Settler

A settler is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community.^[1]

The process of settling land can be, and has often been, controversial: while human migration is a normal phenomenon by itself, it has not been uncommon throughout human history for settlers to have arrived in already-inhabited lands without the intention of living alongside the native population. In these cases, the conflict that arises between the settlers and the natives (or Indigenous peoples) may result in the dispossession of the latter within the contested territory, usually violently.^[2] While settlers can act independently, they may receive support from the government of their country or empire or from a non-governmental organization as part of a larger campaign. The lifestyle of a native population is often disturbed or destroyed if they come into contact with a settler population, particularly when the settler population seeks to mostly replace them.^[3] As well as leading to a change in culture (or alteration of the existing culture) and traditions and beliefs brought in by the settlers which was previously not present among the natives.^[4]