Colony

A colony is mostly ruled by another state or can be run independently. Unlike a puppet state or satellite state, a colony has no independent international representation, and its top-level administration 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

Roman colonies first appeared when the Romans conquered neighbouring italic peoples. These were small farming settlements that appeared when the Romans had subdued an enemy in war. A colony could take many forms, as a trade outpost or a military base in enemy territory, but its original definition as a settlement created by people migrating from a home territory became the modern definition.

Colonies in ancient civilizations (examples)

* Carthage was a Phoenician colony

Modern colonies (examples)

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 US (including Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands), France and the UK (including the Falkland Islands and the British Virgin Islands). However, the Channel Islands are not colonies but a remnant of the Duchy of Normandy. Some of the former colonies have been integrated as dependent areas or have closer integration with the country.

Current colonies (examples)

* Puerto Rico's subjection to US sovereignty is considered by many countries to constitute a colonial imposition because Puerto Ricans are subject to laws passed by the US Congress without their consent, due to constitutional exclusion from electoral participation in elections of the officials that hold ultimate sovereignty over their national government, and because its population does not enjoy the full citizenship rights of the United States Constitution. According to the US President's Task Force Report on the Political Status of Puerto Rico the US may dispose of Puerto Rico by transferring it to another sovereign country as a mere disposition of property. In a recent letter addressed to then-US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the then-governor of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, accused the US 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 Vilá stated 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 US government's alleged-hypocritical actions with regards to Puerto Rico's "colonial" status. In 2006, The UN General Assembly Special Committee on decolonization approved a draft resolution that calls on the US to expedite the process to allow Puerto Ricans to exercise fully their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.

* Similarly, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands are also considered to have a colonial relationship with the US because their citizens are also subject to the laws of the US Congress passed without their consent. These territories, along with Puerto Rico, are known as unincorporated territories.

* The French Overseas Departments are called integral regions, and are considered by some as still modern-day colonies of France.

* Tokelau is a colony of New Zealand

* The British Overseas Territories former status was that of Crown Colonies. Many of the larger, populated territories, have their own political system, but are still under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom and have Governors.

* Easter Island is a special territory incorporated to Chile. Today, natives have full rights as Chilean citizens.

See also

References

External links

Category:Colonialism Category:Administrative divisions