It would be more logical to recognize only settler colonies as colonies per se and refer to all other results of expansion as dependencies. The loss of colonies is incomparably more dangerous for empires than the loss of dependencies. Trying to hold on to dependencies is meaningless, but to neglect the colonies is reckless.

‘Colonies vs. Dependencies: An Invitation to a Discourse’, by Vladislav Inozemtsev for Russia in Global Affairs, reproduced on one page at Valdai.