Talk:List of colonies

Currently some "former countries" are shown in the main geographical listing and others are in a separate listing at the end. I suggest that for simplicity they are all put in the geographical listing. Ehrenkater (talk) 10:06, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

Here the last version of the list from the colonialism article: I didnt merge everything, I did just a quick merge. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colonialism&oldid=1213320353 Nsae Comp (talk) 09:50, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

genuinely, everytime i come back, it looks worse than it was before. occupation zones are not colonies, please put the colonies name instead of the countries names Moresnet (talk) 06:40, 18 March 2024 (UTC)

the colony is a government when the people disapprove it. Great achievement (talk) 02:52, 20 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi Owain ap Arthur, DervotNum4 and others. I have started this discussion to prevent edit warring on this article. Owain ap Arthur, perhaps you could set out the changes you would like to make and why please. Dgp4004 (talk) 16:41, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

I apologise for not making the reasons for the change clear. I believe British/English rule in Wales should be counted a colony(ies), particularly the Principality of Wales under England (1283-1542) and the Welsh Marches do count as colonies. They were ruled by English lords distinct from England. I don't see how this doesn't adhere to the definition of a colony? Owain ap Arthur (talk) 16:54, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

Please see WP:NOR. You should at least present some sources (and I hardly doubt it is due to call contemporary Wales a colony). Mellk (talk) 17:02, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

I'm taking the definition of a colony from Wikipedia, the Marcher Lords and Principality of Wales under England both seem to fit this definition. The Marcher Lords were appointed by and subject to the English monarchy and ruled over the native Welsh population who did not have the same legal status as people in England (Marcher Lords had complete jurisdiction over their subjects, except for treason against the English king), and also English/Norman settlers were encouraged and given seperate rights to the native population. The Principality of Wales established by the Statue of Rhuddlan also kept them separate from England under the rule directly of the King of England. Then after the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 integrated Wales into England directly however Welsh speakers were still prohibited from holding public office or participating in legal proceedings, and since the vast majority of the population were monoglot Welsh (a simple majority until the 19th century) this was effective exclusion and suppression of the Welsh native population. And now despite things like devolution, the UK still isn't a federal system and all power still ultimately is in Westminster, which over the last century and a half has effectively extracted a lot of wealth from Wales to England, making Wales now the poorest region in the UK (and one of the poorest in all Europe) despite being one of the most valuable regions in the world during the industrial revolution because most of the owners and traders were English. Owain ap Arthur (talk) 18:55, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

This still counts as original research. Please see WP:RS for guidance on how to find reliable sources. Mellk (talk) 18:57, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

For the Marcher Lords: Nelson, Lynn H. (1966). The Normans in South Wales, 1070–1171. Austin and London: University of Texas Press. Archived from the original on 10 April 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2008.

The Principality of Wales under England: The Statue of Rhuddlan: Bowen, Ivor (1908). The statutes of Wales. London: T. Fisher Unwin. pp. 2–27

From the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 that continued linguistic (effective) segregation of political rule in Wales: Marches in Wales Act 1534 (26 Hen. 8 c. 6), 34 & 35 Hen. 8 c. 26 § 4 (gave statutory recognition to the Council of Wales and the Marches, and established the Court of Great Sessions), 27 Hen. 8 c. 26 s. 20 (prohibiting Welsh in legal proceedings and public office). With the segregation of Welsh monoglots this meant only 30 out of 217 Judges on the Court of Great Sessions were actually Welsh.

I concede that the effective colonial status of Wales is a bigger topic than this page, but prior to 1830 (when the Court of Great) or the Welsh Courts Act 1942 (when Welsh speakers were allowed to speak in court) or the Welsh Lanuage Act 1993, which made the Welsh Marches, the Principality of Wales, and Wales under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 territories subject to foreign rule where the indigenous people were seperated legally from England/Britain. Owain ap Arthur (talk) 20:34, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

Beyond both of the sources being rather old, which is important in so much as the 1960s were the beginning of decolonial thought and ideas such as settler colonialism within academia, Nelson doesn't say that Wales was a colony, and mostly mentions "colonies" of Normans/Bretons/Flemish weavers etc. being set up in England and Wales. He comes closest in chapter 3 where of the Welsh marches he says colonization eventually followed, and that is all. Bowen has no mentions of colonies or colonisation throughout the text. -- Cdjp1 (talk) 12:21, 12 January 2026 (UTC)

The rest is also WP:OR (we shouldn't use primary sources to determine whether Wales is a colony or not). Mellk (talk) 12:37, 12 January 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for starting this discussion. I suppose I'll explain what I've been up to with this page.

This page, like most list pages, is currently painfully under sourced and full of OR. At somepoint I hope that every entree on this list will have a WP:RS attached to them. In the meantime I've been going through the page trying to trim down the text to include only those in which the colony itself has a page of its own, this avoids a lot of bloat. I determine if an entree is a colony based on if its page mentions that it is a colony or it is obvious given its name. I only use this criteria for determining what I remove from the page, not what I add. It is also important to note that something having been colonised does not make it a colony, in the long run of this page what should determine an entrees inclusion should be if a WP:RS explicitly states that it is a colony.

As for the various entrees added by Owain ap Arthur:

• Wales - I removed this one as its page doesn't mention being a colony and its primary topic is not that of a colony
• British rule in Wales - This one was added in a similar way to that of British rule in Ireland, with other "sub-colonies" underneath, though, British rule in Wales is a page that does not exist. Even then I don't think I would have removed this one for that reason, as it's purpose seems to be more for categorisation
• Welsh Marches - I would have removed this one as its page does not mention colonisation or it being a colony
• Principality of Wales - There is some reference to colonisation on this page, though the page itself can be more accurately described as one about a polity in which some colonisation took place
• English Wales - This one is odd as it links to History of Wales. Whilst it does mention colonisation the page itself is obviously not about a colony, the dating added along side the entree – (1542 until present) – seems to indicate that Wales is still a colony under the name "English Wales", which as far as I can tell, is not the case.

This all being said, adding a reliable source to an entree that explicitly refers to one of these as a colony would trump any of my own rules of inclusion. DervotNum4 (talk) 21:36, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

I thought I'd comment on Principality of Wales as i wrote (many years ago) most of the post-conquest parts of that article and the Conquest of Wales by Edward I article. I don't believe the WP:RS would support inclusion of the Principaliry as a whole. However, there was certainly settler colonialism in specific areas. Ennglish settlers were moved into to a small number of rural areas controlled by new Marcher Lords (eg in the Lordship of Denbigh) and the Crown established a small number of "English" boroughs (eg Caernarfon). Sources in the article. DeCausa (talk) 23:25, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

Colonies are being confused with provinces in the Roman section and elsewhere. The Romans had many colonies, but they are not listed here. Sirfurboy🏄 (talk) 08:46, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

Oh yeah, this page has a long history with OR. DervotNum4 (talk) 18:25, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

Oman has Colonized Dozens of Areas like Zanizbar, Most of Tanzania's Coast and small city in Modern day Pakistan Gadwar ~2026-18838-77 (talk) 11:00, 26 March 2026 (UTC)