A map of the British and French dominions in North America, with the roads, distances, limits, and extent of the settlements, Printed for I. Covens and C. Mortier, between 1755 and 1761. British colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas. They were among the three most important colonizers of the Americas, and their American empire came to rival the Spanish American colonies in military and economic might. The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued on into the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America.