Phoenician colonization from its origin to the 7th century BC

Phoenician colonization, from its origins to the 7th century BC, was characterized by strategic expansion, the establishment of trade networks, and significant cultural interactions with indigenous populations. Phoenician expansion reached the Atlantic coast and key points throughout North Africa as early as the 9th century BC, where small commercial settlements were established. From the beginning of the 8th century BC, colonial settlements multiplied, designed to accommodate growing populations and enable the exploitation of natural resources. These settlements developed into urban and territorial centers, concentrated along major navigation routes near the Strait of Gibraltar and the Strait of Sicily. By the 7th century BC, the older Western colonies had founded new settlements on their peripheries, including previously uninhabited areas. These new colonies formed part of a Phoenician political-territorial space defined during the previous century, which encompassed two main regions: the central Mediterranean and the western Mediterranean.