide has been defined as the deliberate killing of people based on their ethnicity, nationality, race, religion, or (sometimes) politics, as well as other deliberate action(s)leading to the physical elimination of any of the above categories. ...

By contrast, in the case of overseas possessions, citizens are formally equal, regardless of origin and it is possible for legal independence movements to form; should they gain a majority in the oversea possession, the question of independence may be brought, for instance, to referendum. However, in some cases, settlers have come to outnumber indigenous people in overseas possessions, and it is possible for colonies to become overseas possessions, against the wishes of indigenous peoples. This often results in ongoing and long-lasting independence struggles by the descendants of the original inhabitants.

Colony may also be used for countries that, while independent or considering themselves independent of a former colonizing power, still have a political and social structure where the rulers are a minority originating from the colonizing power. Such was the case with Rhodesia after the Unilateral Declaration of Independence. This article is about the break-away colony of (Southern) Rhodesia , today Zimbabwe. ... A declaration of independence is a proclamation of the independence of a newly formed or reformed independent state from a part or the whole of the territory of another, or a document containing such a declaration. ...

The term informal colony has also been used in relation to countries which, while they have never been conquered by force or officially ruled by a foreign power, have a clearly subordinate social or economic relationship to that power.

History

Colonization and imperialism in 1945

Originally, as with the ancient (Hellenic) Greek apoikia, the term colonization referred to the foundation of a new city or settlement, more often than not with nonviolent means (but see for instance the Athenian re-colonisation of Melos after wiping out the earlier settlement). The term colony is derived from the Latin colonia, which indicated a place meant for agricultural activities; these Roman colonies and others like them were in fact usually either conquered so as to be inhabited by these workers, or else established as a cheap way of securing conquests made for other reasons. The name of the German city Cologne also derives from colonia. In the modern era, communities founded by colonists or settlers became known as settler colonies. Download high resolution version (1357x628, 37 KB)Created by User:Aris Katsaris to replace and partially correct the smallerImage:800px_colonization_1945. ... Download high resolution version (1357x628, 37 KB)Created by User:Aris Katsaris to replace and partially correct the smallerImage:800px_colonization_1945. ... Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ... Colonies in antiquity were city-states founded from a mother-city, not from a territory-at-large. ... Milos (formerly Melos, and before the Athenian genocide Malos) is a volcanic island in the Aegean Sea. ... Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Map of Germany showing Cologne Cologne (German: Köln [kœln]  listen?) is, in terms of population, the fourth largest city in Germany and largest city of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ... Settlers are people who have travelled of their own choice, from the land of their birth to live in new lands or colonies. ...

The "age of imperialism" began in the 15th century with the initiation of the vast Portuguese Empire and also the Spanish Empire in the Americas and lasted until the mid-20th century with the dismantling of the British Empire. During these centuries European states, the United States and others took political control of much of the world's population and landmass. The term "colony" came to mean an overseas district with a majority indigenous population, administered by a distant colonial government. (Exceptions occurred: Russian colonies in Central Asia and Siberia, American settlements in the American West, and German colonies in Eastern Europe were not "overseas"; British colonies (or "overseas territories") like the Falkland Islands and Tristan da Cunha lacked a native population.) Most non-European countries were colonies of Europe at one time or another, or were handled in a quasi-colonial manner. The European colonies and former colonies in America made extensive use of slave labor, initially using the native population, then through the importation of slaves from black Africa. A cartoon portraying the British Empire as an octopus, reaching into foreign lands Imperialism is a policy of extending the control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires, either through direct territorial or through indirect methods of exerting control on the politics... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Portuguese Empire was one of the earliest overseas empires. ... Habsburg Spain was a superpower and the center of the first global empire in the 16th century. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Indigenous peoples are: Peoples living in an area prior to colonization by a state Peoples living in an area within a nation-state, prior to the formation of a nation-state, but who do not identify with the dominant nation. ... Map of Central Asia outlined in orange showing one set of possible borders Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... Siberia Siberia (Russian: Сиби́рь, common English transliterations: Sibir, Sibir; possibly from the Mongolian for the calm land) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ... This article is for the American West. ... Eastern Europe is, by convention, that part of Europe from the Ural and Caucasus mountains in the East to an arbitrarily chosen boundary in the West. ... Tristan da Cunha is a remote island in the south Atlantic Ocean, at latitude 37. ... A monument celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, erected in Victoria Tower Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, London Look up Slavery in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Slavery is a condition of control over a person against their will, enforced by violence or other forms of coercion. ...

The Spanish colonial empire once encompassed all of South and Central America except for Brasil, with few exceptions; it crumbled starting in the early 19th century. In the 19th century, the largest European colonial empire was the British Empire under Queen Victoria, including India. France once held much of Western and Central Africa, along with Indochina. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Her Majesty Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria Wettin, née Hanover) (24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom from 20 June 1837, and Empress of India from 1876 until her death. ...

There existed various statuses and modes of operation for foreign countries, direct control by the colonizing country being the most obvious. Some colonies were operated through corporations (the British East India Company for India; the Congo Free State under the very brutal rule of Leopold II of Belgium); some were run as protectorates. Quasi-colonies were run through proxy or puppet governments, generally kingdoms or dictatorships. For instance, it may be argued that Cuba before the Revolution was a quasi-colony of the United States, with an enormous influence of US economic and political interests; see banana republic. The British East India Company, sometimes referred to as John Company, was a joint-stock company of investors, which was granted a Royal Charter by Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, with the intent to favour trade privileges in India. ... The Congo Free State was a kingdom privately and controversially owned by King Leopold II of Belgium that included the entire area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... King Leopold II His Majesty King Leopold II of the Belgians (Louis Philippe Marie Victor) (April 9, 1835–December 17, 1909), succeeded his father, Leopold I of Belgium, to the Belgian throne in 1865 and remained king until his death. ... For the rule of Oliver Cromwell, see The Protectorate. ... Banana republic (or Bananaland) is a pejorative term for describing a country with a non-democratic or unstable government, especially where there is widespread political corruption and strong foreign influence. ...

The United Kingdom used Australia as a penal colony: British convicts would be sent to forced labor there, with the added benefit that the freed convicts would settle in the colony and thus augment the European population there. Similarly, France once deported prostitutes and various "undesirables" to populate its colonies in North America, and until the 20th century operated a penitenciary on Devil's Island in French Guiana. A penal colony is a colony used to house prisoners. ... Devils Island (French Île du Diable), is an island located off the coast of French Guiana. ...

The independence of these colonies began with that of 13 colonies of Britain that formed the United States, finalised in 1783 with the conclusion of a war begun in 1776, and has continued until about the present time, with for example Algeria and East Timor being relinquished by European powers only in 1962 and 1975 respectively (although the latter was forcibly made an Indonesian possession instead of becoming fully independent). This process is called decolonization, though the use of a single term obscures an important distinction between the process of the settler population breaking its links with the mother country while maintaining local political supremacy and that of the indigenous population reasserting themselves (possibly through the expulsion of the settler population). Betsy Ross purportedly sewed the first American flag with 13 stars and 13 stripes representing each of the 13 colonies. ... 1783 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the year 1776. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Colonialism in 1945 Decolonization is the process by which a colony gains independence from a colonial power, a process opposite to colonization. ... Settlers are people who have travelled of their own choice, from the land of their birth to live in new lands or colonies. ... Indigenous peoples are: Peoples living in an area prior to colonization by a state Peoples living in an area within a nation-state, prior to the formation of a nation-state, but who do not identify with the dominant nation. ...

The movement towards decolonization was not uniform, with more newer powers, sometimes themselves ex-colonies or once threatened by colonial power, trying to carve a colonial empire. The United States, itself a former colony, expanded westwards by waging brutal wars against the Native American population, including whole massacres of civilians, so as to make it possible for settlers to colonize the American West. It also colonized Hawaii, and waged various wars and conduct armed expeditions so as to assert power over local governments (in Japan, with Commodore Perry and in Cuba, for example). European countries and the United States, exploiting the weakness of China's waning imperial regime, also maintained so-called international concessions in that country, a sort of colonial enclave; the coastal towns of Macau and Hong Kong were held on long-term leases by Portugal and the United Kingdom. During the first half of the 20th century, until its defeat the Second World War, Japan, once afraid of becoming a European or American colony, built itself a colonial empire in China, Korea and the Western Pacific, using brutal military force. Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... This article is for the American West. ... State nickname: The Aloha State Other U.S. States Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Governor Linda Lingle Official languages Hawaiian and English Area 28,337 km² (43rd)  - Land 16,649 km²  - Water 11,672 km² (41. ... Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 - March 4, 1858) was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy who forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, under the threat of military force. ... In human geography, an enclave is a piece of land which is totally enclosed within a foreign territory. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Under the Geneva Conventions of 1949, it is a war crime to transfer, directly or indirectly, the civilian population of a country power onto land under that country's military occupation. The reasoning for this crime is apparently to emphasise that it is now a violation of international law to annex territory through military force. This phrase describes many of acts of colonisation in the past, and arguably outlaws colonisation. The Geneva Conventions consist of treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland that set the standards for international law for humanitarian concerns. ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Colonization is the act where life forms move into a distant area where their kind is sparse or not yet existing at all and set up new settlements in the area. ...

See also: British Empire, Portuguese Empire, Spanish Empire, French colonial empire, Colonialism, Colonial mentality,Colonization, British Nationality Law, Slavery, Imperialism, New Imperialism, settler. The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... Portuguese Empire was one of the earliest overseas empires. ... Habsburg Spain was a superpower and the center of the first global empire in the 16th century. ... -1... World map of colonialism circa 1945. ... Colonial mentality is a term that refers to one of the following: A cultural notion of inferiority sometimes seen amongst populations previously subjugated and colonsed by foreign entities. ... Colonization (or colonisation) is the act where life forms move into a distant area where their kind is sparse or not yet existing at all and set up new settlements in the area. ... The United Kingdom has arguably the worlds most complex nationality laws, because of its former status as an imperial power. ... A monument celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, erected in Victoria Tower Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, London Look up Slavery in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Slavery is a condition of control over a person against their will, enforced by violence or other forms of coercion. ... A cartoon portraying the British Empire as an octopus, reaching into foreign lands Imperialism is a policy of extending the control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires, either through direct territorial or through indirect methods of exerting control on the politics... The term New Imperialism refers to the policy and ideology of imperial colonial expansion adopted by Europes powers and later the United States and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; approximately from the Franco-Prussian War to World War I (c. ... Settlers are people who have travelled of their own choice, from the land of their birth to live in new lands or colonies. ...

Compare protectorate, Crown colony, dominion. For the rule of Oliver Cromwell, see The Protectorate. ... A United Kingdom overseas territory (formerly known as a dependent territory or earlier as a crown colony) is a territory that is under the sovereignty and formal control of the United Kingdom but is not part of the United Kingdom proper (Great Britain and Northern Ireland). ... This is a page about Dominions of the British Empire/Commonwealth. ...

The Latin name colonia also became the name of several towns, the most famous of which is Cologne. Map of Germany showing Cologne Cologne (German: Köln [kœln]  listen?) is, in terms of population, the fourth largest city in Germany and largest city of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

Colonies in ancient civilizations (examples)

• Assyria was originally a colony of Babylonia
• Carthage was a Phoenician colony
• Cyrene was a colony of the Greeks of Thera
• Naples formed as a Greek colony

See also Colonies in antiquity Assyria in earliest historical times referred to a region on the Upper Tigris river, named for its original capital, the city of Asshur (or Ashshur). ... Babylonia was an ancient state in Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ... Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plain of what is now Lebanon and Syria. ... Cyrene, the ancient Greek city (in present-day Libya) was the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region and gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times. ... View from the top of Thira Santorini is a small, circular group of volcanic islands located in the Aegean Sea, 75 km south-east of the Greek mainland, (latitude: 35. ... Location within Italy Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Napule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region. ... Colonies in antiquity were city-states founded from a mother-city, not from a territory-at-large. ...

Recent colonies (examples)

• West Papua has been a colonial procession of Indonesia since 1969.
• India was a Dominion in the British Empire until 1947. See also Crown colony.
• Rhodesia was formally a colony in the British Empire until 1980.
• Korea was a colony of Japan
• The Philippines were a colony of the United States until 1946

Today, none of the colonizing European and North American powers hold colonies in the traditional sense of the term. Some of their former colonies have been integrated as dependent areas or have closer integration with the country. Map showing Papua province in Indonesia Papua is a province of Indonesia comprising part of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands (see also Western New Guinea). ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... This is a page about Dominions of the British Empire/Commonwealth. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A United Kingdom overseas territory (formerly known as a dependent territory or earlier as a crown colony) is a territory that is under the sovereignty and formal control of the United Kingdom but is not part of the United Kingdom proper (Great Britain and Northern Ireland). ... This article is about the break-away colony of (Southern) Rhodesia , today Zimbabwe. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Korea (한국) is a formerly unified country, situated on the Korean Peninsula in northern East Asia, bordering on China to the west and Russia to the north. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Dependent areas are territories that for some reason do not enjoy full independence or sovereignty as states. ...