The Straits Settlements (Malay:Negeri-negeri Selat, نݢري٢ سلت; Chinese:叻屿呷/海峡殖民地) 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.