Colonization

Not to be confused with Colonisation (biology), the process by which species spread to new areas.
For the philosophy or policy of returning African Americans to Africa (Liberia), see American Colonization Society.
For other uses, see Colonization (disambiguation).
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Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples for the purpose of cultivation, trade, exploitation or settlement, setting up coloniality and often colonies, such as for agriculture, commonly pursued and maintained by, but distinct from, imperialism, mercantilism, or colonialism.[1][2][3][4] Colonization is sometimes used synonymously with settling, as with colonisation in biology.

Settler colonialism is a type of colonization structured and enforced by the settlers directly, while their or their ancestors' metropolitan country (metropole) maintains a connection or control through the settler's colonialism. In settler colonization, a minority group rules either through the assimilation or oppression of the indigenous peoples,[5][6] or by establishing itself as the demographic majority through driving away, displacing or outright killing the indigenous people, as well as through immigration and births of metropolitan as well as other settlers.

The European colonization of Australia, New Zealand, and other places in Oceania was fueled by explorers, and colonists often regarding the encountered landmasses as terra nullius ("empty land" in Latin).[7] This resulted in laws and ideas such as Mexico's General Colonization Law and the United States' manifest destiny doctrine which furthered colonization.

  1. ^ "Colonialism, Coloniality and Settler Colonialism". UnLeading. August 11, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  2. ^ Marc Ferro (1997). Colonization. Routledge. p. 1. doi:10.4324/9780203992586. ISBN 9780203992586."Colonization is associated with the occupation of a foreign land, with its being brought under cultivation, with the settlement of colonists. If this definition of the term "colony" is used, the phenomenon dates from the Greek period. Likewise we speak of Athenian, then Roman 'imperialism'."
  3. ^ "colonization noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes". Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  4. ^ "Different Paths: Colonization is More than Exploitation". LPE Project. October 20, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  5. ^ Howe, Stephen (2002). Empire: A Very Short Introduction. United States: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191604447.
  6. ^ Howe, Stephen (2002). Empire: A Very Short Introduction. United States: Oxford University Press. pp. 21–31.
  7. ^ Painter, Joe; Jeffrey, Alex (2009). Political Geography. London, GBR: SAGE Publications Ltd. p. 169.