Straits Settlements
Proper noun
Meaning
Straits Settlements
(historical) A group of British territories located in Southeast Asia that consists of modern day Malacca, Penang and Perak in Malaysia, Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in Australia and Singapore.
Synonyms
Examples
As in former years, the increase was solely due to immigration, more especially of Chinese, though a considerable number of Tamils and other natives of India settled in the Straits Settlements.
The Company established a group of trading settlements centred on the Straits of Malacca called the Straits Settlements in 1826 to protect its trade route to China and to combat local piracy.
Turnbull, CM (1972) The Straits Settlements, 1826–1867: Indian Presidency to Crown Colony, Athlone Press, London.
See: citation by the Government of the United Kingdom The commercial importance of tin mining in the Malay states to merchants in the Straits Settlements led to infighting between the aristocracy on the peninsula.