Colonies of the Dutch Empire Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cape Colony

The Cape Colony (Cape of Good Hope) was annexed by the (Dutch) United East India Company (VOC) in 1652. In the Napoleonic era it was conquered by the British. Malta was a British colony. Greenland was both a Danish and a Norwegian colony. Puerto Rico was first Spanish and later an American "colony".

Answer: Arguin Island

Arguin Island is an island off the Mauritanian coast. It was settled first by the Portuguese. Later the Dutch, British, French and Prussians all the ruled the island at some time. Christmas Island was British, nowaday it is part of Australia. Cape Breton Island is part of Canada.

It was ruled by France and Britain. Nauru is an island in Oceania. It was conquered by the German Empire and then by the British.

Answer: New Sweden

New Sweden was first settled by Sweden, but in 1655 it was conquered by the Dutch. It is now called "Delaware". Trois-Rivières was part of French Canada. Newfoundland was a English/British colony. It was briefly partly occupied by the French. Stuart's Town was a Scottish territory in South Carolina. They held it for four years.

Answer: Panama

Panama was settled by the Spanish. It became part of Colombia and was later briefly occupied by the USA. The Dutch had many colonies in India (Dutch Bengal, Coromandel Coast, French India and many others). They were conquered by the British EIC.

Deshima was a Dutch trading post once. It was bought from Japan.Some parts of Acadia were once very briefly occupied by the Dutch (from 1674-75) but later became part of Royal France (Canada). The Dutch claims in the region were abandoned in 1678.

Answer: Dutch West Africa

Dutch West Africa (Angola) was conquered from Portugal in 1641 but in 1648 the Portuguese reconquered it. New Walcheren (Tobago) was first settled by Spain. In the 17th century the Netherlands, England, Spain, France and Courland fought many battles for control over the island. New Netherlands is now called New York. Ceylon was a combined Franco-Dutch colony. During the French Revolution the British conquered the whole island.

Answer: Dutch Guiana

The West Indies Company controlled the Dutch colonies in America and West-Africa. Dutch Guiana (Suriname) is in South America. Java is an Indonesian island. The Dutch start conquering it in 1619.

Tayowan is an other name for Taiwan. It was conquered by the Dutch in 1624. It declared itself a Chinese island in 1662. The Malabar Coast lies in India. It was first settled by the Dutch in 1663. It was conquered by the British in 1795.

Answer: Moluccas

The United East India Company controlled the Dutch colonies in East Africa, Asia and Oceania. The Moluccas are an island group in Indonesia. Sint Eustatius is still part of the Netherlands and it lies in the Caribbean Sea.

Tortola was a famous pirate island in the Caribbean. It was settled by the Dutch and Spanish. It is now part of the British Virgin Islands. Pomeroon is part of Guyana. It was held by the Dutch and the British.

Answer: Saba

Saba was conquered from the Spanish in 1640. Saint Croix was briefly occupied by the Dutch. It was part of France and now it is part of the USA. Chiloe Island was conquered from the Spanish in 1643 but lost in the same year.

Spitsbergen is part of Norway. It was first settled by the Dutch in 1596. It became a very important area due to the whaling industry. From 1612 it was also settled by the Danes, English, French, Russians, Swedish and Spanish. It officially became part of Norway in 1920.

Answer: Dutch Guiana

Dutch Guiana became is now called Suriname. The Dutch East Indies became independent in 1949 after four years of Japanese occupation and another four years of guerrilla fightning. It is now called Indonesia.

Dutch New Guinea became independent in 1962. In the same year it was annexed by Indonesia. The Dutch Gold Coast was sold to Britain in 1871 and is now called Ghana.

Answer: Bali

Bali is part of Indonesia and it became independent in 1949. Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands forms the Kingdom of the Netherlands.