During the 17th and 18th centuries , LOCATION@1 colonized much of LOCATION@2 ; during the 19th and early 20th centuries , LOCATION@1 built the second largest empire of the time , including large portions of LOCATION@3 , LOCATION@4 and LOCATION@5 , LOCATION@6 , and many LOCATION@7 islands .

In the 18th and 19th centuries , it built a very big colonial empire across LOCATION@8 and LOCATION@6 .
