When the subjugation of one country by another leads to these kinds of political, economic, social and cultural changes, we refer to the process as colonisation. The origin of the word ‚¬Ëœcolonialism‚¬„¢ can be traced back to the Latin word ‚¬Å“col?nia‚¬ meaning ‚¬Å“a place for agriculture‚¬. The standard definition of colonialism is ‚¬Å“a policy and practice of a power in extending control over weaker peoples or areas‚¬. Even though the policy has been used by multiple civilizations in different continents since ancient times, it is broadly used today to refer to European economic and political domination in different continents that began roughly in the late 16th century and lasted until the early 1970s. The main goal of colonialism is the extraction of economic benefits from the colony. Colonialism results in control over the life of natives in political, economic, cultural and social spheres. Historically, two main types of colonization can be differentiated:Settler colonialism is that type of colonialism wherein a large number of immigrants, often motivated by religious, political, or economic reasons, settle in a new place and dominate the local indigenous population in economic, political as well as social aspects. Exploitation colonialism involves relatively fewer number of immigrants and predominantly focuses on the exploitation of the resources of the colonial country. Thus colonialism denotes a set of unequal relationships between the colonial power and the colony, and often between the colonists and the indigenous population; relationships in which the colonists acquire benefits (disproportionally), at the expense of the local population. Additional InformationLet's look at the meaning of other terms:A confederacy is a group of people, countries, organizations, etc. joined together for a common purpose or by a common interest. Mercantile is related to merchants or trading. Renaissance stands for rebirth and Indian renaissance refers to that period that was marked by the quest for knowledge and development of science and arts.