kolonies

Kolonies are territories governed and exploited by a distant state, often founded through settlement or conquest and administered by representatives from the metropole. They typically operate to benefit the metropole economically, politically, or strategically, and may exhibit varying degrees of autonomy in practice.

Historically, major powers established colonies from the 15th through the 20th centuries as part of imperial expansion. Motives included access to resources, new markets, strategic advantage, and the spread of religion or culture. Colonial control took many forms: settler colonies, where large numbers of colonists settled in the territory (for example British North America, Australia); and extractive or plantation colonies, focused on resource extraction or cash crops (Caribbean islands, much of Africa and Asia). Administratively, powers used direct rule, indirect rule through local elites, or chartered companies with special rights.

Impact was profound and contested. Indigenous populations often suffered displacement, violence, and cultural disruption. Economies were reorganized to serve the metropole, shaping later development trajectories and borders, many of which persist today. Movements for independence gained strength especially after World War II, leading to widespread decolonization and the emergence of sovereign states. In the modern era, most former colonies have gained full sovereignty, though some remain dependent territories or face ongoing disputes and neocolonial critiques.

The term kolonies also appears in biology to describe colonies of organisms formed by growth from a single ancestor, such as bacterial colonies on a culture plate.

See also: colonialism, decolonization, protectorate, empire.