Place in the sun
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"A place in the sun" is a term which commonly refers to the 19th century European colonial empires and their possessions.
Most European powers struggled to get their "place in the sun" by intensely sending expeditions and colonizing uncivilized continents, mainly Africa and Asia. By claiming colonies, European nations were able to prestigiate themselves for having "overseas empires".
The term itself appeared due to the habit that the European citizens had to go on holidays to the sunny, Southern Hemisphere colonies. The overseas territories not only granted prestige but also good sources of income, as touristic destinations and through exploration of their natural resources.
List of Colonial Empires and their possessions, in the edge of the Age of Imperialism:
- United Kingdom, which controlled most of eastern Africa, from Egypt to South Africa, as well as (at one time or another), modern India and Pakistan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), numerous Caribbean islands, the Bahamas and Bermuda, Singapore, Hong Kong, Gibraltar and many other city-states, much of Indonesia and New Guinea, and countless islands in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It was said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire.
- France, controlled most northern and western Africa
- Germany, had some colonies in nowadays Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria. They were handed to the United Kingdom in the armistice of the Great War.
- Portugal controlled Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea, in addition to Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe.
- Spain ruled over Mauritania and Morocco, the latter together with France
Alternate meaning: A Place in the Sun, a film starring Elizabeth Taylor