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List of former European colonies
From Wikipedia - Reading time: 8 min
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This is a list of former European colonies.
The European countries which had the most colonies throughout history were: United Kingdom (130), France (90), Portugal (52), Spain (44), Netherlands (29), Germany (20), Russia (17), Denmark (9), Sweden (8), Italy (7), Norway (6), Knights of Malta (6), Belgium (3), and Courland (2).
North America
[edit]Denmark
[edit]| Name | Capital or main city | From | To | Ruling power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danish West Indies | Charlotte Amalie | 1672 | 1814 | Denmark–Norway |
| 1814 | 1917 | Denmark | ||
| South Greenland | Godthåb | 1782 | 1814 | Denmark–Norway |
| 1814 | 1950 | Denmark | ||
| North Greenland | Godhavn | 1782 | 1814 | Denmark–Norway |
| 1814 | 1950 | Denmark | ||
| Colony of Greenland | Godthåb | 1950 | 1953 | |
| County of Greenland | 1953 | 1979 | ||
| Greenland | Nuuk | 1979 | present |
France
[edit]| Name | Capital or main city | From | To | Ruling power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New France | Quebec | 1534 | 1763 | France |
| Canada | 1535 | |||
| Acadia | Port-Royal | 1604 | 1713 | |
| Saint-Domingue | Port-au-Prince | 1659 | 1792 | |
| 1792 | 1803 | |||
| Illinois | St. Louis | 1675 | 1769 | |
| 1801 | 1803 | |||
| Louisiana | New Orleans | 1682 | 1762 | |
| 1801 | 1803 | |||
| Île-Royale | Louisbourg | 1713 | 1763 |
Great Britain
[edit]- British America (New Britain)
- Canada
- "Thirteen Colonies" (The United States of America)
- Other North American colonies
- Province of East Florida
- Province of West Florida
- British Honduras
- Bay Islands
Iceland
[edit]Netherlands
[edit]- New Netherland (Nieuw-Amsterdam / New York)
Norway
[edit]Russia
[edit]Scotland
[edit]Spain
[edit]- Mexico (1521)
- Viceroyalty of New Spain (1535–1821)
Sweden
[edit]Caribbean
[edit]Brandenburg
[edit]Courland
[edit]Denmark-Norway
[edit]France
[edit]Knights of Malta
[edit]- Saint Barthélemy
- Saint Martin
- Saint Christopher (St Kitts)
- Saint Croix
- Tortuga (off coast of Haiti)
Netherlands
[edit]Spain
[edit]Sweden
[edit]Sweden-Norway
[edit]- Cooper Island
- Saint-Barthélemy (1814–1878)
United Kingdom
[edit]- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Jamaica
- Leeward Islands
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Dominica
- Saint Christopher (St Kitts)-Nevis
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Windward Islands
South America
[edit]Augsburg/Nuremberg
[edit]France
[edit]- Brazil (Rio de Janeiro briefly, and São Luís briefly)
(see France Antarctique and France Équinoxiale)
- Iles Malouines (Falkland Islands)
Netherlands
[edit]- Berbice (Guyana)
- Demerara
- Dutch colonisation of the Guianas, overview
- Surinam (Suriname)
- Essequibo
- New Holland (Brazil – Half the captaincies)
Portugal
[edit]Spain
[edit]- Kingdom of Tierra Firme (1498–1537)
- Governorate of New Andalusia (1501–1513)
- Governorate of Castilla de Oro (1514–1539)
- Governorate of New Castile (1529–1542)
- Governorate of New Toledo (1529–1542)
- Governorate of New León (1529–1539)
- Governorate of New Andalusia (1534–1617)
- Viceroyalty of Peru (1542–1824)
- New Kingdom of Granada (1538–1717) (1723–1739)
- Real Audiencia of Panamá (1538–1717) (1723–1739)
- Captaincy General of Chile (1541–1818)
- Real Audiencia of Lima (1542–1821)
- Governorate of the Río de la Plata (1549–1776)
- Real Audiencia of Charcas (1559–1776)
- Real Audiencia of Quito (1563–1717) (1723–1739)
- Real Audiencia of Concepción (1565–1575)
- Governorate of Guayrá (1617–1776)
- Real Audiencia of Buenos Aires (1661–1671)
- Real Audiencia of Cuzco (1787–1825)
- Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1723) (1739–1810) (1815–1822)
- Real Audiencia of Panamá (1717–1723) (1739–1752)
- Real Audiencia of Quito (1717–1723) (1739–1822)
- Captaincy General of Venezuela (1777–1824)
- Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (1776–1814)
- Governorate of Paraguay (1776–1782)
- Real Audiencia of Charcas (1776–1821)
- Upper Peru (1821–1825)
United Kingdom
[edit]Africa
[edit]Belgium
[edit]Brandenburg
[edit]- Arguin (in Mauritania)
- Brandenburger Gold Coast (coastal settlements in Ghana)
Courland
[edit]Denmark-Norway
[edit]- Danish Gold Coast (coastal settlements in Ghana)
France
[edit]- Albreda (in The Gambia)
- Comoros
- French Dahomey (Benin)
- French Algeria
- French Cameroon (91% of modern Cameroon)
- French Chad
- French Congo (Republic of the Congo)
- French Guinea (Guinea)
- French Upper Volta (Republic of Upper Volta, Burkina Faso)
- French Somaliland (Djibouti)
- French Sudan (Mali)
- French Togoland (Togo)
- French Madagascar
- Gabon
- Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
- Colonial Mauritania
- French protectorate in Morocco (89% of Morocco)
- Oubangui-Chari (Central African Republic)
- Senegal
- Senegambia and Niger
- French protectorate of Tunisia
Germany
[edit]- German East Africa (Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania)
- German South-West Africa (Namibia)
- Kamerun (split between Cameroon and Nigeria)
- Togoland (split between Togo and Ghana)
- Wituland (Lamu Island, owned by Kenya)
Hospitaller Malta
[edit]Italy
[edit]Netherlands
[edit]- Arguin Island (in Mauritania)
- Dutch Cape Colony
- Dutch Gold Coast (settlements along coast of Ghana, including El Mina)
- Dutch Loango-Angola (Luanda, Sonyo and Cabinda)
- Gorée (Senegal)
- Moçambique (Delagoa Bay)
- São Tomé
- South Africa
- Mauritius
Portugal
[edit]- Ajuda (Whydah, in Benin)
- Portuguese Angola
- Annobón
- Cabinda
- Cape Verde (Cabo Verde)
- Ceuta
- Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá
- Gorée (in Senegal)
- Malindi
- Mombasa
- Algarve Ultramar (Morocco)
- Nigeria (Lagos area)
- Mozambique
- Portuguese Gold Coast (settlements along coast of Ghana)
- Portuguese Guinea (Guinea-Bissau)
- Quíloa
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Tangier
- Zanzibar
- Ziguinchor
Spain
[edit]- Bona
- Bougie
- Jerba
- Fernando Po and Annobon (insular Equatorial Guinea)
- Oran
- Port Guinea
- Río Muni (mainland Equatorial Guinea)
- Spanish Protectorate in Morocco
- Spanish West Africa
Sweden
[edit]- Swedish Gold Coast (coastal settlements in Ghana)
United Kingdom
[edit]- Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (Sudan)
- Basutoland (Lesotho)
- Balleland (Benin)
- Bechuanaland (Botswana)
- British East Africa (Kenya)
- British Somaliland (Somaliland)
- British Togoland (eastern Ghana)
- British Cameroon (split between Nigeria and Cameroon)
- British Mauritius
- British Egypt
- Gambia Colony and Protectorate
- Gold Coast (Ghana)
- Colonial Nigeria
- Northern Rhodesia (Zambia)
- Nyasaland (Malawi)
- Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate
- Union of South Africa
- South West Africa (Namibia)
- Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
- Swaziland (Eswatini)
- Tanganyika Territory (mainland Tanzania)
- Uganda Protectorate
- Sultanate of Zanzibar (insular Tanzania)
West Asia
[edit]France
[edit]Netherlands
[edit]- Jemen, Al Mukha (Mocca)
- Mesopotamia (Iraq, Al Basrah)
Portugal
[edit]United Kingdom
[edit]South Asia
[edit]Indian Ocean Area
[edit]France
[edit]Netherlands
[edit]- Dutch Mauritius (now Mauritius)
Portugal
[edit]Austria
[edit]United Kingdom
[edit]Mainland
[edit]Denmark-Norway
[edit]- Frederik Oerne Islands (Nicobar Islands)
- Serampore
- Tranquebar
France
[edit]Netherlands
[edit]Portugal
[edit]Sweden
[edit]United Kingdom
[edit]Asia-Pacific
[edit]France
[edit]Germany
[edit]Netherlands
[edit]- Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)
- Dutch New Guinea (Western Part of Papua, Indonesia)
- Malacca
- Dutch Formosa
Portugal
[edit]Spain
[edit]United Kingdom
[edit]- British Burma
- Australia
- British Solomon Islands
- British Western Pacific Territories
- Christmas Island
- Cocos Islands
- Colonial Fiji
- Gilbert and Ellice Islands (Kiribati & Tuvalu)
- Kingdom of Rarotonga (Cook Islands)
- New Zealand
- Niue
- Norfolk Island
- Territory of Papua and New Guinea
- Territory of New Guinea
- Western Samoa
- Phoenix Islands (part of Kiribati)
- Solomon Islands
- Territory of Papua
- Tokelau
- Tonga
- Southeast Asia
- Brunei
- Singapore
- China
Europe
[edit]Denmark
[edit]Italy
[edit]Spain
[edit]Norway
[edit]United Kingdom
[edit]- Cyprus
- Ionian islands (now part of Greece)
- Ireland
- Malta
- Menorca (now part of Spain)
- Heligoland (now part of Germany)
See also
[edit]- Austrian colonial policy
- Belgian colonial empire
- British colonial empire
- Danish colonial empire
- Dutch colonial empire
- French colonial empire
- German colonial empire
- List of former German colonies
- Italian colonial empire
- Portuguese colonial empire
- Evolution of the Portuguese Empire
- Russian colonial empire
- Spanish colonial empire
- Swedish colonial empire
References
[edit]Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_European_colonies39 views | Status: cached on August 13 2025 02:39:17↧ Download as ZWI file
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