Architecture

Dutch colonial empire

The Dutch colonial empire (Dutch: Nederlandse Koloniale Rijk) comprised overseas territories and trading posts under some form of Dutch control from the early 17th to late 20th centuries, including those initially administered by Dutch chartered companies—primarily the Dutch East India Company (1602–1799) and Dutch West India Company (1621–1792)—and subsequently governed by the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) and modern Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1975). Following the de facto independence of the Dutch Republic from the Spanish Empire in the late 16th century, various trading companies known as voorcompagnie led maritime expeditions overseas in search of commercial opportunities. By 1600, Dutch traders and mariners had penetrated the lucrative Asian spice trade but lacked the capital or manpower to secure or expand their ventures; this prompted the States General in 1602 to consolidate several trading enterprises into the semi-state-owned Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), which was granted a monopoly over Asian trade. In contrast to Spanish and Portuguese rivals, Dutch activities abroad were initially commercial ventures driven by merchant enterprise and characterised by control of international maritime shipping routes through strategically placed outposts, rather than by expansive territorial ventures. By the mid-17th century, the VOC—along with the Dutch West India Company (Dutch: Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, GWC), which was founded in 1621 to advance interests in the Americas—had greatly expanded Dutch economic and territorial influence worldwide, exercising quasi-governmental powers to negotiate treaties, wage war, administer territory, and establish settlements. At its height in 1652, the Dutch empire spanned colonies or outposts in eastern North America, the Caribbean, South America (Suriname and Brazil), western and southern Africa, mainland India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Japan, and Taiwan. While searching for new trade passages between Asia and Europe, Dutch navigators explored and charted distant regions such as Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania, and parts of eastern North America.

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See also

• ▸Arthur Erickson
• ▸ILC Dover
• ▸Boerentoren

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