Colonialism

Colonialism is a system of domination characterised by the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an <a href="/facts/Imperialism/JvofndS2">imperialist</a> project, colonialism can also take the form of <a href="/facts/Settler_colonialism/9rEpsQuL">settler colonialism</a>, whereby settlers from one or multiple colonizing metropoles occupy a territory with the intention of partially or completely supplanting the existing population.: 2 
Colonialism developed as a concept describing European <a href="/facts/Colonial_empire/Ekq3f5mr">colonial empires</a> of the <a href="/facts/Modern_era/uB3yXt4H">modern era</a>, which spread globally from the 15th century to the mid-20th century, spanning 35% of Earth's land by 1800 and peaking at 84% by the beginning of World War I. European colonialism employed <a href="/facts/Mercantilism/96U7yI74">mercantilism</a> and <a href="/facts/Chartered_company/9elCSRY3">chartered companies</a>, and established <a href="/facts/Coloniality_of_power/SPvya3uh">coloniality</a>, which keeps the colonized socio-economically <a href="/facts/Other_(philosophy)/ar6kEVTe">othered</a> and <a href="/facts/Subaltern_(postcolonialism)/n4kEJ0zH">subaltern</a> through modern <a href="/facts/Biopolitics/8W5DDxWQ">biopolitics</a> of <a href="/facts/Heteronormativity/0Fmphyve">sexuality</a>, <a href="/facts/Patriarchy/oTko9QfX">gender</a>, <a href="/facts/Racism/SfrqGbu8">race</a>, <a href="/facts/Ableism/jv0eaWgz">disability</a> and <a href="/facts/Class_politics/HUQIUXTj">class</a>, among others, resulting in <a href="/facts/Intersectionality/55jgWfs5">intersectional</a> violence and <a href="/facts/Discrimination/B2M2HqxR">discrimination</a>. Colonialism has been justified with beliefs of having a <a href="/facts/Civilizing_mission/lHNaM4F3">civilizing mission</a> to cultivate land and life, based on beliefs of entitlement and superiority, historically often rooted in the belief of a <a href="/facts/Christian_mission/xaxfBxWk">Christian mission</a>.

Because of this broad impact different instances of colonialism have been identified from around the world and in history, starting with when <a href="/facts/Colonization/mp9GRL94">colonization</a> was developed by developing <a href="/facts/Colonies/6ku13Po7">colonies</a> and <a href="/facts/Metropole/6Rnv86DV">metropoles</a>, the base colonial separation and characteristic.
<a href="/facts/Decolonization/EkIM0zpj">Decolonization</a>, which started in the 18th century, gradually led to the independence of colonies in waves, with a particular large wave of decolonizations happening in the <a href="/facts/Aftermath_of_World_War_II/htgyL1tJ">aftermath of World War II</a> between 1945 and 1975. Colonialism has a <a href="/facts/Persistence_studies/Xwouz9VL">persistent impact</a> on a wide range of modern outcomes, as scholars have shown that variations in colonial institutions can account for variations in <a href="/facts/Economic_development/4KRrMBaM">economic development</a>, <a href="/facts/Government/N4bYL0VC">regime types</a>, and <a href="/facts/State_capacity/zf5gPWVA">state capacity</a>. Some academics have used the term <a href="/facts/Neocolonialism/LetJm7zX">neocolonialism</a> to describe the continuation or imposition of elements of colonial rule through indirect means in the contemporary period.

Colonialism open-in-new

Colonialism