What are the current colonies in the world

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When speaking of the term "colony" we usually associate it with ancient territories, such as the colonies in America of the Spanish Empire or the African colonies of European countries, but the reality is that there are still many colonies In our world. Although most of the colonies of the previous centuries have achieved independence, there are still a number of regions still dependent on other countries. For this reason, in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to talk about current colonies in the world.

Index

1. What is a colony? Simple definition
2. The British colonies
3. Current United States Colonies
4. Other current colonies in the world

To begin this lesson on today's colonies in the world we must define the term of colony for those people who are not very clear about what we mean by this word.

The word Suburbrefers to a economic and political term that is applied to a population that is under the government or administration of another country, which is called a metropolis. The colony has no autonomy and is under the sovereignty of the metropolis.

The term of colony was very important in previous centuries, since a large part of the African and American countries have been colonies of other states, changing this after theamerican wars of independenceand after the decisions of the United Nations after World War II.

Colonies can vary greatly from each other, but most have a number of common features, which are the following:

• With exceptions, the colony is under the total government and administration of the metropolis.
• Mix of cultures.
• In the current colonies the citizens of the colonies are equal with respect to those of the metropolis.
• In some cases they may have the right to form movements for independence.

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In the current world there are 18 colonies according to the United Nations Decolonization Committee. Of these 18, more than half belong to the United Kingdom, since they maintain some of the regions from the time of the British Empire. The 10 UK colonies are as follows:

• Eel: An island located in the Caribbean Sea and that has a population of almost 16,000 inhabitants.
• Bermuda: Near the famous Bermuda Triangle. They have a population of almost 66,000 inhabitants.
• Gibraltar: Located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, it has a population of 33,000 inhabitants.
• Cayman Islands: A Caribbean island with 58,000 inhabitants.
• Falkland Islands: A disputed territory between the United Kingdom and Argentina with a population of 2,500 inhabitants.
• Turks and Caicos Islands: Another Caribbean island with a population of almost 37,000 people.
• British Virgin Islands: 28,000 inhabitants has this Caribbean island.
• Montserrat: A Caribbean island with only 5,000 inhabitants.
• Pitcairn: An archipelago located in Polynesia that is inhabited by 40 people. Being the colony with the least inhabitants in the world.
• Saint Helena: Located in the Atlantic it has a population of almost 6,000 people.

Image: Geocurrents.info

The rest of the colonies of the world are more distributed between different countries. Of these countries, the United States is the one with the largest number of colonies, which are:

• Puerto Rico: It is a free associated state, that is, it has an autonomous government but they are still from the United States. It is considered by some to be the oldest colony in the world, while for others it should not even be considered a colony.
• Guam: An island located in the western Pacific with a population of 160,000.
• United States Virgin Islands: A Caribbean island with more than 100,000 inhabitants. It is the only territory in the United States where you drive on the left.
• American Samoa: A set of islands that forms an archipelago. They have more than 55,000 inhabitants, and are famous for their rugby team.

The other country with colonies is France, which has two territories, which are New Caledonia and French Polynesia. The first is a group of islands with more than 268,000 inhabitants which are in talks to become independent from France, on the other hand French Polynesia, is a French overseas community inhabited by more than 270,000 population.

Finally there are the transferred territories, which are regions transferred between countries, but the United Nations does not consider these transfers as valid. These two colonies are:

• Occidental Sahara: In 1976 Spain transferred the government of the region to Morocco and Mauritania.
• Tokelau: In 1948 the United Kingdom gave control to New Zealand.

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