Everything about Colonies totally explained
» This article is about a type of political territory. For other uses see Colony (disambiguation).
In
politics and in history, a
colony is a
territory under the immediate political control of a
state. For
colonies in antiquity,
city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite
statehood from their inception. 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 a reference to the metropolitan state from the point of view of citizens who live in its colony. Today, the terms
overseas territory or
dependent territory are preferred. There is a
United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
People who migrated to settle permanently in colonies controlled by their country of origin were called
colonists or
settlers.
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.
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
overseas possession. In the former case, the local population, or at least the part of it not coming from the "metropolitan" (controlling) country, doesn't 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 pfor 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's 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.
The word
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.
The term
informed colony has also been used in relation to countries which, while they've never been conquered by force or
officially ruled by a foreign power, have a clearly subordinate social or economic relationship to one.
History
Originally, as with the
ancient (Hellenic) Greek apoikia (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
Koeln, which is "Cologne" in English, also derives from
colonia. In the modern era, communities founded by colonists or
settlers became known as
settler colonies.
The "
Age of Discovery" began in the 15th century with the initiation of the vast
Portuguese Empire and lasted until the mid-20th century. Curiously, the first great European colonial empire to be created, the
Portuguese, was also the last one to be dismantled. In this long period, the
Spanish, the
British, the
French, the
Dutch, the
German, and other Colonial Empires were created. 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.
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
Russian-American Company for
Alaska; 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 United Kingdom used Australia as a
penal colony: British convicts would be sent to forced labour 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 penitentiary on
Devil's Island in
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).
The movement towards decolonization wasn't 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. 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
Korea,
Taiwan, South
Sakhalin,
northeast part of China, and the Western Pacific, using brutal military force.
Under the
Geneva Conventions of 1949, it's 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's 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.
See also: British Empire,
Portuguese Empire,
Spanish Empire,
Italian Empire,
French colonial empire,
Dutch colonial empire,
Colonialism,
Colonial mentality,
Colonization,
British Nationality Law,
Slavery,
Imperialism,
New Imperialism,
settler.
Compare protectorate,
Crown colony,
dominion,
Proprietary colony.
Colonies in ancient civilizations (examples)
Modern colonies (examples)
Indonesia was a Dutch colony for 350 years, from 1600 to 1945/49, occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945.
Hong Kong was a British colony from 1841 to 1997, and Macau was a Portuguese colony until December 20, 1999.
Parts of India were under the direct control of the government of the United Kingdom between 1858 and 1947. See also Crown colony.
Taiwan was a colony of Japan between 1895 and 1945. Prior to that, Taiwan was a territory and, briefly, a province of the Qing Empire.
The Philippines was a colony of Spain, from 1521 to 1898, and became a United States territory at the close of the Spanish-American war in 1898. It became a self-governing commonwealth in 1935, and fell under the Japanese_empire during World War II. In 1946, the U.S. relinquished sovereignty and recognized the Philippines as an independent sovereign country.
Today, the colonizing European and North American powers hold few colonies in the traditional sense of the term, with exceptions in the case of the United States (including Puerto Rico and Guam - see next section), France and the UK (including the Falkland islands and the British Virgin Islands). Some of their former colonies have been integrated as dependent areas or have closer integration with the country.
Current colonies (examples)
Puerto Rico's subjection to United States sovereignty is considered by many countries to constitute a colonial imposition since Puerto Ricans are subject to laws passed by Congress without their consent and they're excluded from electoral participation in elections of the officials that hold ultimate sovereignty over their national government. According to the U.S. President's Task Force Report on the Political Status of Puerto Rico (which was expressly endorsed by the George W. Bush Administration), the extent of United States power over Puerto Rico is so great, that the U.S. may dispose of Puerto Rico by transferring it to any other sovereign country as a mere disposition of property. This view is shared by many supporters of independence and statehood for this Caribbean archipelago, as well as by supporters of an "enhanced" Commonwealth status. However, some other Puerto Ricans don't agree with this perception. In a recent letter addressed to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Head of Government of Puerto Rico, Anibal Acevedo Vila, accused the United States of having deceived the United Nations and the international community in 1953, when it succeeded in having the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico recognized as a provisional decolonized status subject to continued monitoring; Acevedo-Vila claimed that it was ironic that this is the position taken by the Government of Iran and that the Governor of Puerto Rico will soon feel forced to support Iran's claims regarding the U.S. government's alleged-hypocritical actions with regards to Puerto Rico's "colonial" status.
Similarly, Guam's relationship to the United States is also considered by some to be colonial, as its citizens are also subject to the laws of Congress passed without their consent. Guam is formally known as an unincorporated territory.
The French Overseas Departments are integral regions, although seen by others as still modern day colonies under France.
Tokelau is a colony of New Zealand.Further Information
Get more info on 'Colonies'.
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