Main Difference
The main difference between Empire and Colony is that the Empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a central authority or a central figure and Colony is a territory under the political control of an overseas state, generally with its own subordinate colonial government.
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Empire
An empire is a sovereign state functioning as an aggregate of nations or people that are ruled over by an emperor or another kind of monarch. The territory and population of an empire is commonly of greater extent than the one of a kingdom.An empire can be made solely of contiguous territories, such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Russian Empire, or of territories far remote from the homeland, such as a colonial empire. Aside from the more formal usage, the word empire can also refer colloquially to a large-scale business enterprise (e.g. a transnational corporation), a political organisation controlled by a single individual (a political boss), or a group (political bosses). The word empire is associated with such other words as imperialism, colonialism, and globalization. Empire is often used to describe a displeasure to overpowering situations.An imperial political structure can be established and maintained in two ways: (i) as a territorial empire of direct conquest and control with force or (ii) as a coercive, hegemonic empire of indirect conquest and control with power. The former method provides greater tribute and direct political control, yet limits further expansion because it absorbs military forces to fixed garrisons. The latter method provides less tribute and indirect control, but avails military forces for further expansion. Territorial empires (e.g. the Mongol Empire and Median Empire) tend to be contiguous areas. The term, on occasion, has been applied to maritime empires or thalassocracies (e.g. the Athenian and British empires) with looser structures and more scattered territories.
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Colony
In history, a colony is a territory under the immediate complete political control and occupied by settlers of a state, distinct from the home territory of the sovereign. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception.
The metropolitan state is the state that rules the colony. In Ancient Greece, the city that founded a colony was known as the metropolis. “Mother country” is a reference to the metropolitan state from the point of view of citizens who live in its colony. There is a United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Unlike a puppet state or satellite state, a colony has no independent international representation, and its top-level administration is under direct control of the metropolitan state.
The term informal colony is used by some historians to refer to a country under the de facto control of another state, although this term is often contentious.
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Empire (noun)
A political unit having an extensive territory or comprising a number of territories or nations and ruled by a single supreme authority.
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Empire (noun)
A political unit that controls at least one kingdom under its vassalage.
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Empire (noun)
A group of states or other territories that owe allegiance to a foreign power.
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Empire (noun)
A state ruled by an emperor.
“The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived client state of Japan governing Vietnam between March 11 and August 23, 1945.”
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Empire (noun)
An expansive and wealthy corporation.
“the McDonald’s fast food empire”
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Empire (adjective)
alternative case form of Empire.
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Colony (noun)
A governmental unit created on land of another country owned by colonists from a country.
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Colony (noun)
A settlement of emigrants who move to a new place, but remain culturally tied to their place of origin
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Colony (noun)
Region or governmental unit created by another country and generally ruled by another country.
“Bermuda is a crown colony of Great Britain.”
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Colony (noun)
An apartment complex.
“Our colony is quite small, but each apartment is large.”
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Colony (noun)
A group of people with the same interests or ethnic origin concentrated in a particular geographic area
“The Amana Colonies in Iowa were settled by people from Germany.”
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Colony (noun)
A group of organisms of same or different species living together in close association.
“ant colony”
“a colony of specialized polyps and medusoids”
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Colony (noun)
A collective noun for rabbits.
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Empire (noun)
an extensive group of states or countries ruled over by a single monarch, an oligarchy, or a sovereign state
“the Roman Empire”
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Empire (noun)
supreme political power over several countries when exercised by a single authority
“he encouraged the Greeks in their dream of empire in Asia Minor”
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Empire (noun)
absolute control over a person or group.
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Empire (noun)
a large commercial organization owned or controlled by one person or group
“her business empire grew”
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Empire (noun)
an extensive sphere of activity controlled by one person or group
“each ministry, each department had its own empire, its own agenda and worked to protect its turf”
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Empire (adjective)
denoting a style of furniture, decoration, or dress fashionable chiefly during the First Empire in France. The decorative style was neoclassical but marked by an interest in Egyptian and other ancient motifs.
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Empire (adjective)
denoting produce from the Commonwealth.
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Colony (noun)
a country or area under the full or partial political control of another country and occupied by settlers from that country
“Japanese forces overran the French colony of Indo-China”
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Colony (noun)
a group of people living in a colony, consisting of the original settlers and their descendants and successors
“the colony looked forward to fifty or more years of autonomy”
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Colony (noun)
all the foreign countries or areas formerly under British political control
“many poachers were exiled to the colonies”
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Colony (noun)
another term for Thirteen Colonies
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Colony (noun)
a group of people of one nationality or race living in a foreign place
“the British colony in New York”
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Colony (noun)
a place where a group of people with the same occupation or interest live together
“a nudist colony”
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Colony (noun)
a housing estate or residential community, especially one originally constructed by an employer for its workers
“a large housing colony has already been built”
“one of Jaipur’s largest residential colonies”
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Colony (noun)
a community of animals or plants of one kind living close together or forming a physically connected structure
“a colony of seals”
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Colony (noun)
a group of fungi or bacteria grown from a single spore or cell on a culture medium.