Netherlands: Notable Colonies

1602 / 1616 / 1621 - 1975 - Guianas (All Facts)

• In 1602, a settlement was founded by colonists near the estuary of the Essequibo River

1614 - 1674 - New Netherland (All Facts)

• Colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States, having claimed territories that extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod and established settlements in what eventually became the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut, with small outposts in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island

• Colony whose government was centered at / on New Amsterdam (modern-day NYC)

• In 1629, Jonas Bronk bought 500 acres of land north of New Amsterdam in the namesake colony from the Native Americans, which he planned to use to lease land to farmers for three-year periods to grow maize and tobacco (the Bronx is named after him)

• In 1636, the Dutch were granted the first patents on Long Island

1614 - 1617 - Fort Nassau (All Facts)

• First Dutch Colony in the Americas

• It was located beside the Hudson River within modern-day Albany, New York

• After three years, it was abandoned by the Dutch traders who set up there

1616 - 1812 - Essequibo (All Facts)

1619 - 1949 - Batavia / Djakarta / Jakarta (All Facts)

• First Dutch Colony in Indonesia in what would become the Dutch East Indies, corresponding roughly with modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia

• It was named the namesake after an ancient district in Holland

• It was established during the Dutch Revolt / Eighty Years’ War during the reign of Maurice of Nassau

1624 - 1676 - Fort Orange (All Facts)

• First permanent settlement established by the Dutch in New Netherland (modern-day New York)

• Settlement built by the Dutch during the Dutch Revolt / Eighty Years’ War during the reign of Maurice of Nassau

1630 - 1654 - Dutch Brazil / New Holland (All Facts)

• Colony of the Dutch Republic in the northeastern portion of modern-day Brazil

• Colony governed by

  • John Maurice of Nassau

1631 - Zwaanendael Colony (All Facts)

• Dutch Colony that was located in modern-day Delaware and was short-lived

• It was wiped out because of a petty theft

  • A native chief stole a Dutch coat of arms made of tin and made a pipe out of it

  • When settlers reported this to another tribe, they promptly presented them with the native chief’s head

  • The tribe of the native chief took revenge by massacring all but one of the settlers of the namesake colony

1640 - 1796 - Dutch Ceylon (All Facts)

• Colony established by the Dutch following the Treaty of Kandy, in which the Dutch allied with the Sri-Lankans against the Portuguese, allowing them to establish a presence in the namesake (modern-day Sri Lanka)

1641 - 1825 - Dutch Malacca (All Facts)

• Colony established following the Siege of Malacca by the Dutch against the Portuguese during the Portuguese-Dutch War during the Dutch Revolt / Eighty Years’ War

1667 - 1954 - Suriname / Dutch Guiana / Paramaribo (All Facts)

• In 1613, the namesake city was settled by the Dutch