Colony

In politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a geographically-distant state (or city, in ancient times). Some colonies were historically separate countries, while others were territories without definite statehood at the moment of colonization. The metropolitan state is the state that owns the colony. In Ancient Greece, the city that owned a colony was called the metropolis within its political organization. Mother country is the term used to refer to the metropolitan state by its citizens that live in a colony. In some cases colonies are referred to as overseas territories.

Colonies in ancient civilizations (examples)

• Assyria was originally a colony of Babylonia
• Carthage was a Phoenician colony
• Cyrene was a colony of the Greeks of Thera
• Naples formed as a Greek colony

See also Colonies in antiquity

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