The Straits Settlements (Malay: Negeri-Negeri Selat) were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.

In 1946, following the end of World War II and the Japanese occupation, the colony was dissolved as part of Britain's reorganisation of its Southeast Asian dependencies in the area.

Malacca's importance was in establishing an exclusive British zone of influence in the region, and was overshadowed as a trading post by Penang, and later, Singapore.

[3]: 981 Singapore became the site of a British trading post in 1819 after its founder, Stamford Raffles, successfully involved the East India Company in a dynastic struggle for the throne of Johor.

In 1824, the Dutch conceded any rights they had to the island in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, and from 1832, Singapore was the seat of government of the Straits Settlements for 114 years until its dissolution in 1946.

This resulted in the exchange of the British settlement of Bencoolen (on Sumatra) for the Dutch colony of Malacca and undisputed control of Singapore.

Their scattered nature proved to be difficult and, after the company lost its monopoly in the china trade in 1833, expensive to administer.

When a "Gagging Act" was imposed to prevent the uprising in India from spreading, the settlements' press reacted with anger, classing it as something that subverted "every principle of liberty and free discussion".

This allocated much power to the settlements' governor, who administered the colony of the Straits Settlements with the aid of an Executive Council, composed wholly of official (i.e., ex-officio) members, and a legislative council, composed partly of official and partly of nominated members, of which the former had a narrow permanent majority.

The work of administration, both in the colony and in the Federated Malay States, was carried on by means of a civil service whose members were recruited by competitive examination held annually in London.

The Straits Settlements, along with the rest of the Malay Peninsula, remained under Japanese occupation until the end of the war in August 1945.

Labuan was briefly annexed to Singapore, before being attached to the new colony of North Borneo (and ultimately detacheded to become a Federal Territory).

As in former years, the increase was solely due to immigration, especially of Chinese, though a considerable number of Tamils and other natives of India settled in the Straits Settlements.

Among the Malays and Eurasians, who alone had a fair proportion of both sexes, infant mortality was excessive due to early marriages and other causes.

In 1837, the Indian rupee was made the sole official currency in the Straits Settlements, as it was administered as part of India.