• '''
L'Anse aux Meadows''': a
Norse colony which existed 1025 AD. • '''''': a
colony of
Portugal from the 16th century to its independence in 1975. • '''''' was formed as a
Dominion in 1901 from a
federation of six distinct British colonies which were founded between 1788 and 1829. • '''''': was a colony of Great Britain that was important in the Atlantic slave trade. It gained its independence in 1966. • '''''': a
colony of Portugal since the 16th century. Independent since 1822. • '''''': was colonized first by
France as
New France (1534–1763) and England (in
Newfoundland, 1582) then
under British rule (1763–1867), before achieving
Dominion status and losing "colony" designation. • '''''': a
colony of
Belgium from 1908 to 1960; previously under
private ownership of
King Leopold II. • '''''' was formed in October 1887 from Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina (which together form modern Vietnam) and the Kingdom of Cambodia; Laos was added after the
Franco-Siamese conflict of 1893. The federation lasted until 1954. In the four protectorates, the French formally left the local rulers in power, who were the
Emperors of Vietnam,
Kings of Cambodia, and Kings of Luang Prabang, but gathered all powers in their hands, the local rulers acting only as figureheads. • '''''': Contact between
Europe and Ghana (known as the
Gold Coast) began in the 15th century with the arrival of the
Portuguese. This soon led to the establishment of several colonies by European powers:
Portuguese Gold Coast (1482–1642),
Dutch Gold Coast (1598–1872),
Swedish Gold Coast (1650–1663),
Danish Gold Coast (1658–1850),
Brandenburger and Prussian Gold Coast (1685–1721) and
British Gold Coast (1821–1957). In 1957, Ghana was the first African colony south of the Sahara to become independent. • '''''' was a colony of
Denmark-Norway from 1721 and was a colony of
Denmark from 1814 to 1953. In 1953 Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom. Home rule was granted in 1979 and extended to self-rule in 2009. See also
Danish colonization of the Americas. • '''''': a
colony of
Portugal since the 15th century. Independent since 1974. • '''''' was a British
colony (from 1983 British Dependent Territory) from 1841 to 1997. Is now a
Special Administrative Region of China. • '''''' was an imperial political entity comprising present-day India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan with regions under the
direct control of the British Government of the United Kingdom from 1858 to 1947. From the 15th century until 1961,
Portuguese India (
Goa) was a
colony of
Portugal.
Pondicherry and
Chandernagore were part of
French India from 1759 to 1954. Small Danish colonies of
Tharangambadi,
Serampore and the
Nicobar Islands from 1620 to 1869 were known as
Danish India. • '''''' was a
colony of the
Netherlands gained full independence in 1949. • '''''' was part of the
Spanish West Indies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It became an
English colony in 1655 and; independence in 1962. • '''''' a colony set up in 1821 by American private citizens for the migration of
African American freedmen. Liberian Declaration of Independence from the
American Colonization Society on 26 July 1847. It is the second oldest black republic in the world after
Haiti. • '''''' was a
Portuguese colony (from 1976 a "Chinese territory under Portuguese administration") from 1557 to 1999. In 1999, two years after Hong Kong, it became a
Special Administrative Region of China. • '''''' was initially colonized by the
Portuguese Empire in 1511 after capturing
Malacca. After 1511, Britain established colonies and trading ports on the
Malay Peninsula; Penang was leased to the
British East India Company. The
Dutch Empire encountered Malaysia when it was looking for spices to trade with. • '''''' was a British
protectorate and later a
colony from the
French Revolutionary Wars in 1800 to independence in 1964. • '''''': a
colony of
Portugal since the 15th century. Independent since 1975. • '''''', previously a
colony of
Spain from to 1898 as part of the
Spanish East Indies, was a
colony of the
United States from 1898 to 1946. Achieved self-governing
Commonwealth status in 1935; independent in 1946. • '''''' was a
colony of
Spain from 1493 to 1898, when it passed to be a colonial possession of the
United States, classified by the United States as "an unincorporated territory". In 1914, the Puerto Rican House of Delegates voted unanimously in favor of independence from the United States, but this was rejected by the U.S. Congress as "unconstitutional" and in violation of the U.S. 1900
Foraker Act. In 1952, after the US Congress approved Puerto Rico's constitution, its formal name became "Commonwealth of Puerto Rico", but its new name "did not change Puerto Rico's political, social, and economic relationship to the United States." That year, the United States advised the United Nations (UN) that the island was a self-governing territory. The United States has been "unwilling to play in public the imperial role... it has no appetite for acknowledging in a public way the contradictions implicit in frankly colonial rule." The island has been called the world's oldest colony by many, including US Federal judges, US Congresspeople, the Chief Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, and numerous scholars. • '''''' consisted of territories and colonies by various African and European powers, including the Dutch and the British, and the Nguni. The territory consisting of the modern nation was ruled directly by the British from 1806 to 1910; became a self-governing dominion of
Union of South Africa in 1910. • '''''': a British colony from 1815 to 1948. Known as
Ceylon. Was a
British Dominion until 1972. Also a
Portuguese colony in the 16th–17th centuries, and a
Dutch colony in the 17th–18th centuries. • '''''' was a colony of
Japan from 1910 to 1945.
North Korea and
South Korea were established in 1948. • ''''
has a complex history of colonial rule under various powers, including the Dutch (1624–1662), Spanish (1626–1642), Chinese (1683–1895) and Japanese (1895–1945). The precolonial (pre-1624) inhabitants of Taiwan are the ethno-linguistically Austronesian Taiwanese indigenous peoples, rather than the vast majority of present-day Taiwanese people, who are mostly ethno-linguistically Han Chinese. Twice throughout history, Taiwan has served as a quasi
rump state for Chinese governments, the first instance being the Ming-loyalist Kingdom of Tungning (1662–1683) and the second instance being the present-day Republic of China (ROC), which officially claims continuity or succession from the Nationalist government, having retreated from mainland China to Taiwan in 1949 during the final years of the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949). The ROC, whose de facto'' territory consists almost entirely of the
island of Taiwan and
its minor satellite islands, continues to rule Taiwan as if it were a separate country from the
People's Republic of China (consisting of
mainland China, Hong Kong, and
Macau). • The '''''' was formed from a
confederation of
thirteen British colonies. The
Colony of Virginia was the first of the thirteen colonies. All thirteen declared independence in July 1776 and expelled the British governors during the
American Revolution ==Current colonies==