A colony is a nation's settlement in a conquered or previously unsettled territory for the purpose of inhabiting and expanding territory. Typically, it has been a region or governmental unit created by another country outside that country's borders that is generally ruled by that country. Colonies were very common until the 1960s when Western countries began a process of decolonization that allowed former colonies to become independent nations.
The word comes from the Latin colōnia (“colony”), from colōnus (“farmer; colonist”), and from colō (“till, cultivate, worship”).