What were the fundamental differences between tropical
dependencies and settler societies that made up the
European colonial empires in the era of imperialist
dominance?

The tropical dependencies were controlled by few Europeans, were not developed economically, and the resources were almost exclusively taken out of the are. The settler societies had well established European societies which controlled the area, where developing economically, and even had certain autonomy.

Explanation:

The Europeans managed to create colonies on every continent on our planet, except for Antarctica. This was due to the technological, economical, political, and military superiority. All of the colonies were not the same though, and there were some major differences between them, even if they were controlled by the same country.

One of the divisions was tropical dependencies and settler societies.

The tropical dependencies had very few Europeans in them. Those few people controlled everything in the colony. The indigenous people were pretty much on slave level. The resources were almost exclusively taken out of the are.

The settler societies had much more Europeans in them, as lot have settled in and created areas where they dominate demographically. The larger mass of Europeans controlled pretty much everything in the colony. The colony actually was developing and it had investment from the colonial mother country, which over time even gave certain autonomy to these colonies.