Imperialism and colonialism both dictate the political and economic advantage over a land and the indigenous populations they control, yet scholars sometimes find it difficult to illustrate the difference between the two. Particularly, Edward Said distinguishes the difference between imperialism and colonialism by stating 'imperialism involved 'the practice, the theory and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory', while colonialism refers to the 'implanting of settlements on a distant territory.' Contiguous land empires such as the Russian or Ottoman have traditionally been excluded from discussions of colonialism, though this is beginning to change, since it is accepted that they also sent populations into the territories they ruled. Colonialism in modern usage also tends to imply a degree of geographic separation between the colony and the imperial power. However, colonialism still includes invasion. Robert Young writes that while imperialism operates from the centre, is a state policy and is developed for ideological as well as financial reasons, it is simply development for settlement or commercial intentions. Imperialism and colonialism have been used in order to describe one's perceived superiority, domination and influence upon a person or group of people.

The term 'imperialism' is often conflated with ' colonialism' however, many scholars have argued that each has its own distinct definition. This definition encompasses both nominal empires and neocolonialism. Some writers, such as Edward Said, use the term more broadly to describe any system of domination and subordination organized around an imperial core and a periphery. Its precise meaning continues to be debated by scholars.

The term was and is mainly applied to Western and Japanese political and economic dominance, especially in Asia and Africa, in the 19th and 20th centuries. Previously, the term had been used to describe what was perceived as Napoleon III's attempts at obtaining political support through foreign military interventions. It first became common in the current sense in Great Britain during the 1870s, when it was used with a negative connotation. The word imperialism originated from the Latin word imperium, which means supreme power, ' sovereignty', or simply 'rule'. Look up Imperialism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

8.21.2 Scholarly debate and controversy.

8.21.1 Imperialism in the Caribbean basin.

8.19 The Russian Empire & the Soviet Union.

5.1 Orientalism and imaginative geography.

Imperialism 2 (1999)