A colonial empire is a sovereign state engaging in colonization, possibly establishing or maintaining colony, infused with some form of coloniality and colonialism. Such states can expand contiguous as well as overseas. Colonial empires may set up colonies as settler colonies.
Before the expansion of early modern European powers, other 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 maritime powers, Portugal and Spain, during the 15th century.[Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "kolonie geschiedenis. §1.2 De moderne koloniale expansie". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.] 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, Inter caetera, and 1494. European imperialism was born out of competition between European Christians and Ottoman Empire 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 and the ancient Greece who settled many islands and coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, these colonies were politically independent from the they originated from, and thus did not constitute a colonial empire.[Encarta, s.v. "kolonie geschiedenis. §1.1 Oudheid.] 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 British Empire, Spanish Empire, Portugal, Italian Empire, Netherlands, France, Germany and Belgium.
History
European colonial empires
Portugal began establishing the first global trade network and one of the first colonial empires
[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. . OCLC 55157841] 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 Africa and the Subsaharan
Africa; cities, forts or territories in all the
subcontinents, as Muscat,
Ormus and
Bahrain (amongst other bases) in the
Persian Gulf;
Goa,
Bombay and Daman and Diu (amongst other coastal cities) in
Portuguese India; Portuguese Ceylon; Malacca, bases in Southeast Asia and
Oceania, as
Makassar,
Solor,
Banda Islands,
Ambon Island and others in the
Moluccas,
Portuguese Timor; and the granted
entrepôt-base of
Portuguese 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 Spanish road 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 English, Dutch Empire and French empires. 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 "Pax Britannica", 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, while Japan started to encroach into former Chinese domains after they have settled their own reformation.
Timeline
The chart below 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.
ImageSize = width:750 height:450
PlotArea = width:650 height:350 left:50 bottom:50
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1400 till:2000
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:50 start:1400
-
there is no automatic collision detection,
-
so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap
Colors=
id:red value:red
Define $dx = 25 # shift text to right side of bar
Define $dy = -5 # adjust height
PlotData=
bar:Belgian color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1908 till:1962 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
at:1928 mark: (line,black)
bar:British color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1707 till:1997 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
at:1920 mark: (line,black)
bar:Danish color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1536 till:1953 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
at:1810 mark: (line,black)
bar:Dutch color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1602 till:1806 shift:($dx,-2) color:blue
from:1806 till:1975 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
at:1806 mark: (line,red)
at:1930 mark: (line,black)
bar:English color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1585 till:1649 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
from:1649 till:1660 shift:($dx,-2) color:blue
from:1660 till:1707 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
at:1649 mark: (line,blue)
at:1660 mark: (line,red)
at:1707 mark: (line,black)
bar:French color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1534 till:1792 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
from:1792 till:1814 shift:($dx,-2) color:blue
from:1814 till:1870 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
from:1870 till:1980 shift:($dx,-2) color:blue
at:1792 mark: (line,blue)
at:1814 mark: (line,red)
at:1870 mark: (line,blue)
at:1920 mark: (line,black)
bar:German color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1884 till:1918 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
at:1912 mark: (line,black)
bar:Italian color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1885 till:1946 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
from:1946 till:1960 shift:($dx,-2) color:blue
at:1946 mark: (line,blue)
at:1939 mark: (line,black)
bar:Portuguese color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1415 till:1999 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
from:1910 till:1999 shift:($dx,-2) color:blue
at:1910 mark: (line,blue)
at:1815 mark: (line,black)
bar:Russian color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1721 till:1917 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
at:1895 mark: (line,black)
bar:Spanish color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1492 till:1931 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
from:1931 till:1947 shift:($dx,-2) color:blue
from:1947 till:1975 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
at:1873 mark: (line,blue)
at:1874 mark: (line,blue)
at:1931 mark: (line,blue)
at:1810 mark: (line,black)
at:1947 mark: (line,blue)
bar:Swedish color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:7
from:1638 till:1663 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
from:1784 till:1878 shift:($dx,-2) color:red
at:1658 mark: (line,black)
List of colonial empires
:
-
Belgian Empire (1908–1962)
-
Possessions in Africa
-
Possessions in Asia
-
Belgian concession of Tianjin (1902–1931)
-
British Empire (1707–1997/present)
-
Evolution of the British Empire; Angevin Empire; English colonial empire (1585–1707)
-
Possessions in Europe
-
Possessions in Africa
-
British Somaliland (1884–1960)
-
British Egypt (1914–1936)
-
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899–1956)
-
East Africa Protectorate (1895–1920)
-
Kenya Colony (1920–1963)
-
Uganda Protectorate (1894–1962)
-
Tanganyika (territory) (1922–1961)
-
Protectorate of Nyasaland (1893–1964)
-
Protectorate of Northern Rhodesia (1924–1964)
-
Colony of Southern Rhodesia (1923–1965), (1979–1980)
-
Bechuanaland Protectorate (1885–1966)
-
British Nigeria (1914–1954)
-
British Gold Coast (1867–1957)
-
British Sierra Leone (1808–1961)
-
British Gambia (1821–1965)
-
Possessions in the Americas
-
Thirteen Colonies
-
British West Indies
-
Bahamas
-
Barbados
-
(1671–1816),(1833–1958)
-
(1833–1960)
-
Colony of Jamaica (1655–1962)
-
Trinidad and Tobago
-
(1862–1981)
-
(1814–1966)
-
Mosquito Coast (1638–1860)
-
Possessions in South Asia
-
(1757–1858)
-
(1858–1947)
-
(1815–1948)
-
Bhutan (protectorate) (1907–1947)
-
Sikkim (protectorate) (1861–1948)
-
Nepal (protectorate) (1816–1923)
-
Possessions in East Asia
-
Possessions in the Middle East
-
(1820–1971)
-
British Bahrain (1861-1971)
-
British Qatar (1916–1971)
-
British Iraq (1920–1932) (1932–1958)
-
(1921–1946)
-
Mandatory Palestine (1920–1948)
-
Sheikhdom of Kuwait (1899–1961)
-
Aden Protectorate (1872–1963)
-
Muscat and Oman (1892–1970)
-
Emirate of Afghanistan (protectorate) (1879–1947)
-
Possessions in Southeast Asia
-
Dominions of the United Kingdom
-
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
Danish Empire (1620–1979/Danish Realm)
-
Danish India (1620–1869)
-
Danish Gold Coast (1658–1850)
-
Danish colonization of the Americas:
-
Danish West Indies (1754–1917)
-
Greenland (1814–1979)
-
Dutch Empire (1602–1975/present)
-
Dutch colonization of the Americas by :
-
French Empire (1534–1980/Overseas France)
-
French colonization of the Americas:
-
France Antarctique (1555–1567)
-
(1534–1763) and Quebec
-
French Louisiana
-
French West Indies (1635–today)
-
Îles des Saintes (1648–present)
-
Marie-Galante (1635–present)
-
la Désirade (1635–present)
-
(1635–present)
-
(1635–present)
-
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
-
Asia:
-
French India (1664–1962)
-
French Indochina and French Indochinese Union (1887–1954)
-
Laos (protectorate) (1893–1953)
-
Cambodia (protectorate) (1863–1953)
-
Vietnam
-
Cochinchina (Southern Vietnam) (1858–1949)
-
Annam (protectorate) (Central Vietnam) (1883–1949)
-
Tonkin (protectorate) (Northern Vietnam) (1884–1949)
-
China
-
The foreign concessions : 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)
-
French Guangzhouwan (1898–1945)
-
Possessions in the Middle East
-
Mandate for Syria and Lebanon (1920–1946)
-
French Africa:
-
French North Africa (1830–1934)
-
French Algeria
-
French Morocco (1912–1956)
-
French Tunisia (1886–1956)
-
French Somaliland (1883–1975)
-
French West Africa (1895–1958)
-
French Madagascar (1882–1958)
-
French Comoros (1866–1968)
-
French Equatorial Africa (1910–1958)
-
Isle de France (1715–1810)
-
Seychelles (1756–1810)
-
The Scattered Islands
-
Reunion (1710–present)
-
Mayotte (1841–present)
-
Oceania:
-
(1906–1980)
-
Wallis and Futuna
-
Clipperton Island
-
German Empire (1884–1920)
-
German Cameroon (1884–1918)
-
Togoland (1884–1916)
-
German South West Africa (1884–1919)
-
German New Guinea (1884–1919)
-
German East Africa (1885–1919)
-
German Samoa (1900–1920)
-
German Concession in Tientsin
-
German concession of Hankou
-
German Tsingtao
-
German Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory
-
Italian Empire (1882–1960)
-
Italian Eritrea (1882–1947)
-
Somaliland (1889–1947, 1950–1960 as Italian Trust Territory of Somaliland)
-
Italian Ethiopia (1936–1941)
-
Italian East Africa (formed by merging Eritrea, Somaliland and Ethiopia: 1936–1947)
-
Cyrenaica (1912–1947)
-
Tripolitania (1912–1947)
-
Italian Libya (Formed by merging Cyrenaica and Tripolitania in 1934. It dissolved in 1947. It also included the Southern Military Territory of Fezzan)
-
Italian Islands of the Aegean (1912–1947)
-
Italian Albania (1939–1943)
-
Italian France (1940–1943)
-
Italian Montenegro (1941–1943)
-
Italian concession of Tientsin (1901–1947)
-
Portuguese Empire (1415–1999)
-
Evolution of the Portuguese Empire
-
Portuguese colonization of the Americas
-
Portuguese India (1505–1961)
-
Portuguese Ceylon (1598–1658)
-
Portuguese Timor (1702–1975)
-
Portuguese Macau (1557–1999)
-
Portuguese Malacca (1511–1641)
-
Portuguese Nagasaki (1580–1587)
-
Portuguese Oman (1507–1656)
-
Tamão (1514–1521)
-
Portuguese Africa
-
Portuguese East Africa (1498–1975)
-
West Africa (1575–1975)
-
Guinea (1474–1974) (1974–1975)
-
Portuguese Cape Verde (1462–1975)
-
Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe (1470–1975)
-
Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá (1721–1961)
-
Portuguese Gold Coast (1482–1642)
-
Russian Empire (1721–1917)
-
Finland
-
Siberia
-
Caucasus
-
Central Asia
-
Russian colonization of North America:
-
Sagallo (1889)
-
Russian Port Arthur
-
Russian concession in Tientsin
-
Spanish Empire (1492–1825/1898-1975)
-
Spanish colonization of the Americas
-
New Spain
-
Viceroyalty of Peru
-
Viceroyalty of New Granada
-
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
-
Spanish East Indies (1565–1898)
[part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain before 1821.]
-
Spanish Africa
-
Spanish Guinea (1778–1968)
[Part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata before 1810.]
-
Spanish Sahara (1884–1975)
-
Spanish protectorate in Morocco (1912–1956)
-
Ifni (1476–1524/1859–1969).
-
Plazas de soberanía (Enclaves in North Africa)
-
Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña (1478–1524)
-
Spanish Mazalquivir (1505–1708, 1732–1792)
-
Spanish Oran (1509–1708, 1732–1792)
-
Spanish Tripoli (1510–1530)
-
Spanish Béjaïa (1510–1555)
-
Peñón de Algiers (1510–1529)
-
Spanish Tunisia (1535–1569, 1573–1574)
-
Spanish Larache (1610–1689)
-
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera (1508–present)
-
Melilla (1497–present)
-
Ceuta (1578/1668–present)
-
Possessions of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Habsburg Spain and Spanish House of Bourbon
[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.] in Europe:
-
Spanish Burgundian lands
-
Spanish Netherlands (1555–1713)
-
Spanish Holland (1555–1581)
-
Spanish Belgium (1555–1713)
-
Spanish Luxembourg (1555–1713)
-
Franche-Comté (1555–1678)
-
Charolais (1555–1678)
-
Upper Alsace (1617–1648)
[Herfried Münkler: Der Dreißigjährige Krieh. Rowohlt, Berlin 2017]
-
Spanish Palatinate (1620–1652)
-
Spanish Italy
-
Kingdom of Sardinia (1479–1713), 1717–1720)
-
(1479–1713), 1734–1815)
-
(1503–1713), 1734–1806)
-
(1524–1641)
-
State of the Presidi (1557–1708)
-
Duchy of Milan (1559–1706)
-
Marquisate of Finale (1602–1713)
-
Spanish Grischun (1620–1639)
-
Principality of Piombino (1628–1634)
-
Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (1734–1738, 1748–1796, 1847–1854)
-
(1801–1807)
-
Duchy of Lucca (1815–1847)
-
(1815–1860)
-
Swedish Empire (1638–1663, 1733, 1784–1878)
-
Swedish colonies in the Americas
-
Swedish Gold Coast (1650–1658, 1660–1663)
-
Swedish Africa Company
-
Swedish East India Company
-
Parangipettai (1733)
-
Swedish Factory, Canton Factories (1757–1860)
:
-
Empire of Japan (1868–1945)
-
Ezo as Hokkaido (1869–present)
-
Ryukyu Kingdom as Okinawa Prefecture (1879–1945; 1972–present)
[Gregory Smits (1999). Visions of Ryukyu: Early-Modern Thought and Politics. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 143–149·]
-
Taiwan (1895–1945)
-
Karafuto Prefecture (1905–1949)
-
Korea (1910–1945)
-
South Seas Mandate (1919–1947)
-
(1932–1945)
-
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (1932–1945)
-
Ottoman Empire (1354–1908)
:
-
United States (1857–present)
-
U.S. overseas territories:
-
Minor Outlying Islands (1857–present)
-
(1900–present)
-
(1899–present)
-
Naval Government of Guam (1899–1950)
-
(1986–present)
-
(1899–present)
-
Military Government of Porto Rico (1899–1900)
-
Insular Government of Porto Rico (1900–1952)
-
(1917–present)
-
Philippines (1899–1946)
-
Military Government of the Philippine Islands (1899–1902)
-
Insular Government of the Philippine Islands (1902–1935)
-
Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935–1946)
-
Republic of Hawaii (1898–1900)
-
Swan Islands (1863–1972)
-
U.S.-administered areas:
-
Habsburg monarchy Colonies
-
Austrian colonial policy
-
Ostend Company
-
Austrian East India Company
-
Austrian colonisation of Nicobar Islands (1778–1785)
-
Austrian Delagoa Bay (1773–1781)
-
Móric Benyovszky's Madagascar (1774–1779)
-
North Borneo
-
Franz Josef Land
-
Austro-Hungarian concession of Tianjin (1901–1917)
-
Hungarian colonial attempts
-
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1637–1795)
-
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (a Latvia vassal of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1637–1690):
-
Couronian colonization in Africa
-
Couronian colonization of the Americas
-
German colonial initiatives (1683–1721)
-
Colonies of Brandenburg-Prussia (1683–1721)
[Part of the Holy Roman Empire realm before 1804.]
-
Hanauish Indies of County of Hanau
[part of the Holy Roman Empire before 1736]
-
Neu-Askania (1828–1856)
-
German colonization of the Americas
-
Pre-unification Italian colonialism
-
Grand Duchy of Tuscany: Thornton expedition (1608–1609)
-
Kingdom of Sicily: Kingdom of Africa (1135–1160)
-
Knights Hospitaller ( Malta, a vassal of the Kingdom of Sicily): Hospitaller colonization of the Americas
-
: Genoese colonies
-
: Stato da Màr
-
Norway
-
List of possessions of Norway (1920–present)
-
Erik the Red's Land
-
Norway Antarctic and sub-Antarctic possessions (1927–1957)
[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.
-
Kingdom of Scotland (1621–1707)
-
Scottish colonization of the Americas
-
Kingdom of Morocco (1975–present)
-
Omani Empire (1652–1892)
-
Yaruba dynasty (1624–1742)
-
Sultanate of Muscat (1652–1820)
-
(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 Qing dynasty), (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)
-
Chinese concession of Incheon (during the Qing 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)
-
Protectorate General to Pacify the West
-
Ethiopian Empire colonies as the Aksum Empire and Abyssinian empire
-
Viceroyalty of Yemen (520–578)
-
Ethiopian South-Eastern colonization (1878–present)
-
Ethiopian-Eritrean/Eritrea Province (1952–1993)
-
Persian Empires
-
Rashidun Caliphate, Umayyad Caliphate and Abbasid Caliphate
-
Umayyad Al-Andalus (Arab Hispania)
-
Umayyad Gaul (Arab Southern France)
-
Arab Maghreb
-
Aghlabids colonies from Ifriqiya
-
Southern Italy
-
Emirate of Sicily
-
Emirate of Bari
-
Malta
-
Al-Jazira (Arab Mesopotamia)
-
Arab Iran
-
Arab Central Asian
-
Arminiya
-
Chola empire
-
(1799–1849)
-
(1819–1846)
-
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (1834–1849)
See also
Notes and references
External links
