Metropole

Roman Italy, the metropole of the Roman Empire. Roman provinces are marked in pink.

A metropole (from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις (mētrópolis) 'mother city') is the homeland, central territory or the state exercising power over a colonial empire.[1] From the 19th century, the English term metropole[2] was mainly used in the scope of the British, Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, and Ottoman empires to designate those empires' home territories, as opposed to their colonial or overseas territories.

  1. ^ Stanard, Matthew G. (2018). European Overseas Empire, 1879 - 1999: A Short History. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-1-119-13013-0.
  2. ^ "metropole". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)