Editing Colonialism (section)

== Impact ==
{{Main|Analysis of Western European colonialism and colonization#Colonial actions and their impacts}}
[[File:Satterfield cartoon about brutalities committed by Western nations.jpg|thumb|A 1904 cartoon by [[Bob Satterfield (cartoonist)|Bob Satterfield]] about the brutality committed by Western nations: the personifications of England, the United States, and Germany carrying spears topped by the severed heads of Tibet, the Philippines, and Southwest Africa respectively. The caption describes this as "The advance guard of civilization".]]
[[File:Nieuws uit Indonesië, het werk van de Nederlandse dienst voor Volksgezondheid Weeknummer 46-21 - Open Beelden - 16742.ogv|thumb|The Dutch Public Health Service provides medical care for the natives of the [[Dutch East Indies]], May 1946.]]

The impacts of colonisation are immense and pervasive.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1713275,00.html |title=Come Back, Colonialism, All Is Forgiven |last=Perry |first=Alex |date=14 February 2008 |magazine=Time |access-date=29 September 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}</ref> Various effects, both immediate and protracted, include the spread of virulent [[Pandemic|diseases]], [[oppression|unequal social relations]], [[detribalization]], [[Exploitation of natural resources|exploitation]], [[enslavement]], [[History of medicine#Modern medicine|medical advances]], the creation of new institutions, [[Slavery in Africa#Abolition|abolitionism]],<ref name="Lovejoy, Paul E. 2012">Lovejoy, Paul E. (2012). ''Transformations of Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa''. London: Cambridge University Press.</ref> improved infrastructure,<ref>Ferguson, Niall (2003). ''Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World''. London: Allen Lane.</ref> and technological progress.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thong |first=Tezenlo |date=2012 |title=Civilised Colonisers and Barbaric Colonised: Reclaiming Naga Identity by Demythologising Colonial Portraits |journal=History and Anthropology |volume=23 |pages=375–97 |doi=10.1080/02757206.2012.697060 |number=3|s2cid=162411962 }}</ref> Colonial practices also spur the spread of conquerors' languages, literature and cultural institutions, while endangering or obliterating those of [[Indigenous peoples|Indigenous]] peoples. The cultures of the colonised peoples can also have a powerful influence on the imperial country.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Olumide|first=Yetunde Mercy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdNSDQAAQBAJ&q=The+native+cultures+of+the+colonised+peoples+can+also+have+a+powerful+influence+on+the+imperial+country&pg=PA934|title=The Vanishing Black African Woman: Volume Two: A Compendium of the Global Skin-Lightening Practice|date=6 October 2016|publisher=Langaa RPCIG|isbn=978-9956-763-68-9|language=en}}</ref>

With respect to international borders, Britain and France traced close to 40% of the entire length of the world's international boundaries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=William F. S. |title=Scars of Partition: Postcolonial Legacies in French and British Borderlands |date=2014 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-6771-8 |page=3 |quote=Anglo-French carving of colonial space is a significant geographical legacy: nearly 40 percent of the entire length of today's international boundaries were traced by Britain and France.}}</ref>

=== Economy, trade and commerce ===
Economic expansion, sometimes described as the [[colonial surplus]], has accompanied imperial expansion since ancient times.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} Greek trade networks spread throughout the Mediterranean region while Roman trade expanded with the primary goal of directing tribute from the colonised areas towards the Roman metropole. According to [[Strabo]], by the time of emperor [[Augustus]], up to 120 Roman ships would set sail every year from [[Myos Hormos]] in [[Roman Egypt]] to India.<ref>"[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/2E1*.html Strabo's Geography Book II Chapter 5 ]"</ref> With the development of trade routes under the [[Ottoman Empire]],

{{blockquote|[[Gujari]] Hindus, Syrian Muslims, Jews, Armenians, Christians from south and central Europe operated trading routes that supplied Persian and Arab horses to the armies of all three empires, Mocha coffee to [[Delhi]] and [[Belgrade]], Persian silk to India and [[Istanbul]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Peoples and Empires |last=Pagden |first=Anthony |publisher=Modern Library |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8129-6761-6 |location=New York |page=45}}</ref>
}}
[[File:16th century Portuguese Spanish trade routes.png|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Portuguese discoveries|Portuguese trade routes]] (blue) and the rival [[Manila galleon|Manila-Acapulco galleons]] trade routes (white) established in 1568]]
[[Aztec civilisation]] developed into an extensive empire that, much like the Roman Empire, had the goal of exacting tribute from the conquered colonial areas. For the Aztecs, a significant tribute was the acquisition of sacrificial victims for their religious rituals.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Peoples and Empires |last=Pagden |publisher= |year=2003 |isbn= |location= |page=5}}</ref>

On the other hand, European colonial empires sometimes attempted to channel, restrict and impede trade involving their colonies, funneling activity through the metropole and taxing accordingly.

Despite the general trend of economic expansion, the economic performance of former European colonies varies significantly. In "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-run Growth", economists [[Daron Acemoglu]], [[Simon Johnson (economist)|Simon Johnson]] and [[James A. Robinson (Harvard University)|James A. Robinson]] compare the economic influences of the European colonists on different colonies and study what could explain the huge discrepancies in previous European colonies, for example, between West African colonies like [[Sierra Leone]] and [[Hong Kong]] and [[Singapore]].<ref name="Institutions">{{Cite book|doi = 10.1016/S1574-0684(05)01006-3|chapter = Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth|volume = 1A|pages = 385–472|title = Handbook of Economic Growth|year = 2005|last1 = Acemoglu|first1 = Daron|last2 = Johnson|first2 = Simon|last3 = Robinson|first3 = James A.|isbn = 9780444520418|chapter-url = http://economics.mit.edu/files/4469|access-date = 15 February 2016|archive-date = 5 February 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160205223556/http://economics.mit.edu/files/4469|url-status = dead}}</ref>

According to the paper, economic institutions are the determinant of the colonial success because they determine their financial performance and order for the distribution of resources. At the same time, these institutions are also consequences of political institutions – especially how [[de facto]] and [[de jure]] political power is allocated. To explain the different colonial cases, we thus need to look first into the political institutions that shaped the economic institutions.<ref name="Institutions" />
[[File:A Castro, Lorenzo - A Dutch East-Indiaman off Hoorn - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|[[Dutch East India Company]] was the first-ever [[multinational corporation]], financed by shares that established the [[Amsterdam Stock Exchange|first modern stock exchange]].]]
For example, one interesting observation is "the Reversal of Fortune"{{snd}}the less developed civilisations in 1500, like North America, Australia, and New Zealand, are now much richer than those countries who used to be in the prosperous civilisations in 1500 before the colonists came, like the Mughals in India and the Incas in the Americas. One explanation offered by the paper focuses on the political institutions of the various colonies: it was less likely for European colonists to introduce economic institutions where they could benefit quickly from the extraction of resources in the area. Therefore, given a more developed civilisation and denser population, European colonists would rather keep the existing economic systems than introduce an entirely new system; while in places with little to extract, European colonists would rather establish new economic institutions to protect their interests. Political institutions thus gave rise to different types of economic systems, which determined the colonial economic performance.<ref name="Institutions" />

European colonisation and development also changed gendered systems of power already in place around the world. In many pre-colonialist areas, women maintained power, prestige, or authority through reproductive or agricultural control. For example, in certain parts of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] women maintained farmland in which they had usage rights. While men would make political and communal decisions for a community, the women would control the village's food supply or their individual family's land. This allowed women to achieve power and autonomy, even in patrilineal and patriarchal societies.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/noturningbackhis00free/page/25 |title=No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and The Future of Women |last=Freedman |first=Estelle |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-345-45053-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/noturningbackhis00free/page/25 25–26]}}</ref>

Through the rise of European colonialism came a large push for development and industrialisation of most economic systems. When working to improve productivity, Europeans focused mostly on male workers. Foreign aid arrived in the form of loans, land, credit, and tools to speed up development, but were only allocated to men. In a more European fashion, women were expected to serve on a more domestic level. The result was a technologic, economic, and class-based gender gap that widened over time.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/noturningbackhis00free/page/113 |title=No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and The Future of Women |last=Freedman |publisher= Ballantine Books|year=2002 |isbn= 978-0-345-45053-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/noturningbackhis00free/page/113 113]}}</ref>

Within a colony, the presence of extractive colonial institutions in a given area has been found have effects on the modern day economic development, institutions and infrastructure of these areas.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1093/restud/rdz017 | title=The Development Effects of the Extractive Colonial Economy: The Dutch Cultivation System in Java| journal=The Review of Economic Studies| volume=87| pages=164–203| year=2020| last1=Dell| first1=Melissa| last2=Olken| first2=Benjamin A.|url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/dell/publications/development-effects-extractive-colonial-economy-dutch-cultivation-system-java| doi-access=free| hdl=1721.1/136437| hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1177/0010414015600465 | title= Colonial Legacies and State Institutions in China: Evidence From a Natural Experiment| journal=Comparative Political Studies| volume=50| issue=4| pages=434–463| year=2017| last1=Mattingly| first1=Daniel C.| s2cid= 156822667|url=http://daniel-mattingly.com/s/Mattingly_CPS_Preprint.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714115343/http://daniel-mattingly.com/s/Mattingly_CPS_Preprint.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Slavery and indentured servitude ===
{{Further|Atlantic slave trade|Indentured servant|Coolie|Blackbirding}}

European nations entered their imperial projects with the goal of enriching the European metropoles. Exploitation of non-Europeans and of other Europeans to support imperial goals was acceptable to the colonisers. Two outgrowths of this imperial agenda were the extension of slavery and indentured servitude. In the 17th century, nearly two-thirds of English settlers came to North America as indentured servants.<ref>Hofstadter, Richard, [http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/hpolscrv/whiteser.html "White Servitude"], Montgomery College. {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141009091039/http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/hpolscrv/whiteser.html |date= 2014-10-09 }}.</ref>

European slave traders brought large numbers of African slaves to the Americas by sail. Spain and Portugal had [[Atlantic slave trade|brought African slaves]] to work in African colonies such as [[Cape Verde]] and [[São Tomé and Príncipe]], and then in Latin America, by the 16th century. The British, French and Dutch joined in the slave trade in subsequent centuries. The European colonial system took approximately 11&nbsp;million Africans to the Caribbean and to North and South America as slaves.<ref name="King 2010 24">{{Cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/peopleonmoveatla0000unse/page/24 |title= People on the Move: An Atlas of Migration |last= King |first= Russell |publisher= University of California Press |year= 2010 |isbn= 978-0-520-26124-2 |location= Berkeley, Los Angeles |page= [https://archive.org/details/peopleonmoveatla0000unse/page/24 24]}}</ref>

[[File:Marchands d'esclaves de Gorée-Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur mg 8526.jpg|thumb|upright|Slave traders in Gorée, [[Senegal]], 18th century]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! European empire !! Colonial destination !! Number of slaves imported between 1450 and 1870<ref name="King 2010 24" />
|-
| Portuguese Empire|| Brazil || 3,646,800
|-
| British Empire || British Caribbean || 1,665,000
|-
| French Empire || French Caribbean || 1,600,200
|-
| Spanish Empire || Latin America || 1,552,100
|-
| Dutch Empire || Dutch Caribbean || 500,000
|-
| British Empire || British North America || 399,000
|}

[[abolitionism|Abolitionists]] in Europe and Americas protested the inhumane treatment of African slaves, which led to the elimination of the slave trade (and later, of most forms of slavery) by the late 19th century. One (disputed) school of thought points to the role of abolitionism in the [[American Revolution]]: while the British colonial metropole started to move towards outlawing slavery, slave-owning elites in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] saw this as one of the reasons to fight for their post-colonial independence and for the right to develop and continue a largely slave-based economy.<ref>
{{cite news
| title= Our democracy's founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true
| first= Nikole
| last= Hannah-Jones
| author-link= Nikole Hannah-Jones
| date= 14 August 2019
| magazine= [[The New York Times Magazine]]
| url= https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/black-history-american-democracy.html
| quote = The wealth and prominence that allowed Jefferson, at just 33, and the other founding fathers to believe they could successfully break off from one of the mightiest empires in the world came from the dizzying profits generated by chattel slavery. In other words, we may never have revolted against Britain if the founders had not understood that slavery empowered them to do so; nor if they had not believed that independence was required in order to ensure that slavery would continue. It is not incidental that 10 of this nation's first 12 presidents were enslavers, and some might argue that this nation was founded not as a democracy but as a slavocracy.
}}
</ref>

British colonising activity in [[New Zealand]] from the early 19th century played a part in ending slave-taking and slave-keeping among the indigenous [[Māori people|Māori]].<ref>{{cite book
 | last1 = Petrie
 | first1 = Hazel
 | title = Outcasts of the Gods? The Struggle over Slavery in Maori New Zealand
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1xJzCgAAQBAJ
 | publisher = Auckland University Press
 | date = 2015
 | isbn = 9781775587859
 | access-date = 17 June 2020
| quote = Trade with the early explorers, whalers, sealers, and shore-based traders; interaction with missionaries; the availability of muskets; unprecedented warfare; new methods of dispute resolution; and English law all played their part in influencing the increase or decline of Maori captive-taking.
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Firth
 | first1 = Raymond
 | year = 1929
 | title = Primitive Economics of the New Zealand Maori
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JNGm14xd1JkC
 | series = Routledge Revivals
 | edition = reprint
 | location = Abingdon
 | publisher = Routledge
 | publication-date = 2011
 | page = 203
 | isbn = 9780415694728
 | access-date = 17 June 2020
| quote = The economic value of the slave to the community was considerable. [...] Slavery among the Maori is certainly not comparable to the system as it existed among the ancient civilized states of Europe, but relative to the culture of this native people, it played an important part [...].
}}
</ref>
On the other hand, British colonial [[History of South Africa (1815–1910)|administration in Southern Africa]], when it officially abolished slavery in the 1830s, caused rifts in society which arguably perpetuated slavery in the [[Boer Republics]] and fed into the philosophy of ''[[apartheid]]''.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Lowe
 | first1 = Joshua
 | title = To what extent was the Great Trek undertaken to preserve Afrikaner Culture?
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DrlABAAAQBAJ
 | publisher = GRIN
 | date = 2014
 | page = 2
 | isbn = 9783656715245
 | access-date = 17 June 2020
| quote = There were also threats to what the Afrikaner perceived as tradition, and slavery was included in this perception.<br /> The abolition of slavery had an effect on why the Great Trek was undertaken and has links to the Afrikaner cultural preservation theory. Slavery was an integral part of Afrikaner society, and there was a sense of discontent when it was called to an end.
}}
</ref>
[[File:Slaves working on a plantation - Ten Views in the Island of Antigua (1823), plate III - BL.jpg|thumb|Planting the sugar cane, [[Antigua]], 1823]]
The labour shortages that resulted from abolition inspired European colonisers in Queensland, British Guaiana and Fiji (for example) to develop new sources of labour, re-adopting a system of indentured servitude. [[Indentured servant]]s consented to a contract with the European colonisers. Under their contract, the servant would work for an employer for a term of at least a year, while the employer agreed to pay for the servant's voyage to the colony, possibly pay for the return to the country of origin, and pay the employee a wage as well. The employees became "indentured" to the employer because they owed a debt back to the employer for their travel expense to the colony, which they were expected to pay through their wages. In practice, indentured servants were exploited through terrible working conditions and burdensome debts imposed by the employers, with whom the servants had no means of negotiating the debt once they arrived in the colony.

India and China were the largest source of indentured servants during the colonial era. Indentured servants from India travelled to British colonies in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, and also to French and Portuguese colonies, while Chinese servants travelled to British and Dutch colonies. Between 1830 and 1930, around 30&nbsp;million indentured servants migrated from India, and 24&nbsp;million returned to India. China sent more indentured servants to European colonies, and around the same proportion returned to China.<ref>
{{Cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/peopleonmoveatla0000unse/page/26
 |title= People on the Move: An Atlas of Migration |last= King |publisher=  |year= 2010 |isbn= 
 |location= 
 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/peopleonmoveatla0000unse/page/26 26–27]}}
</ref>

Following the [[Scramble for Africa]], an early but secondary focus for most colonial regimes was the suppression of slavery and the slave trade. By the end of the colonial period they were mostly successful in this aim, though slavery persists in Africa and in the world at large with much the same practices of ''de facto'' servility despite legislative prohibition.<ref name="Lovejoy, Paul E. 2012" />

=== Military innovation ===
[[File:Aschanti Gefecht 11 july 1824 300dpi.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[First Anglo-Ashanti War]], 1823–1831]]
Conquering forces have throughout history applied innovation in order to gain an advantage over the armies of the people they aim to conquer. Greeks developed the [[phalanx]] system, which enabled their military units to present themselves to their enemies as a wall, with foot soldiers using shields to cover one another during their advance on the battlefield. Under [[Philip II of Macedon]], they were able to organise thousands of soldiers into a formidable battle force, bringing together carefully trained infantry and cavalry regiments.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Peoples and Empires |last=Pagden |publisher= |year=2003 |isbn= |location= |page=6}}</ref> [[Alexander the Great]] exploited this military foundation further during his conquests.

The Spanish Empire held a major advantage over [[Mesoamerican]] warriors through the use of weapons made of stronger metal, predominantly iron, which was able to shatter the blades of axes used by the [[Aztec civilisation]] and others. The use of [[gunpowder]] weapons cemented the European military advantage over the peoples they sought to subjugate in the Americas and elsewhere.

=== End of empire ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2021}}[[File:Lord Pethic-Lawrence and Gandhi.jpg|thumb|[[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi|Gandhi]] with [[Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence|Lord Pethwick-Lawrence]], British Secretary of State for India, after a meeting on 18 April 1946]]
The populations of some colonial territories, such as Canada, enjoyed relative peace and prosperity as part of a European power, at least among the majority. Minority populations such as [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] peoples and French-Canadians experienced [[marginalisation]] and resented colonial practices. Francophone residents of [[Quebec]], for example, were vocal in opposing conscription into the armed services to fight on behalf of Britain during World War I, resulting in the [[Conscription crisis of 1917]]. Other European colonies had much more pronounced conflict between European settlers and the local population. Rebellions broke out in the later decades of the imperial era, such as India's [[Sepoy Rebellion|Sepoy Rebellion of 1857]].

The territorial boundaries imposed by European colonisers, notably in central Africa and South Asia, defied the existing boundaries of native populations that had previously interacted little with one another. European colonisers disregarded native political and cultural animosities, imposing peace upon people under their military control. Native populations were often relocated at the will of the colonial administrators.

The [[Partition of British India]] in August 1947 led to the [[Indian independence movement|Independence of India]] and the [[Pakistan Movement|creation of Pakistan]]. These events also caused much bloodshed at the time of the migration of immigrants from the two countries. Muslims from India and Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan migrated to the respective countries they sought independence for.

=== Post-independence population movement ===
[[File:Notting Hill Carnival 2002 large.jpg|thumb|The annual [[Notting Hill Carnival]] in [[London]] is a celebration led by the [[Trinidadian and Tobagonian British]] community.]]

In a reversal of the migration patterns experienced during the modern colonial era, post-independence era migration followed a route back towards the imperial country. In some cases, this was a movement of settlers of European origin returning to the land of their birth, or to an ancestral birthplace. 900,000 French colonists (known as the ''[[Pied-Noir]]s'') resettled in France following Algeria's independence in 1962. A significant number of these migrants were also of Algerian descent. 800,000 people of [[Processo Revolucionário Em Curso#The retornados|Portuguese]] origin migrated to Portugal after the independence of former colonies in Africa between 1974 and 1979; 300,000 settlers of Dutch origin migrated to the Netherlands from the [[Dutch West Indies]] after Dutch military control of the colony ended.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/peopleonmoveatla0000unse/page/35 |title=People on the Move: An Atlas of Migration |last=King |publisher= |year=2010 |isbn= |location= |page=[https://archive.org/details/peopleonmoveatla0000unse/page/35 35]}}</ref>

After WWII 300,000 Dutchmen from the [[Dutch East Indies]], of which the majority were people of Eurasian descent called [[Indo people|Indo Europeans]], repatriated to the Netherlands. A significant number later migrated to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.<ref>Willems, Wim "De uittocht uit Indie (1945–1995), De geschiedenis van Indische Nederlanders" (Publisher: Bert Bakker, Amsterdam, 2001). {{ISBN|90-351-2361-1}}</ref><ref>Crul, Lindo and Lin Pang. Culture, Structure and Beyond, Changing identities and social positions of immigrants and their children (Het Spinhuis Publishers, 1999). {{ISBN|90-5589-173-8}}</ref>

Global travel and migration in general developed at an increasingly brisk pace throughout the era of European colonial expansion. Citizens of the former colonies of European countries may have a privileged status in some respects with regard to immigration rights when settling in the former European imperial nation. For example, rights to dual citizenship may be generous,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61 |title=British Nationality Act 1981 |publisher=The National Archives, United Kingdom |access-date=24 February 2012}}</ref> or larger immigrant quotas may be extended to former colonies.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}

In some cases, the former European imperial nations continue to foster close political and economic ties with former colonies. The [[Commonwealth of Nations]] is an organisation that promotes cooperation between and among Britain and its former colonies, the Commonwealth members. A similar organisation exists for former colonies of France, the [[Francophonie]]; the [[Community of Portuguese Language Countries]] plays a similar role for former Portuguese colonies, and the [[Dutch Language Union]] is the equivalent for former colonies of the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Francophonie in Brief |url=https://www.francophonie.org/francophonie-brief-1763 |website=Portail de l'Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) |publisher=Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries – CPLP {{!}} DGES |url=https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/community-portuguese-speaking-countries-cplp |website=DGES- Direção-Geral de Ensino Superior |access-date=9 November 2022 |language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Taalunie – Union for the Dutch Language – Taalunie |url=https://taalunie.org/informatie/112/taalunie-union-for-the-dutch-language |website=taalunie.org |language=nl}}</ref>

Migration from former colonies has proven to be problematic for European countries, where the majority population may express hostility to ethnic minorities who have immigrated from former colonies. Cultural and religious conflict have often erupted in France in recent decades, between immigrants from the [[Maghreb]] countries of north Africa and the majority population of France. Nonetheless, immigration has changed the ethnic composition of France; by the 1980s, 25% of the total population of "inner Paris" and 14% of the metropolitan region were of foreign origin, mainly Algerian.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 45038321|title = Cultural Conflicts: North African Immigrants in France|journal = International Journal of Peace Studies|volume = 2|issue = 2|pages = 67–75|last1 = Seljuq|first1 = Affan|year = 1997|url=http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol2_2/seljuq.htm}}</ref>

=== Introduced diseases ===
{{See also|Globalisation and disease|Columbian Exchange|Impact and evaluation of colonialism and colonization}}
[[File:Florentinoviruela.JPG|thumb|Aztecs dying of smallpox, (''[[Florentine Codex]]'', 1540–1585)]]

Encounters between explorers and populations in the rest of the world often introduced new diseases, which sometimes caused local epidemics of extraordinary virulence.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Kenneth F. |editor-last=Kiple|title=The Cambridge Historical Dictionary of Disease|date=2003}}</ref> For example, [[smallpox]], measles, malaria, yellow fever, and others were unknown in pre-Columbian America.<ref>{{cite book|first=Alfred W. |last=Crosby, Jr.|title=The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492|date=1974}}</ref>

Half the native population of [[Hispaniola]] in 1518 was killed by smallpox. Smallpox also ravaged [[Mexico]] in the 1520s, killing 150,000 in [[Tenochtitlan]] alone, including the emperor, and [[Peru]] in the 1530s, aiding the European conquerors. [[Measles]] killed a further two million Mexican natives in the 17th century. In 1618–1619, smallpox wiped out 90% of the [[Massachusetts Bay]] Native Americans.<ref>Koplow, David, [http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9968/9968.ch01.html "Chapter 1: The Rise and Fall of Smallpox"], ''Smallpox – The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge'', University of California Press. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907093641/http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9968/9968.ch01.html |date=7 September 2008 }}.</ref> Smallpox epidemics in 1780–1782 and [[1837-38 smallpox epidemic|1837–1838]] brought devastation and drastic depopulation among the [[Plains Indians]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Houston |first1=C.S. |last2=Houston |first2=S. |year=2000 |title=The first smallpox epidemic on the Canadian Plains: In the fur-traders' words |journal=The Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=112–15 |doi=10.1155/2000/782978 |pmc=2094753 |pmid=18159275|doi-access=free }}</ref> Some believe{{who|date=May 2021}} that the death of up to 95% of the [[Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American population]] of the [[New World]] was caused by [[Old World]] diseases.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html |title=Guns Germs & Steel: Variables. Smallpox {{!}} PBS |website=www.pbs.org |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> Over the centuries, the Europeans had developed high degrees of [[Immunity (medical)|immunity]] to these diseases, while the [[indigenous peoples]] had no time to build such immunity.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/papers/goodling.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510163413/http://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/papers/goodling.html|url-status=dead|first=Stacy |last=Goodling|title=Effects of European Diseases on the Inhabitants of the New World|archive-date=10 May 2008}}</ref>

Smallpox decimated the native population of [[Australia]], killing around 50% of [[indigenous Australians]] in the early years of British colonisation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Smallpox Through History |url=http://encarta.msn.com/media_701508643/Smallpox_Through_History.html|work=Encarta |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029184350/http://encarta.msn.com/media_701508643/Smallpox_Through_History.html |archive-date=29 October 2009}}</ref> It also killed many New Zealand [[Māori people|Māori]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.canr.msu.edu/overseas/nzenvironsci/infopart2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612021507/http://www.canr.msu.edu/overseas/nzenvironsci/infopart2.htm|url-status=dead|title=New Zealand Historical Perspective|archive-date=12 June 2010}}</ref> As late as 1848–49, as many as 40,000 out of 150,000 [[Hawaii]]ans are estimated to have died of [[measles]], [[whooping cough]] and [[influenza]]. Introduced diseases, notably smallpox, nearly wiped out the native population of [[Easter Island]].<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-did-easter-islands-ancient-statues-lead-to-the-destruction-of-an-entire-ecosystem-455877.html How did Easter Island's ancient statues lead to the destruction of an entire ecosystem?], ''The Independent''.</ref> In 1875, [[measles]] killed over 40,000 [[Fiji]]ans, approximately one-third of the population.<ref>[http://www.fsm.ac.fj/aboutfsm.html Fiji School of Medicine] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020165015/http://www.fsm.ac.fj/aboutfsm.html |date=20 October 2014 }}</ref> The [[Ainu people|Ainu]] population decreased drastically in the 19th century, due in large part
to infectious diseases brought by Japanese settlers pouring into [[Hokkaido]].<ref>Macintyre, Donald, [http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/ontheroad/japan.sapporo.ainu.html "Meeting the First Inhabitants"], TIMEasia.com, 21 August 2000. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622085958/http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/ontheroad/japan.sapporo.ainu.html |date=22 June 2011 }}.</ref>

Conversely, researchers have hypothesised that a precursor to [[syphilis]] may have been carried from the New World to Europe after [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]]'s voyages. The findings suggested Europeans could have carried the nonvenereal tropical bacteria home, where the organisms may have mutated into a more deadly form in the different conditions of Europe.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/science/15syph.html |title=Genetic Study Bolsters Columbus Link to Syphilis|first=John Noble |last=Wilford|newspaper=The New York Times|date=15 January 2008}}</ref> The disease was more frequently fatal than it is today; syphilis was a major killer in Europe during the [[Renaissance]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Columbus May Have Brought Syphilis to Europe |url=http://www.livescience.com/history/080114-syphilis-columbus.html|first= Charles Q. |last=Choi  |journal=LiveScience|date=15 January 2008 }}</ref> The [[first cholera pandemic]] began in [[Bengal]], then spread across India by 1820. Ten thousand British troops and countless Indians died during this [[pandemic]].<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/cholera-s-seven-pandemics-1.758504 Cholera's seven pandemics]. CBC News. 2 December 2008.</ref> Between 1736 and 1834 only some 10% of [[East India Company]]'s officers survived to take the final voyage home.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asianreviewofbooks.com/new/?revID=610 |title=Review {{!}} Sahib: The British Soldier in India, 1750–1914 by Richard Holmes|first=Nigel |last=Collett |date=27 October 2005 |website=Asian Review of Books|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530044859/http://www.asianreviewofbooks.com/new/?revID=610 |archive-date=30 May 2012 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> [[Waldemar Haffkine]], who mainly worked in India, who developed and used [[vaccine]]s against [[cholera]] and [[bubonic plague]] in the 1890s, is considered the first [[microbiologist]].

According to a 2021 study by [[Jörg Baten]] and Laura Maravall on the [[Anthropometry|anthropometric]] influence of colonialism on Africans, the [[human height|average height]] of Africans decreased by 1.1 centimetres upon colonization and later recovered and increased overall during colonial rule. The authors attributed the decrease to diseases, such as [[malaria]] and [[African trypanosomiasis|sleeping sickness]], [[Forced labour|forced labor]] during the early decades of colonial rule, conflicts, [[land grabbing]], and [[1890s African rinderpest epizootic|widespread cattle deaths]] from the [[rinderpest]] viral disease.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Baten|first1=Joerg |last2=Maravall|first2=Laura|date=2021|title=The Influence of Colonialism on Africa's Welfare: An Anthropometric Study|journal=Journal of Comparative Economics|volume=49|issue=3|pages=751–775|doi=10.1016/j.jce.2021.01.001}}</ref>

==== Countering disease ====
As early as 1803, the [[Enlightenment in Spain|Spanish]] Crown organised a mission (the [[Balmis expedition]]) to transport the smallpox vaccine to the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish colonies]], and establish mass vaccination programs there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.doh.gov.ph/sphh/balmis.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041223112019/http://www.doh.gov.ph/sphh/balmis.htm|title=Dr. Francisco de Balmis and his Mission of Mercy, Society of Philippine Health History.|archive-date=23 December 2004}}</ref> By 1832, the federal government of the United States established a [[Smallpox vaccine|smallpox vaccination]] program for Native Americans.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/wicazo_sa_review/v018/18.2pearson01.html| title = Lewis Cass and the Politics of Disease: The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832.| access-date = 12 February 2022| archive-date = 5 February 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080205230347/http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=%2Fjournals%2Fwicazo_sa_review%2Fv018%2F18.2pearson01.html| url-status = dead}}</ref> Under the direction of [[Mountstuart Elphinstone]] a program was launched to propagate [[smallpox vaccination]] in India.<ref>[http://www.smallpoxhistory.ucl.ac.uk/Other%20Asia/ongoingwork.htm Smallpox History – Other histories of smallpox in South Asia.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416015559/http://www.smallpoxhistory.ucl.ac.uk/Other%20Asia/ongoingwork.htm |date=16 April 2012 }}</ref> From the beginning of the 20th century onwards, the elimination or control of disease in tropical countries became a driving force for all colonial powers.<ref>[http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=45&EventId=696 Conquest and Disease or Colonialism and Health?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207015726/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=45&EventId=696 |date=7 December 2008 }}, Gresham College | Lectures and Events.</ref> The [[African trypanosomiasis|sleeping sickness]] epidemic in Africa was arrested due to mobile teams systematically screening millions of people at risk.<ref>{{Cite web |website=WHO Media centre |year=2001 |title=Fact sheet N°259: African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs259/en/index.html}}</ref> In the 20th century, the world saw the biggest increase in its population in [[human history]] due to lessening of the [[mortality rate]] in many countries due to [[History of medicine#Modern medicine|medical advances]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Iliffe |first=John |year=1989 |title=The Origins of African Population Growth |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=165–69 |doi=10.1017/s0021853700030942 |jstor=182701|s2cid=59931797 }}</ref> The [[world population]] has grown from 1.6&nbsp;billion in 1900 to over seven billion today.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}