Colonization facts for kids

A stamp showing Lord Bacon, who helped with colonization plans.

Colonization is when a powerful country or group takes control of another land and its people. They often send their own people to live there.

The word "colonization" comes from the Latin word colere, which means "to inhabit" or "to live in". It usually means people moving to new places to set up homes, like settlers in America or Australia. It also includes setting up trading posts or large farms called plantations.

Colonization is closely related to colonialism. Colonialism is about one country ruling over another, especially when they take over lands where indigenous peoples (native people) already live.

Many millions of people from countries in Western Europe spread out across the world through colonization. In some places, like the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand, European settlers became the main group of people living there. These places were sometimes called 'neo-Europes' (new Europes). In other areas, European settlers were a smaller group, but they often held most of the power.

When Britain began to settle Australia, New Zealand, and other islands, they often called these lands terra nullius. This Latin phrase means 'empty land'. Even though native people lived there, Europeans sometimes thought the land was "empty" because it wasn't farmed in the European way.

In the 1800s, laws and ideas like Mexico's General Colonization Law and the United States' Manifest Destiny encouraged even more European colonization in the Americas.

What is Space Colonization?

In science fiction stories, space colonization is often shown as humans finding and settling on planets that have no one living on them. For example, the colonization of Mars is a popular idea in these stories. Sometimes, humans might even create new places to live in space, like by changing a planet to make it livable (this is called terraforming) or by building large space habitats. These new homes are also called "colonies."

Images for kids

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  World empires and colonies in 1550

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  World empires and colonies in 1936

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  A protest sign from the 20th century about Soviet expansion.

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  Another protest sign asking the U.N. to end Soviet control in Baltic states.

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  Sign on the JAO government headquarters.

See also

In Spanish: Colonización para niños