Dutch Gold Coast: Map & History
Dutch Gold Coast is mapped in the atlas for 1653 CE – 1872 CE, with a peak mapped extent of about 15,701 km².
Wikipedia Encyclopedic Compendium
Historiographical synthesis & structured realm registry
The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea, was a portion of contemporary Ghana known as the Gold Coast, that from 1612 was gradually colonised by the Dutch West India Company (WIC) from the Dutch and Batavian Republics. The Dutch began trading in the area around 1598, joining the Portuguese which had a trading post there since the late 15th century. Eventually, the Dutch Gold Coast became the most important Dutch colony in West Africa after Fort Elmina was captured from the Portuguese in 1637, but fell into disarray after the abolition of the slave trade in the early 19th century. On 6 April 1872, the Dutch Gold Coast was, in accordance with the Anglo-Dutch Treaties of 1870–71, ceded to the United Kingdom.
Modern Countries Once Part of Dutch Gold Coast
At its mapped extent, Dutch Gold Coast covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Dutch Gold Coast's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Dutch Gold Coast in Depth
History
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in contemporary Ghana. By 1471, they had reached the area that was to become known as the Gold Coast because it was an important source of gold. The Portuguese trading interests in gold, ivory and pepper so increased that in 1482 the Portuguese built their first permanent trading post on the western coast of present-day Ghana. This fortress, a trade castle called São Jorge da Mina ('Fort St. George [of the Mine]'), was constructed to protect Portuguese trade from European competitors.
The Portuguese position on the Gold Coast, known as Portuguese Gold Coast, remained secure for over a century.
Economy
Although the colony is nowadays primarily associated with Atlantic slave trade, this was not the reason for the first Dutch traders to trade with the Gold Coast. Barent Eriksz made a profit trading gold, ivory, and West African pepper, and these products remained the primary trading goods in the early 17th century. According to Joannes de Laet, the WIC had transported West African goods worth 14 million Dutch guilders to the Dutch Republic by 1637, of which the most important was the trade in gold.
This changed with the gradual capture of Brazil from the Portuguese, from 1630 onward. Suddenly, the trade of slaves, for which there was no significant market earlier, became a necessity for the economic survival of Dutch Brazil.
Legacy
After the Dutch East Indies gained independence as Indonesia in 1949, most Belanda Hitam migrated to the Netherlands, since they had been soldiers of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. Other than that, the Dutch colonial history on the Gold Coast was more or less forgotten. This changed slightly after Arthur Japin published the earlier mentioned The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi in 1997. This attention also revealed that the head of Ahanta king Badu Bonsu II, taken to the Netherlands after his execution in 1838, was still in the possession of the Leiden University Medical Centre. The head of the king was handed over to the Ghanaian ambassador in a ceremony held on 23 July 2009 in The Hague.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Dutch Gold Coast (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Dutch Gold Coast Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Dutch Gold Coast appears, with the other states of the time.
Dutch Gold Coast: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Dutch Gold Coast exist?
Dutch Gold Coast is dated to 1653 CE – 1872 CE, in the Early Modern & Age of Discovery era.
What was the capital of Dutch Gold Coast?
The capital of Dutch Gold Coast was Fort Nassau (1612–1637), Fort Elmina (1637–1872).
How large was Dutch Gold Coast at its peak?
At its peak in 1872 Dutch Gold Coast covered about 15,701 km².
How did the map of Dutch Gold Coast change over time?
Dutch Gold Coast appears on 3 dated world maps in the atlas, from 1700 CE to 1850 CE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.
Other Sovereign Realms
Early Modern & Age of Discovery • Capital: Söğüt, Bursa, Edirne, Constantinople
Industrial Era • Capital: London
Early Modern & Age of Discovery • Capital: Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Lahore, Delhi
Early Modern & Age of Discovery • Capital: Raigad