Straits Settlements, a former British crown colony in Southeast Asia, occupying coastal areas of the Malay Peninsula and nearby islands. The colony consisted of Malacca, Penang, and Singapore. Penang settlement included Penang Island and the mainland territories of Province Wellesley and Dindings. The colony at various times also administered a number of small islands outside the Malaya area. The Settlements became prosperous as a transshipment point in the trade between East and West.
Malacca came under the rule of the Portuguese in 1511 and the Dutch in 1641. It was occupied by the British in 1795 and ceded to them in 1824. The British settled Penang in 1786 and Singapore in 1819. In 1826 the British East India Company combined the three colonies to form the Straits Settlements. The British government took control of the Settlements in 1867. During World War II the Japanese occupied the colony.
In 1946 the Straits Settlements were broken up; Malacca and Penang joined the Malay states to form the Malayan Union (now part of Malaysia), and Singapore became a separate crown colony.