Colonies

From ArticleWorld

Colonies is a term that may be used to define geographical areas politically controlled by a remote country, places that are ruled by another country. Thus, colonies are territories settled or conquered by a people from a far-off land for the purpose of expanding cultural, economic, or political power. The new citizens are people who settle away from home but maintain ties with their homeland; they remain nationals of their home state but for all practical purposes maintain an autonomous system of government.

The Oxford English dictionary defines a colony as, "A settlement in a new country; a body of people who settle in a new locality, forming a community subject to or connected with their parent state; the community so formed, consisting of the original settlers and their descendants and successors, as long as the connection with the parent state is kept up."

The natives

The natives, or the local population, of the place that is colonized, do not enjoy full citizenship rights in their own land after it has been taken over by outsiders. Some of the several problems they face may be enumerated as:

1. Their independence is restricted;
2. Their property is seized to make place for the outsiders to stay;
3. Foreign religion, legal processes and systems are imposed on the indigenous population;
4. The natives are very often treated as filth and subjected to vicious force, sometimes even genocide; and,
5. They are treated as free and bonded labor by their colonizers.

History

The term colony has its root in the Latin word colonia meaning an area for agricultural activities. In ancient times, the Romans set up colonies by either wiping out the earlier population or settling in non-pastured land. The Greeks typically believed in setting up colonies through non-violent means. Interestingly, the name of the German City Cologne also comes from the same root.

Modern colonies

• India was colonized by the British who left the Country only in 1947 after ruling it for more than 200 years;
• Japan had colonized Korea and
• Philippines was earlier colonized by Spain and then by USA from 1898 to 1946.