How many colonies are there in the world?

1. First, let's review the concept of colony.

a colony refers to an area ruled by a suzerain, which has no independent rights in politics, economy, military affairs and diplomacy, but is completely controlled by the suzerain. Colonies in a broad sense also include semi-colonial countries and protectorates that are controlled by other countries in one or more aspects, such as economy, military and diplomacy, although they have administrative organs, military and other state machines.

2. Then, look at the situation so far.

Now most colonies have gained independence, and the world colonial system no longer exists. But so far, some regions, such as New Caledonia, Greenland, Puerto Rico, Guam, etc., have not gained independence, but they all have certain autonomy.

3. Third, let's know its history.

Colonies in ancient times were mostly the continuation of the suzerain country overseas, such as Carthage founded by the Phoenicians. In ancient Greece, the Greek cities established many colonies along the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, once as far away as the coasts of North Africa and Spain. The Greek colonial movement began with the need of trade with overseas regions. At the same time, some Greek citizens were dissatisfied with the political status quo of their city-state, or moved overseas because of a small land and a large population. After the establishment of Greek overseas colonies, most of them maintained political independence, but they kept certain ties with their mother countries, sent representatives to participate in the ancient Olympic Games throughout Greece, and were proud of being the outpost of Greek civilization. Some Greek colonies have survived to this day, such as Syracuse (now Syracuse), taranto and Byzantium (now Istanbul) in Sicily.

The modern word "colony" comes from "Colonia" in ancient Rome, which originally refers to a village community composed of Roman citizens and their families who guarded the coast of Apennine Peninsula. With the expansion of Roman territory, this system was gradually extended to newly conquered areas and evolved into a colonial system. Colonists still enjoy all the rights of Roman citizens, but the population in the conquered areas can't enjoy Roman citizenship (in the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, with the romanization of the conquered areas, citizenship was granted to colonial people).

4. Special circumstances.

It has always been a controversial issue whether the newly conquered areas connected with the original territory of our country but with different races and cultures can be counted as colonies. In history, the Russian colonization of Central Asia, Siberia and North America, the westward movement of the United States, the colonization of Eastern Europe by the Teutonic Knights, and the conquest of the surrounding areas of the Central Plains (such as Lingnan, Baiyue, Central Asia, Mongolia and Tibet) by some dynasties in ancient China all have the nature of conquering colonies. Some historians also count these conquests of new territories as colonial movements. However, some historians believe that after being conquered, these areas have evolved into new provinces (or states) with equal status with other administrative divisions of the suzerain, and adopted the language, culture and ideology of the suzerain, so they should not be counted as colonies.

a compromise view is that the conquest itself is regarded as a colonial act, but the period of the conquered area as a colony will end when it joins the suzerain as an entity with the same status as other political entities (such as provinces and states) and its residents enjoy completely equal political rights with citizens of the suzerain. Take American history as an example, that is, from the time when the new western territory came under American rule to the time when the territory joined the United States as a state, this period can be regarded as a colonial period in the region (for example, Alaska from 1867 to 1959). Historically, the vassal relationship between China's neighboring countries and China is also different from the relationship between colonies and suzerain countries, because these countries have internal autonomy politically and are completely independent economically and militarily. In fact, this relationship is somewhat similar to the relationship between the German states and the emperor in the early days of the Holy Roman Empire, and the submission of European countries to the Vatican in Rome before the Reformation.

5. Another controversy.

The second controversial issue is the difference between overseas territories and colonies. Some small colonies (mostly islands) that were desolate and uninhabited areas, whose residents were immigrants from the suzerain country, enjoyed complete and full political rights, shared the same culture with the suzerain country, and had a sense of identity with the suzerain country, or were too desolate to have permanent residents, could not be regarded as colonies. Specifically, for example, the Falkland Islands, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha in Britain and Bouvet in Norway. Although some overseas provinces in France are different in race from France, they also have a strong sense of identity with French culture and are unwilling to be independent.

On the contrary, if a colony is listed as an "overseas territory" or an "overseas province", but its residents can't enjoy the political rights completely equal to those of the citizens of the suzerain country because of their skin color, race, beliefs and other reasons, the region is still regarded as a colony. The most famous example in this regard is that after Portugal declared Angola, Mozambique and other African colonies as "overseas provinces" in the 195s, most countries in the world did not recognize these areas as non-colonial areas because the local blacks could not enjoy full civil rights. The same example is that after iain smith declared the independence of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on November 11, 1965, because the political status of blacks in China was still the same as before independence, all countries in the world, including Britain, did not recognize Rhodesia as an independent country, except a few countries such as South Africa and Portugal, and Britain also put forward a principle called "NIBMAR". That is, "no independence before major African rule"

6. We should defend a principle.

that is, no country can claim Antarctica or declare it a colony.

7. Some relevant information.

Existing colonies and overseas territories

Britain: Bermuda, Falkland Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Helena, Gibraltar, Pitcairn Island, Diego Garcia Islands

France: Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Reunion, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, St. Pierre and France. French southern and Antarctic territories

Netherlands: Aruba, Netherlands Antilles

Denmark: Greenland, Faroe Islands

Norway: Bouvet Island

United States: Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands

Spain: Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla

Portugal: Madeira. Macquarie island, Hurd Island

8. List of Non-Self-Governing Territories published by the United Nations Decolonization Committee

Africa

Western Sahara

Europe

Gibraltar (Britain)

Atlantic region

Anguilla (Britain)

Bermuda

British Virgin Islands (Britain)

Falkland Islands (Falkland Islands).

Montserrat (UK)

Saint Helena (including Goff Island, Tristan da Cunha and Ascension Island) (UK)

Pacific

American Samoa (US)

Guam (US)

New Caledonia (France)

Pitcairn Island (UK)

a. From the 17th century, Spain, Portugal, the Dutch and the French arrived here, especially at the end of the 17th century, when the British entered Australia, the 5,-year occupation of this continent by Australian aborigines came to an end. In 177, Britain claimed the sovereignty of Australia. On January 26, 1788, the first group of British navigator Arthur Philip settled in Sydney, and raised the British flag in Sydney, and Australia officially became a British colony. After that, Australia was once a penal colony in Britain, until the discovery of gold mines in 1851, when free immigrants surged. By the end of 19th century, Britain had established six colonies in Australia.

on January 1st, 191, 1 colonies in Australia were changed into states, which formed the Commonwealth of Australia and became a federation or dominion within the British Empire. Australia is a constitutional monarchy country, and the "Australian monarch" is the head of state. According to Australian law, the British monarch is the Australian monarch. In 1931, Australia gained independence in domestic and foreign affairs and became an independent country within the Commonwealth. In 1986, Queen Elizabeth II signed the Australia Relations Act in Australia, which stipulated that the Supreme Court of Australia had the power of final adjudication, and British laws were no longer valid for Australia. In 1999, Australia held a referendum on whether to replace the Queen with * * * and the system, and the final result was no.

B. In short, the Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy, with the Queen of Australia as the head of state and the Governor-General as the representative of the Queen. But in fact, the monarch is symbolic. Executive power is controlled by an elected cabinet, and the Prime Minister is the leader of the cabinet. The prime minister is generally the majority leader of the House of Representatives.

The Federal Parliament consists of two houses: the House of Representatives (15 seats) and the Senate (76 seats). The two houses hold general elections every three years.

C. Australian political parties:

Australian Liberal Party (LIB)

Australian Labour Party (ALP)

Australian Democrats (DEM)

Unity Party, Short for UP)

Australian Green Party

One Nation Party, also translated as "National Party of Australia"

1. Finally, make a summary.

and colonies. But it is not in the sense of a hundred years ago.

according to the above, Australia is no longer a colony. Just as a member of the Commonwealth. What do you want to know about Commonwealth?

The leader of Australia is the Prime Minister, who is elected by his own people. The British King finally makes an appointment.

Resources: Wikipedia. Unfortunately, it seems to have been blocked recently, and I feel that I can't open it for a long time.