Colonial empire
A colonial empire is a collective of territories (often called colonies), either contiguous with the imperial center or located overseas, settled by the population of a certain state and governed by that state.[1] Before the expansion of early modern European powers, other empires had conquered and colonized territories, such as the Roman Empire in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. Modern colonial empires first emerged with a race of exploration between the then most advanced European maritime powers, Portugal and Spain, during the 15th century.[2] The initial impulse behind these dispersed maritime empires and those that followed was trade, driven by the new ideas and the capitalism that grew out of the European Renaissance. Agreements were also made to divide the world up between them in 1479, 1493, and 1494. European imperialism was born out of competition between European Christians and Ottoman Muslims, the latter of which rose up quickly in the 14th century and forced the Spanish and Portuguese to seek new trade routes to India, and to a lesser extent, China. Although colonies existed in classical antiquity, especially amongst the Phoenicians and the ancient Greeks who settled many islands and coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, these colonies were politically independent from the city-states they originated from, and thus did not constitute a colonial empire.[3] This paradigm shifted by the time of the Ptolemaic Empire, the Seleucid Empire, and the Roman Empire. The European countries of the modern era that are most remembered as colonial empires are the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, France, Germany and Belgium.[4][5]
History
European colonial empires
Portugal began establishing the first global trade network and one of the first colonial empires[6][7] under the leadership of Henry the Navigator. The empire spread throughout a vast number of territories distributed across the globe (especially at one time in the 16th century) that are now parts of 60 different sovereign states. Portugal would eventually control Brazil, territories such as what is now Uruguay and some fishing ports in north, in the Americas; Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea, and São Tomé and Príncipe (among other territories and bases) in the North and the Subsaharan Africa; cities, forts or territories in all the Asian subcontinents, as Muscat, Ormus and Bahrain (amongst other bases) in the Persian Gulf; Goa, Bombay and Daman and Diu (amongst other coastal cities) in India; Portuguese Ceylon; Malacca, bases in Southeast Asia and Oceania, as Makassar, Solor, Banda, Ambon and others in the Moluccas, Portuguese Timor; and the granted entrepôt-base of Macau and the entrepôt-enclave of Dejima (Nagasaki) in East Asia, amongst other smaller or short-lived possessions.
During its Siglo de Oro, the Spanish Empire had possession of Mexico, South America, the Philippines, all of southern Italy, a stretch of territories from the Duchy of Milan to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium, parts of Burgundy, and many colonial settlements in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Possessions in Europe, Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, and East Asia qualified the Spanish Empire as attaining a global presence. From 1580 to 1640 the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire were conjoined in a personal union of its Habsburg monarchs during the period of the Iberian Union, but beneath the highest level of government, their separate administrations were maintained. Subsequent colonial empires included the French, English, Dutch and Japanese empires. By the mid-17th century, the Tsardom of Russia, continued later as the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and modern Russia, became the largest contiguous state in the world and remains so to this day.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th century, by virtue of its technological and maritime supremacy, the British Empire steadily expanded to become by far the largest empire in history; at its height ruling over a quarter of the Earth's land area and 24% of the population. Britain's role as a global hegemon during this time ushered in a century of "British Peace", lasting from the end of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars to the start of World War I. During the New Imperialism, Italy and Germany also built their colonial empires in Africa.
Timeline
This section's factual accuracy is disputed. (January 2020) |
The chart below[original research?] shows the span of some European colonial empires.
- Black lines mark the year of the empires largest territorial extent of land area.
- Red represents that the empire is at that time a monarchy.
- Blue represents that the empire is at that time a republic.
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List of colonial empires
- Belgium Belgian Empire (1908–1962)
- Possessions in Africa
- File:Flag of the Congo Free State.svg Belgian Congo (1908–1960)
- File:Coat of arms of Ruanda-Urundi.svg Ruanda-Urundi (1922–1962)
- Possessions in Asia
- Possessions in Africa
- British Empire British Empire (1707–1997/present)
- Evolution of the British Empire; Angevin Empire; Kingdom of England English colonial empire (1585–1707)
- Possessions in Europe
- File:Flag of Cyprus (1922–1960).svg British Cyprus
- File:Flag of Malta (1943–1964).svg British Malta
- File:Flag of Ireland.svg British Ireland
- File:Flag of the United States of the Ionian Islands.svg United States of the Ionian Islands
- Gibraltar British Gibraltar
- British Minorca
- File:Flag of British Heligoland.svg British Heligoland
- Possessions in Africa
- File:Flag of British Somaliland (1952–1960).svg British Somaliland (1884–1960)
- File:Flag of Egypt (1882-1922).svg British Egypt (1914–1936)
- File:Emblem of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.svg Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899–1956)
- File:Flag of Kenya (1895–1921).svg East Africa Protectorate (1895–1920)
- File:Flag of Kenya (1921–1963).svg Kenya Colony (1920–1963)
- File:Flag of the Uganda Protectorate.svg Uganda Protectorate (1894–1962)
- File:Flag of Tanganyika (1923–1961).svg Tanganyika (territory) (1922–1961)
- File:Flag of Nyasaland (1925–1964).svg Protectorate of Nyasaland (1893–1964)
- File:Flag of Northern Rhodesia (1939–1964).svg Protectorate of Northern Rhodesia (1924–1964)
- File:Flag of Southern Rhodesia (1924–1964).svg Colony of Southern Rhodesia (1923–1965), (1979–1980)
- File:Coat of arms of Bechuanaland Protectorate.svg Bechuanaland Protectorate (1885–1966)
- File:Flag of Nigeria (1914–1952).svg British Nigeria (1914–1954)
- File:Flag of the Gold Coast (1877–1957).svg British Gold Coast (1867–1957)
- File:Flag of Sierra Leone (1916–1961).svg British Sierra Leone (1808–1961)
- File:Flag of The Gambia (1889–1965).svg British Gambia (1821–1965)
- Possessions in the Americas
- File:Flag of the United States (1776–1777).svg Thirteen Colonies
- File:Colonial-Red-Ensign.svg British West Indies
- File:Flag of the Bahamas (1964–1973).svg Bahamas
- File:Flag of Barbados (1870–1966).svg Barbados
- File:Flag of Bermuda.svg Bermuda
- File:Flag of Leeward Islands (1952–1958).svg Leeward Islands (1671–1816),(1833–1958)
- File:Flag of the British Windward Islands (1903–1953).svg Windward Islands (1833–1960)
- File:Flag of the Cayman Islands.svg Cayman Islands
- File:Flag of Jamaica (1957–1962).svg Colony of Jamaica (1655–1962)
- File:Flag of Trinidad and Tobago (1958–1962).svg Trinidad and Tobago
- File:Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands.svg Turks and Caicos Islands
- File:Flag of British Honduras (1919–1981).svg British Honduras (1862–1981)
- File:Flag of British Guiana (1955–1966).svg British Guiana (1814–1966)
- File:Flag of Moskita.svg Kingdom of Mosquitia (1638–1860)
- Possessions in South Asia
- File:Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg East India Company (1757–1858)
- File:British Raj Red Ensign.svg India (1858–1947)
- File:Flag of Ceylon (1875–1948).svg Ceylon (1815–1948)
- File:Flag of Bhutan (1949–1956).svg Bhutan (protectorate) (1907–1947)
- File:Flag of Sikkim (1914-1962).svg Sikkim (protectorate) (1861–1948)
- File:Pre-1962 Flag of Nepal (with spacing, aspect ratio 4-3).svg Nepal (protectorate) (1816–1923)
- Possessions in East Asia
- Possessions in the Middle East
- File:Flag of the Trucial States (1968–1971).svg Trucial States (1820–1971)
- File:Flag of Bahrain (1932 to 1972).svg British Bahrain (1861-1971)
- File:Flag of Qatar (1949–1971).svg British Qatar (1916–1971)
- File:Flag of Iraq (1924–1959).svg British Iraq (1920–1932) (1932–1958)
- File:Flag of the Emirate of Transjordan.svg Emirate of Transjordan (1921–1946)
- File:Ensign of the Palestine Mandate (1927–1948).svg Mandatory Palestine (1920–1948)
- File:Flag of Kuwait (1940-1961).svg Sheikhdom of Kuwait (1899–1961)
- File:Flag of Aden (1937–1963).svg Aden Protectorate (1872–1963)
- File:Flag of Muscat.svg Muscat and Oman (1892–1970)
- File:Flag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Emirate of Afghanistan (protectorate) (1879–1947)
- Possessions in Southeast Asia
- Dominions of the United Kingdom
- File:Canadian Red Ensign (1921–1957).svg Canada
- File:Flag of the Dominion of Newfoundland.svg Dominion of Newfoundland
- Australia States and territories of Australia (1901–present)
- Australia itself a colony that gradually increased its independence in 1901, 1942 and 1986, was tasked with the government of multiple other British colonies and territories and the mandates of New Guinea and Nauru
- New Zealand Realm of New Zealand (1907–present)
- New Zealand itself a colony that gradually increased its independence in 1907, 1947 and 1986, was tasked with the government of multiple other British colonies and territories and the mandate of Samoa. It was also nominal co-trustee of the mandate of Nauru. The remaining non-self-governing New Zealand territory is Tokelau.
- Union of South Africa Mandates under South African administration (1915–1990)
- The South-West Africa mandate was governed by the Union of South Africa, that itself a colony that gradually increased its independence in 1910, 1931 and 1961.
- Denmark Danish Empire (1620–1979/present)
- Denmark Danish India (1620–1869)
- Denmark Danish Gold Coast (1658–1850)
- Danish colonization of the Americas:
- File:Danish blue ensign.svg Danish West Indies (1754–1917)
- File:Coat of arms of Greenland (Old version).svg Greenland (1814–1979)
- Netherlands Dutch Empire (1602–1975/present)
- Dutch colonization of the Americas by File:Flag of the Dutch West India Company.svg Dutch West India Company:
- File:Flag of the Dutch West India Company.svg New Netherland
- File:Flag of Dutch Guyana.svg Dutch Guyana/Surinam
- File:Flag of New Holland.svg Dutch Brazil (1630-1654)
- File:Flag of the Netherlands Antilles (1986–2010).svg Dutch Caribbean
- File:Flag of the Dutch West India Company.svg Dutch Gold Coast (1612-1872)
- File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg Dutch East India Company
- File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg Dutch India
- File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg Dutch East Indies
- File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg Dutch Cape Colony (1652–1806)
- File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg Dutch Formosa (1624–1662)
- File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg Dutch Ceylon (1640-1796)
- File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg Dutch Malacca (1641-1795) (1818-1825)
- File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg Dejima (1641–1854)
- File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg Dutch Mauritius (1638–1710)
- Dutch colonization of the Americas by File:Flag of the Dutch West India Company.svg Dutch West India Company:
- France French Empire (1534–1980/present)
- French colonization of the Americas:
- France Antarctique (1555–1567)
- File:Royal Flag of France.svg New France (1534–1763) and Quebec
- File:Old Louisiana Flag.svg French Louisiana
- File:Flag of France.svg French West Indies (1635–today)
- Îles des Saintes (1648–present)
- Marie-Galante (1635–present)
- la Désirade (1635–present)
- File:Flag of Guadeloupe (local).svg Guadeloupe (1635–present)
- File:Flag-of-Martinique.svg Martinique (1635–present)
- File:Flag of French Guiana.svg French Guiana
- File:Flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon.svg Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Asia:
- French India (1664–1962)
- File:Ensign of French Indochina.svg French Indochina and French Indochinese Union (1887–1954)
- Laos (protectorate) (1893–1953)
- Cambodia (protectorate) (1863–1953)
- Vietnam
- Cochinchina (Southern Vietnam) (1858–1949)
- File:Flag of Colonial Annam.svg Annam (protectorate) (Central Vietnam) (1883–1949)
- Tonkin (protectorate) (Northern Vietnam) (1884–1949)
- China
- The foreign concessions : File:Seal of Shanghai French Concession.svg French Concession of Shanghai (1849–1946), Tianjin (1860–1946) and Hankou (1898–1946)
- The spheres of French influence officially recognized by China on the provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan, and Guangdong
- Shamian Island (1859–1949) (a fifth of the island)
- File:Flag of Colonial Annam.svg French Guangzhouwan (1898–1945)
- Possessions in the Middle East
- Mandate for Syria and Lebanon (1920–1946)
- French Africa:
- French North Africa (1830–1934)
- File:Naval ensign of French Algeria (1848–1910).svg French Algeria
- French Morocco (1912–1956)
- File:Flag of Tunisia with French canton.svg French Tunisia (1886–1956)
- File:Seal of French Somaliland.svg French Somaliland (1883–1975)
- French West Africa (1895–1958)
- File:Seal of the Government-General of Madagascar.svg French Madagascar (1882–1958)
- File:Flag of the Comoros (1963–1975).svg French Comoros (1866–1968)
- French Equatorial Africa (1910–1958)
- Isle de France (1715–1810)
- Seychelles (1756–1810)
- The Scattered Islands
- Réunion Reunion (1710–present)
- File:Flag of Mayotte (local).svgMayotte (1841–present)
- Oceania:
- French colonization of the Americas:
- German Empire German Empire (1884–1920)
- File:Flag of Deutsch-Kamerun.svg Kamerun (1884–1918)
- File:Flag of Deutsch-Togo.svg Togoland (1884–1916)
- File:Flag of Deutsch-Südwest.svg German South West Africa (1884–1919)
- File:Flag of Deutsch-Neuguinea.svg German New Guinea (1884–1919)
- File:Flag of Deutsch-Ostafrika.svg German East Africa (1885–1919)
- File:Flag of Deutsch-Samoa.svg German Samoa (1900–1920)
- German Concession in Tientsin
- German concession of Hankou
- German Tsingtao
- Italy Italian Empire (1882–1960)
- File:Eritrea COA.svg Eritrea (1882–1947)
- File:Italian Somaliland COA.svg Somaliland (1889–1947, 1950–1960 as Italian Trust Territory of Somaliland)
- File:Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1936; 1941-1974).svg Ethiopia (1936–1941)
- File:Scudo Africa Orientale Italiana.svg Italian East Africa (formed by merging Eritrea, Somaliland and Ethiopia: 1936–1947)
- File:Cyrenaica.svg Cyrenaica (1912–1947)
- File:Tripolitana COA.svg Tripolitania (1912–1947)
- File:Coat of arms of Italian Libya (1940–1943).svg Libya (Formed by merging Cyrenaica and Tripolitania in 1934. It dissolved in 1947. It also included the Southern Military Territory of Fezzan)
- File:Arms of the Italian Islands of the Aegean.svg Italian Islands of the Aegean (1912–1947)
- File:Flag of Albania (1939–1943).svg Italian Albania (1939–1943)
- Italian France (1940–1943)
- File:Flag of Montenegro (1905–1918, 1941–1944).svg Italian Montenegro (1941–1943)
- Italian concession of Tientsin (1901–1947)
- Portugal Portuguese Empire (1415–1999)
- Evolution of the Portuguese Empire
- File:Flag of Portugal (1640).svg Portuguese colonization of the Americas
- File:Flag of Kingdom of Brazil.svg Colonial Brazil (1500–1815)
- File:Coat of arms of Portuguese India (1951-1974).svg Portuguese India (1505–1961)
- File:Colonial Seal of Ceylon.svg Portuguese Ceylon (1598–1658)
- File:Coat of arms of Portuguese Timor (1951-1975).svg Portuguese Timor (1702–1975)
- File:Flag of the Government of Portuguese Macau (1951-1976).svg Portuguese Macau (1557–1999)
- Portuguese Malacca (1511–1641)
- Portuguese Nagasaki (1580–1587)
- Portuguese Oman (1507–1656)
- Tamão (1514–1521)
- Portuguese Africa
- File:Coat of arms of Portuguese East Africa (1951-1975).svg Portuguese East Africa (1498–1975)
- File:Coat of arms of Portuguese West Africa (1951-1975).svgPortuguese West Africa (1575–1975)
- File:Coat of arms of Portuguese Guinea (1951-1974).svgPortuguese Guinea (1474–1974) (1974–1975)
- File:Coat of arms of Portuguese Cape Verde (1951-1975).svg Portuguese Cape Verde (1462–1975)
- File:Coat of arms of Portuguese Sao Tome and Principe (1951-1975).svg Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe (1470–1975)
- Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá (1721–1961)
- Portuguese Gold Coast (1482–1642)
- Russian Empire Russian Empire (1721–1917)
- Spain Spanish Empire (1492–1825/1898-1975)
- Spanish colonization of the Americas
- Spain Spanish East Indies (1565–1898)[8]
- Spain Spanish Africa
- Possessions of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and of Spain Habsburg Spain in Europe:
- Kingdom of Naples (1503-1700)
- Kingdom of Sicily (1479-1700)
- Kingdom of Sardinia (1479-1700)
- Spain File:Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Parma.svg Duchy of Milan (1559–1706)[10]
- Spain Spanish Netherlands (1556–1713)
- Sweden Swedish Empire (1638–1663, 1733, 1784–1878)
- Swedish colonies in the Americas
- File:Flag of Sweden (1562–1650).svg New Sweden (1638–1655)
- File:Swedish civil ensign (1844–1905).svg Swedish colony of Saint Barthélemy (1784–1878)
- Sweden Guadeloupe (1813–1814)
- File:Flag of Sweden (1562–1650).svg Swedish Gold Coast (1650–1658, 1660–1663)
- File:Flag of Sweden (1562–1650).svg Swedish Africa Company
- Sweden Swedish East India Company
- Sweden Parangipettai (1733)
- Sweden Swedish Factory, Canton Factories (1757–1860)
- Swedish colonies in the Americas
- Empire of Japan Japanese Empire (1868–1945)
- Hokkaido Ezo as Hokkaido (1869–present)
- Okinawa Prefecture Ryukyu as Okinawa Prefecture (1879–1945 & 1972–present)[11]
- File:Seal of the Government-General of Taiwan.svg Taiwan (1895–1945)
- File:Emblem of Karafuto Prefecture.svg Karafuto Prefecture (1905–1949)
- File:Seal of the Government-General of Korea.svg Korea (1910–1945)
- File:Emblem of the South Pacific Mandate.svg South Seas Mandate (1919–1947)
- File:Flag of Manchukuo.svg Manchukuo (1932–1945)
- Empire of Japan Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (1932–1945)
- Turkey Ottoman Empire (1354–1908)
- Europe:
- File:Flag of Cretan State.svg Cretan State (1898–1913)
- File:Flag of the Crimean Khanate (15th century).svg Crimean Khanate (1475–1774)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Ottoman Albania (1479–1912)
- File:Western Herzegovina 1760 flag.svg Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina (1463–1908)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Ottoman Bulgaria (1396–1878)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Ottoman Crete (1667–1898)
- File:Coat of arms of the Eyalet of Cyprus.svg Ottoman Cyprus (1571–1878)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Ottoman Greece (1453–1830)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Ottoman Hungary (1541–1699)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Ottoman Serbia (1459–1804)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Rumelia Eyalet (1365–1867)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Sanjak of Rhodes (1522–1912)
- File:Flag of the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (1859 - 1862).svg United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (1859–1862)
- Asia:
- File:Flag of the Aceh Sultanate.png Protectorate of Aceh (1496–1903)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Ottoman Arabia (1517–1919)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Ottoman Iraq (1538–1918)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Ottoman Syria (1517–1918)
- File:Flag of the Emirate of Riyadh (1902-1913).svg Emirate of Nejd (1818-1914)
- Africa:
- File:Flag of Egypt (1882-1922).svg Khedivate of Egypt (1867–1914)
- File:Seal of Turkish Sudan.svg Turco-Egyptian Sudan (1820–1885)
- File:Flag of Egypt (1844-1867).svg Ottoman Egypt (1517–1914)
- File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Ottoman Absinia (1554–1872)
- File:Flag of Regency of Algiers.svg Ottoman Algeria (1516–1830)
- File:Maritime flag of Regency of Tripoli (18th century).svg Ottoman Tripolitania (1551–1912)
- File:Flag of Ottoman Tunisia (1685).svg Ottoman Tunisia (1574–1881)
- Europe:
Other countries with informal colonial possessions:
- United States United States (1816–present)
- United States overseas territorial acquisitions
- File:Flag of American Samoa.svg American Samoa (1899–Present)
- File:Flag of Guam.svg Guam (1898–Present)
- File:Flag of the Northern Mariana Islands.svg Northern Mariana Islands (1986–Present)
- File:Flag of Puerto Rico.svg Puerto Rico (1898–Present)
- File:Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg United States Virgin Islands (1917–Present)
- Philippines Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935–1946)
- Philippines Insular Government of the Philippine Islands (1902–1935)
- File:Flag of Hawaii.svg Republic of Hawaii (1898–1900)
- United States Minor Outlying Islands (1857–Present)
- Guano Islands Act Claims (1856–Present)
- Canton and Enderbury Islands (1939–1979)
- File:Seal of High Commissioner of the Ryukyu Islands.svg Ryukyu Islands (1950–1972)
- File:Flag of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.svg Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (1947–1994)
- File:Emblem of American Colonization Society.svg American Colonization Society (1816–1847)
- File:Flag of Liberia (1827-1847).svg Colony of Liberia (1821–1847)
- Kentucky in Africa (1828–1847)
- File:Flag of the Republic of Maryland.svg Maryland-in-Africa (1834–1857)[12]
- Mississippi-in-Africa (1835–1842)
- File:Flag of Liberia (1827-1847).svg Colony of Liberia (1821–1847)
- American Concessions
- File:Old emblem of Shanghai.svg American Concession in Shanghai (1848–1863)
- American concession in Tianjin (1869–1902)
- American Trading Company of Borneo (1865–1881)
- Corn Islands (1914–1971)
- File:Seal of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.svg Guantanamo Bay (1903–present)
- File:Flag of Panama Canal Zone.svg Panama Canal Zone (1903–1979)
- File:Emblem of Space Base Delta 1.svg Pituffik Space Base (1943–present)
- United States overseas territorial acquisitions
- Austrian Empire Habsburg monarchy Colonies[13] and the Austria-Hungary Austro-Hungarian Empire (1719–1750, 1778–1783, 1901–1917)
- Austrian colonial policy
- Franz Josef Land
- Austro-Hungarian concession of Tianjin (1901–1917)
- Hungarian colonial attempts[14][15]
- File:Chorągiew królewska króla Zygmunta III Wazy.svg Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1637–1795)
- Courland Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (a Latvian vassal of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1637–1690):
- Holy Roman Empire German colonial initiatives (1683–1721)
- Colonies of File:Flag of Brandenburg-Prusia.png Brandenburg-Prussia (1683–1721)[13]
- Colonies of File:Wappen Hanau 2.svg County of Hanau[16]
- Neu-Askania (1828–1856)
- German colonization of the Americas
- Klein-Venedig (1528–1546)
- Holy Roman Empire Pre-unification Italian colonialism
- File:Flag of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1562-1737).svg Grand Duchy of Tuscany: Thornton expedition (1608–1609)
- File:Bandiera del Regno di Sicilia 4.svg Kingdom of Sicily: Kingdom of Africa (1135–1160)
- File:Flag of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.svg Knights Hospitaller (Malta, a vassal of the File:Bandiera del Regno di Sicilia 4.svg Kingdom of Sicily): Hospitaller colonization of the Americas
- File:Flag of Genoa.svg Republic of Genoa: Genoese colonies
- File:Flag of the Serene Republic of Venice.svg Republic of Venice: Stato da Màr
- Norway Norway
- List of possessions of Norway (1920–present)
- Erik the Red's Land
- Norway Antarctic and sub-Antarctic possessions (1927–1957)[17]
- Kingdom of Scotland Kingdom of Scotland (1621–1707)
- Morocco Kingdom of Morocco (1975–present)
- File:Om 1958.gif Omani Empire (1652–1892)
- File:Ya'ariba Dynasty's ensign.jpg Yaruba dynasty (1624–1742)
- File:Flag of Muscat.svg Sultanate of Muscat (1652–1820)
- File:Flag of Zanzibar Under British Rule.svg Sultanate of Zanzibar (taken by Oman in 1698, became capital of the Omani Sultanate or Empire from 1632 or 1640; until 1890)
- Mombasa (1698–1728, 1729–1744, 1837–1890)
- Gwadar (1783–1958)
- Chinese Empire (from Qin dynasty to China Qing dynasty), China (221 BC – 1911)
- Imperial Chinese Tributary System
- Guangxi
- Hainan (since the Han dynasty)
- Manchuria (during the Tang, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties)
- Korea
- Canghai Commandery(A commandery that self subjugated to Han dynasty from Dongye)
- Four Commanderies of Han (Established after the fall of Gojoseon)
- Daifang Commandery (Offshoot of the former four commanderies of Han that existed in the 3rd to 4th century)
- Colonization attempts of the Tang dynasty after Unification of the three kingdoms of Korea (Gyerim Territory Area Command, Protectorate General to Pacify the East and Ungjin Commandery)
- Dongnyeong Prefectures, Ssangseong Prefectures and Tamna prefectures (Yuan dynasty)
- Inner Mongolia
- Outer Mongolia (during for example the Tang and Qing dynasties)
- Taiwan (during the Qing dynasty)
- Tibet (during the Yuan and Qing dynasties)
- Yunnan
- Vietnam (from the Han to Tang dynasties, and during the early Ming dynasty)
- Xinjiang
- Central Asia (during the Tang and Qing dynasties)
- Ethiopian Empire Ethiopian colonies as the Aksum Empire and Abyssinian empire
- Viceroyalty of Yemen (520–578)
- Ethiopian South-Eastern colonization (1878–present)
- File:Flag of Eritrea (1952-1961).svg Ethiopian-Eritrean/Eritrea Province (1952–1993)
- Iran Persian Empires
- Oman (5th century BC–628; 1743–1747)
- Bahrain (5th century BC–629; 1077–1253, 1330–1507)
- Sasanian Yemen (570–628)
- Bijapur Sultan (1490-1686)
- Persianization of regions within Greater Iran
- Rashidun Caliphate, Umayyad Caliphate and File:Abbasid banner.svg Abbasid Caliphate
- Umayyad Al-Andalus (Arab Hispania)
- Umayyad Gaul (Arab Southern France)
- Arab Maghreb
- Aghlabids colonies from Ifriqiya
- Al-Jazira (Arab Mesopotamia)
- Arab Iran
- Arab Central Asian
- Arminiya (Arab Caucasus)
- Umayyad Al-Andalus (Arab Hispania)
- File:Flag of Chola Kingdom.png Chola Empire
- File:Sikh Empire flag.svg Sikh Empire (1799–1849)
- File:Flag of Jammu and Kashmir (1936-1953).svg Jammu and Kashmir (princely state) (1819–1846)
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (1834–1849)
See also
- Analysis of Western European colonialism and colonization
- Colonial troops
- Empire
- Great Divergence
- Hegemony
- History of Western civilization
- Imperialism
- List of ancient great powers
- List of largest empires
- List of medieval great powers
- List of modern great powers
- Middle Eastern empires
- Nomadic empire
- The empire on which the sun never sets
Notes and references
- ↑ United KingdomFranceSpainPortugalNetherlandsGermanyOttoman EmpireBelgiumAustria-HungaryRussiaJapanDenmarkSweden-NorwayUnited StatesItalyIndependent / Other countries
- ↑ "Colonial Empire: Definition | StudySmarter". StudySmarter UK. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
- ↑ Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "kolonie [geschiedenis]. §1.2 De moderne koloniale expansie". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.
- ↑ Encarta, s.v. "kolonie [geschiedenis]. §1.1 Oudheid.
- ↑ "Years a country was an European overseas colony". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
- ↑ "Western colonialism | Definition, History, Examples, & Effects | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
- ↑ William D. Phillips, Jr; Phillips, Carla Rahn (November 12, 2015). Spain as the first global empire. pp. 176–272. doi:10.1017/CBO9781316271940.006. ISBN 9781107109711. Archived from the original on August 10, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
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ignored (help) - ↑ Powell, Philip Wayne ([1991?]). Árbol de odio: la leyenda negra y sus consecuencias en las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y el mundo hispánico. Ediciones Iris de Paz. ISBN 9788440488855. OCLC 55157841
- ↑ part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain before 1821.
- ↑ Part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata before 1810.
- ↑ During the reign of Philip V of Borbon, an intense diplomatic and military activity was developed with which the recovery of a significant Spanish presence in Italy was achieved. He placed several of his sons as independent sovereigns in different territories, such as the Duchy of Parma and especially the Kingdom of Naples, where the spanish House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and House of Bourbon-Parma ruled until 1860.
- ↑ Gregory Smits (1999). Visions of Ryukyu: Early-Modern Thought and Politics. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 143–149·
- ↑ Maryland State Colonization Society
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Part of the Holy Roman Empire realm before 1804.
- ↑ "Ahol majdnem magyar gyarmatok lettek". 3 November 2014. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
- ↑ "The Hungarian who wanted to colonise Somalia probably with the help of Budapest". 28 June 2019. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
- ↑ part of the Holy Roman Empire before 1736
- ↑ The dependencies of Norway are uninhabited, thus as end date is taken the latest date of full Norwegian sovereignty extension to such territory, instead of the date of decolonization or integration in the administrative structures of the mainland.
Bouvet Island claimed in 1927, under Norway sovereignty since 1930.
Peter I Island claimed in 1929, under Norway sovereignty since 1933.
Queen Maud Land claimed in 1938, under Norway sovereignty since 1957.
Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land fall under the scope of the Antarctic Treaty System since 1961.