Colonialism Dot Chart
| Country | Colonized | Independence | Region | Principal Colonial Power | Remarks on independence | Remarks on date of colonization | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 1830 | 1962 | Africa | France | 5 July 1962 (from France) | Conquest of Algiers | |
| Angola | 1575 | 1975 | Africa | Portugal | 11 November 1975 (from Portugal) | ||
| Antigua and Barbuda | 1632 | 1981 | Americas | UK | 1 November 1981 (from the UK) | ||
| Argentina | 1542 | 1816 | Americas | Spain | 9 July 1816 (from Spain) | Viceroyalty of Peru | |
| Australia | 1788 | 1901 | Asia | UK | 1 January 1901 (from the federation of UK colonies) | Australia Day | |
| Bahrain | 1892 | 1971 | Asia | UK | 15 August 1971 (from the UK) | ||
| Barbados | 1627 | 1966 | Americas | UK | 30 November 1966 (from the UK) | ||
| Belize | 1638 | 1981 | Americas | UK | 21 September 1981 (from the UK) | ||
| Benin | 1892 | 1960 | Africa | France | 1 August 1960 (from France) | ||
| Bolivia | 1533 | 1825 | Americas | Spain | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) | Conquest of Inca Empire | |
| Botswana | 1885 | 1966 | Africa | UK | 30 September 1966 (from the UK) | ||
| Brazil | 1534 | 1822 | Americas | Portugal | 7 September 1822 (from Portugal) | Captaincies of Brazil | |
| Brunei | 1888 | 1984 | Asia | UK | 1 January 1984 (from the UK) | Treaty of Protection | |
| Burkina Faso | 1896 | 1960 | Africa | France | 5 August 1960 (from France) | Become French Protectorate | |
| Burma | 1885 | 1948 | Asia | UK | 4 January 1948 (from the UK) | Annexed after Third Anglo-British War | |
| Burundi | 1891 | 1962 | Africa | Belgium | 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration) | Originally part of German East Africa | |
| Cambodia | 1867 | 1953 | Asia | France | 9 November 1953 (from France) | Originally claimed by Germany | |
| Cameroon | 1884 | 1960 | Africa | France | 1 January 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship) | ||
| Canada | 1534 | 1867 | Americas | UK | 1 July 1867 (union of British North American colonies); 11 December 1931 (recognized by UK per Statute of Westminster) | New France | |
| CAR | 1894 | 1960 | Africa | France | 13 August 1960 (from France) | Ubangi-Shari | |
| Chad | 1900 | 1960 | Africa | France | 11 August 1960 (from France) | Territoire Militaire des Pays et Protectorats du Tchad� | |
| Chile | 1541 | 1810 | Americas | Spain | 18 September 1810 (from Spain) | Santiago founded | |
| Colombia | 1510 | 1810 | Americas | Spain | 20 July 1810 (from Spain) | Founding of Santa Mar�a la Antigua del Dari_n | |
| Comoros | 1841 | 1975 | Africa | France | 6 July 1975 (from France) | ||
| DRC | 1876 | 1960 | Africa | Belgium | 30 June 1960 (from Belgium) | Stanley's first exploration of the Congo | |
| Congo, Republic of the | 1880 | 1960 | Africa | France | 15 August 1960 (from France) | Treaty with de Brazza | |
| Costa Rica | 1522 | 1821 | Americas | Spain | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | Arrival of Gil Gonzolez Davila | |
| Cote d'Ivoire | 1844 | 1960 | Africa | France | 7 August 1960 (from France) | Establishment of French Protectorate | |
| Cuba | 1511 | 1902 | Americas | Spain | 20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902); not acknowledged by the Cuban Government as a day of independence | First Spanish Settlement | |
| Djibouti | 1894 | 1977 | Africa | France | 27 June 1977 (from France) | French Somalialand | |
| Ecuador | 1534 | 1822 | Americas | Spain | 24 May 1822 (from Spain) | Conquest of Sebasti�n de Benalc�zar | |
| Egypt | 1882 | 1956 | Africa | UK | 28 February 1922 (from UK protectorate status; the revolution that began on 23 July 1952 led to a republic being declared on 18 June 1953 and all British troops withdrawn on 18 June 1956); note - it was ca. 3200 B.C. that the Two Lands of Upper (southern) and Lower (northern) Egypt were first united politically | British occupation | |
| El Salvador | 1524 | 1821 | Americas | Spain | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | Conquest by Pedro de Alvarado | |
| Equatorial Guinea | 1844 | 1968 | Africa | Spain | 12 October 1968 (from Spain) | Territorios Espa_oles del Golfo de Guinea | |
| Fiji | 1874 | 1970 | Asia | UK | 10 October 1970 (from the UK) | British subjugation | |
| Gabon | 1885 | 1960 | Africa | France | 17 August 1960 (from France) | Occupied by France | |
| Gambia, The | 1815 | 1965 | Africa | UK | 18 February 1965 (from the UK) | British presence established | |
| Ghana | 1612 | 1957 | Africa | UK | 6 March 1957 (from the UK) | Gold coast forts | |
| Grenada | 1649 | 1974 | Americas | UK | 7 February 1974 (from the UK) | French found permanent settlement | |
| Guatemala | 1524 | 1821 | Americas | Spain | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | Conquest by Pedro de Alvarado | |
| Guinea-Bissau | 1482 | 1974 | Africa | Portugal | 24 September 1973 (declared); 10 September 1974 (from Portugal) | Portuguese gold coast colony | |
| Guinea | 1850 | 1958 | Africa | France | 2 October 1958 (from France) | French military penetration in the mid-19th century | |
| Guyana | 1616 | 1966 | Americas | UK | 26 May 1966 (from the UK) | Essequebo colony (Durch) | |
| Haiti | 1492 | 1804 | Americas | France | 1 January 1804 (from France) | Columbus found La Navidad | |
| Honduras | 1524 | 1821 | Americas | Spain | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | Conquest of Gil Gonz�lez de �vila | |
| Hong Kong | 1842 | 1997 | Asia | UK | none (special administrative region of China) | Treaty of Nanking | |
| India | 1756 | 1947 | Asia | UK | 15 August 1947 (from the UK) | Company rule by East India Company begins | |
| Indonesia | 1602 | 1949 | Asia | Netherlands | 17 August 1945 (declared) | Dutch East India Company Established in 1602 | |
| Iraq | 1920 | 1932 | Asia | UK | 3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration); note - on 28 June 2004 the Coalition Provisional Authority transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government | League of Nations mandate under British administration | |
| Jamaica | 1509 | 1962 | Americas | UK | 6 August 1962 (from the UK) | First Spanish settlement | |
| Jordan | 1922 | 1946 | Asia | UK | 25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration) | League of Nations mandate under British administration | |
| Kenya | 1888 | 1963 | Africa | UK | 12 December 1963 (from the UK) | Imperial British East Africa Company | |
| Kuwait | 1899 | 1961 | Asia | UK | 19 June 1961 (from the UK) | British protectorate | |
| Laos | 1893 | 1949 | Asia | France | 19 July 1949 (from France) | French protectorate of Laos | |
| Lebanon | 1920 | 1943 | Asia | France | 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration) | League of Nations mandate under French administration | |
| Lesotho | 1838 | 1966 | Africa | UK | 4 October 1966 (from the UK) | arrival of Trekboers | |
| Libya | 1912 | 1951 | Africa | UK | 24 December 1951 (from UN trusteeship) | Italian North Africa | |
| Macau | 1557 | 1999 | Asia | Portugal | none (special administrative region of China) | Portugal settlement | |
| Madagascar | 1882 | 1960 | Africa | France | 26 June 1960 (from France) | Malagasy Protectorate | |
| Malawi | 1876 | 1964 | Africa | UK | 6 July 1964 (from the UK) | Trading settlement at Blantyre | |
| Malaysia | 1511 | 1957 | Asia | UK | 31 August 1957 (from the UK) | Portuguese Malacca | |
| Mali | 1880 | 1960 | Africa | France | 22 September 1960 (from France) | French Sudan | |
| Mauritania | 1890 | 1960 | Africa | France | 28 November 1960 (from France) | Approximate | |
| Mexico | 1519 | 1821 | Americas | Spain | 16 September 1810 (declared); 27 September 1821 (recognized by Spain) | Spanish conquest | |
| Morocco | 1884 | 1956 | Africa | France | 2 March 1956 (from France) | First Spanish protectorate | |
| Mozambique | 1501 | 1975 | Africa | Portugal | 25 June 1975 (from Portugal) | Captaincy of Sofala | |
| New Zealand | 1788 | 1907 | Asia | UK | 26 September 1907 (from the UK) | Colony of New South Wales | |
| Nicaragua | 1524 | 1821 | Americas | Spain | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | First Spanish settlements | |
| Nigeria | 1800 | 1960 | Africa | UK | 1 October 1960 (from the UK) | ||
| Niger | 1899 | 1960 | Africa | France | 3 August 1960 (from France) | Vouley Chanoine Mission | |
| Oman | 1507 | 1650 | Asia | Portugal | 1650 (expulsion of the Portuguese) | Occupation of Muscat | |
| Pakistan | 1765 | 1947 | Asia | UK | 14 August 1947 (from British India) | Start of company rule in Indian subcontinent | |
| Papua New Guinea | 1884 | 1975 | Asia | UK | 16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship) | German New Guinea | |
| Paraguay | 1537 | 1811 | Americas | Spain | 14 May 1811 (from Spain) | Founding of Asuncion | |
| Peru | 1532 | 1821 | Americas | Spain | 28 July 1821 (from Spain) | Battle of Cajamarca | |
| Philippines | 1565 | 1946 | Asia | Spain | 4 July 1946 (from the US) | Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrives | |
| Qatar | 1916 | 1971 | Asia | UK | 3 September 1971 (from the UK) | British protectorate | |
| Rwanda | 1884 | 1962 | Africa | Belgium | 1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship) | Assigned to German East Africa | |
| Senegal | 1677 | 1960 | Africa | France | 4 April 1960 (from France); note - complete independence achieved upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960 | French control | |
| Sierra Leone | 1787 | 1961 | Africa | UK | 27 April 1961 (from the UK) | "Province of Freedom" | |
| Solomon Islands | 1893 | 1978 | Asia | UK | 7 July 1978 (from the UK) | British protectorate | |
| Somalia | 1920 | 1960 | Africa | UK | 1 July 1960 (from a merger of British Somaliland that became independent from the UK on 26 June 1960 and Italian Somaliland that became independent from the Italian-administered UN trusteeship on 1 July 1960 to form the Somali Republic) | Dervish state falls | |
| South Africa | 1652 | 1931 | Africa | UK | 31 May 1910 (Union of South Africa formed from four British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange Free State); 31 May 1961 (republic declared); 27 April 1994 (majority rule) | Cape Town founded | |
| Sri Lanka | 1517 | 1948 | Asia | UK | 4 February 1948 (from the UK) | Portuguese establish Colombo | |
| Sudan | 1882 | 1956 | Africa | UK | 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and the UK) | British Occupation | |
| Suriname | 1667 | 1975 | Americas | Netherlands | 25 November 1975 (from the Netherlands) | Capture by Dutch | |
| Swaziland | 1890 | 1968 | Africa | UK | 6 September 1968 (from the UK) | British, Dutch, Swazi trimviral administration | |
| Syria | 1923 | 1946 | Asia | France | 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration) | League of Nations mandate under French administration | |
| Tanzania | 1885 | 1964 | Africa | UK | 26 April 1964; Tanganyika became independent on 9 December 1961 (from UK-administered UN trusteeship); Zanzibar became independent on 10 December 1963 (from UK); Tanganyika united with Zanzibar on 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar; renamed United Republic of Tanzania on 29 October 1964 | German East Africa (Zanibar controled by Portuguese in 16th century | |
| Togo | 1884 | 1960 | Africa | France | 27 April 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship) | German Protectorate | |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1530 | 1962 | Americas | UK | 31 August 1962 (from the UK) | Spanish settlement | |
| Tunisia | 1881 | 1956 | Africa | France | 20 March 1956 (from France) | French Invasion | |
| Uganda | 1894 | 1962 | Africa | UK | 9 October 1962 (from the UK) | Uganda Protectorate | |
| United Arab Emirates | 1820 | 1971 | Asia | UK | 2 December 1971 (from the UK) | Trucial States | |
| United States | 1607 | 1783 | Americas | UK | 4 July 1776 (declared); 3 September 1783 (recognized by Great Britain) | Jamestown | |
| Venezuela | 1522 | 1811 | Americas | Spain | 5 July 1811 (from Spain) | Settlement of Cumana | |
| Vietnam | 1862 | 1945 | Asia | France | 2 September 1945 (from France) | Cochinchina | |
| Yemen | 1839 | 1967 | Asia | UK | 22 May 1990 (Republic of Yemen was established with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and the Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]); note - previously North Yemen became independent in November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and became a republic with the overthrow of the theocratic Imamate in 1962; South Yemen became independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK) | British occupy Aden | |
| Zambia | 1798 | 1964 | Africa | UK | 24 October 1964 (from the UK) | Claimed by Portugal | |
| Zimbabwe | 1888 | 1980 | Africa | UK | 18 April 1980 (from the UK) | British South Africa Company |
| # Dumbell Dot Chart of European Colonialism | |
| library(ggplot2) | |
| library(tidyr) | |
| library(dplyr) | |
| library(scales) | |
| colonial <- read.csv("colonial.csv", stringsAsFactors=FALSE, | |
| col.names = c("country", "colony", "independence", "region", "pcp", | |
| "remarks_ind", "remarks_col")) | |
| df1 <- colonial %>% gather(status,year,2:3) | |
| ind <- df1 %>% filter(status=="independence") %>% arrange(desc(year)) %>% .$country | |
| df1$country <- factor(df1$country, levels=rev(ind)) | |
| colonial$country <- factor(colonial$country, levels=rev(ind)) | |
| #data frames used for labeling only one of the plot facets | |
| f_labels1 <- data.frame(region = c("Africa", "Americas", "Asia"), label = c("Colonization", "", "")) | |
| f_labels2 <- data.frame(region = c("Africa", "Americas", "Asia"), label = c("Independence", "", "")) | |
| plot <- ggplot() + | |
| geom_segment(data=colonial, aes(x=colony, xend=independence, y=country, yend=country), color="gray77",lwd=1)+ | |
| geom_point(data=df1, aes(year, country, group=pcp,color=pcp), size=3) + | |
| scale_color_manual(values=c("#000000", "#318CE7", "#FF6600", "#006600", "#F1BF00", "#CF142B"))+ | |
| ggtitle("Five Centuries of Colonialism") + | |
| xlab("") + ylab("") + | |
| facet_grid(region ~ ., scales = "free_y", space = "free_y" ) + | |
| labs(color = "Principal\nColonial\nPower") + | |
| scale_y_discrete(expand = c(0,2))+ | |
| geom_text(x = 1880, y = Inf, aes(label = label), data = f_labels1, vjust = 1, size = 3)+ | |
| geom_text(x = 1975, y = Inf, aes(label = label), data = f_labels2, vjust = 1, size = 3)+ | |
| theme_bw() + | |
| theme( | |
| panel.border = element_blank(), | |
| plot.title = element_text(vjust=1), | |
| panel.grid.major.y = element_line(linetype = "dotted", color = "gray20"), | |
| axis.text.y = element_text(size=rel(.8)), | |
| axis.ticks.y = element_line(color = "gray20", size = rel(.8)), | |
| strip.background = element_rect(fill = NA, size = 0, color = "white", linetype = "blank"), | |
| strip.text = element_text(size = rel(1.33)), | |
| legend.key = element_rect(color = "white", size = 0) | |
| ) |
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