Which statement best describes why Western nations had advantages over non-Western nations during the age of imperialism?
A. Western nations were ethnically and culturally diverse.
B. Western nations had access to more raw materials and natural resources.
C. Western nations were in control of valuable trade routes and waterways.
D. Western nations had fewer religious customs, laws, and traditions dominating their societies.
E. Western nations had technologies such as machine guns, steamboats, and the telegraph.

Imperialism is a relationship between countries - generally in the form of an empire - that is based on ideas of superiority and applying practices of domination, which imply the extension of authority and control of one State or people over another. More specifically, the expression Age of Imperialism, used by historiography, is used to refer to the period encompassing from 1871 to 1914, in which there was a real race to build colonial empires, mainly with the division of Africa that followed the Conference of Berlin. The main advantage that the Western nations had over non-Western nations was advanced technology such as machine guns, steamboats, and the telegraph. This advanced technology resulted from the industrialization process that was taking place in different countries in Europe and North-America, which gave to these states a great number of economic resources but also pushed them to expand their markets in search for raw materials so necessary for the industrial production. For this reason, these countries started an aggressive campaign to colonize other nations that were rich in natural resources and that gave them access to new trade routes.