British Straits Settlements

Straits Settlements
Negeri-negeri Selat نݢري٢ سلت 叻嶼呷
British colony
1826–1942 Japanese Occupation: 1942–45 1945–1946
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem God Save the King (1826–1837; 1901–1942; 1945–46) God Save the Queen (1837–1901)
Malaya in 1922:   Unfederated Malay States   Federated Malay States   Straits Settlements
Singapore from St Andrew's Church Spire, 1863.
Capital		Penang (1826–1832) Singapore (1832–1946)
Languages		English Malay Chinese Tamil
Government		Company rule (1826–67) Constitutional monarchy (1867–1946)
Monarch
•	1826–30	George IV
•	1830–37	William IV
•	1837–1901	Victoria
•	1901–10	Edward VII
•	1910–36	George V
•	1936	Edward VIII
•	1936–42; 1945–46	George VI
Governor
•	1826–30 (first)	Robert Fullerton
•	1934–42; 1945–46 (last)	Shenton Thomas
Historical era		British Empire
•	Anglo-Dutch Treaty	17 March 1824
•	Established under     East India Co. rule	1826
•	Converted to     Crown colony	1 April 1867
•	Labuan incorporated	1 January 1907
•	Fall of Singapore	15 February 1942
•	Formal surrender     by Japan to British     Military Administration	12 September 1945
•	Federated to     Federation of Malaya and     Crown colony     of Singapore	1 April 1946
•	Labuan to Crown colony     of North Borneo	15 July 1946
Currency		Straits dollar (to 1939) Malayan dollar (1939–1946)
Preceded by Succeeded by History of Penang#Early days Founding of modern Singapore Dutch Malacca Dindings Malayan Union Colony of Singapore Colony of Malacca Colony of Penang Bengal Presidency
Today part of		Malaysia  Singapore  Australia

The Straits Settlements (Malay: Negeri-negeri Selat, نݢري٢ سلت; Chinese: 叻嶼呷/海峽殖民地) were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a Crown colony on 1 April 1867. The colony was dissolved in 1946 as part of the British reorganisation of its Southeast Asian dependencies following the end of the Second World War.

The Straits Settlements originally consisted of the four individual settlements of Malacca, Dinding, Penang and Singapore. The Penang territory included Penang Island, formerly known as Prince of Wales Island, and Seberang Perai on the mainland, formerly known as Province Wellesley. Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands were also included. The island of Labuan, off the coast of Borneo, was also incorporated into the colony with effect from 1 January 1907, becoming a separate settlement within it in 1912. Most of the territories now form part of Malaysia, from which Singapore separated in 1965. The Cocos (or Keeling) Islands were transferred to Australian control in 1955. Christmas Island was transferred in 1958. Their administration was combined in 1996 to form the Australian Indian Ocean Territories.

The establishment of the Straits Settlements followed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, by which the Malay archipelago was divided into a British zone in the north and a Dutch zone in the south. This resulted in the exchange of the British settlement of Bencoolen (on Sumatra) for the Dutch colony of Malacca and undisputed control of Singapore. The Settlements were largely Chinese in population, with a tiny but important European minority. Their capital was moved from Penang to Singapore in 1832. Their scattered nature proved to be difficult and, after the company lost its monopoly in the china trade in 1833, expensive to administer.