About this map
The Dutch overseas world from the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (1588) to the Kingdom of the Netherlands today. Orange = Dutch-held land (VOC, WIC, state). Lighter orange = the Boer republics founded by Dutch-descended settlers, and Luxembourg in personal union. When land changes hands it briefly takes the new ruler’s colour (red Britain, blue France, green Portugal, teal Koxinga, purple Japan, magenta Indonesia, light blue UN, dark green Suriname, black Belgium) before fading out. Blue pins are voyages of exploration, dark red pins failed expeditions and disasters, small brown dots trading posts. Borders are approximations drawn on modern Natural Earth boundaries; trading forts are shown as small circles. Sources: Natural Earth; general histories of the VOC/WIC (e.g. Gaastra, Den Heijer, Boxer).
Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-dutch-colonial-world-1588today.md
Timeline
| Date | What the map shows |
|---|---|
| 12 Apr 1588 | 1588 · Republic of the Seven United Netherlands |
| 23 Jul 1594 | 1594 · Groningen taken: the north united |
| 22 Jun 1596 | 1596 · First Dutch fleet reaches Banten |
| 20 Mar 1602 | 1602 · Dutch East India Company (VOC) founded |
| 23 Feb 1605 | 1605 · VOC takes Ambon from the Portuguese |
| 20 Sep 1609 | 1609 · Trading post at Hirado; Hudson sails |
| 1 Jun 1610 | 1610 · Pulicat trading post on Coromandel |
| 1 Jun 1612 | 1612 · Fort Nassau on the Gold Coast |
| 11 Oct 1614 | 1614 · New Netherland Company chartered |
| 1 Jun 1616 | 1616 · Fort Kyk-over-al on the Essequibo |
| 1 Jun 1617 | 1617 · Gorée bought off Senegal |
| 30 May 1619 | 1619 · Jan Pieterszoon Coen founds Batavia |
| 3 Jun 1621 | 1621 · WIC founded; Banda conquered |
| 11 Jul 1622 | 1622 · VOC fortifies the Pescadores |
| 10 May 1624 | 1624 · Fort Zeelandia on Formosa; Bahia taken |
| 1 May 1625 | 1625 · Bahia retaken by Spain and Portugal |
| 24 May 1626 | 1626 · Manhattan bought: New Amsterdam |
| 1 Jun 1627 | 1627 · Berbice colony founded |
| 16 Feb 1630 | 1630 · WIC captures Olinda and Recife |
| 29 Jul 1634 | 1634 · Curaçao taken; Dutch Brazil grows |
| 1 Jun 1636 | 1636 · Aruba, Bonaire and St Eustatius |
| 29 Aug 1637 | 1637 · Elmina taken; Johan Maurits in Brazil |
| 18 May 1638 | 1638 · Mauritius settled; Batticaloa taken |
| 13 Mar 1640 | 1640 · Galle taken; Saba settled |
| 14 Jan 1641 | 1641 · Malacca falls to the VOC |
| 24 Aug 1641 | 1641 · Luanda, Maranhão taken; Dejima opens |
| 26 Aug 1642 | 1642 · Axim and Spanish Formosa captured |
| 13 Jun 1645 | 1645 · Portuguese revolt in Dutch Brazil |
| 30 Jan 1648 | 1648 · Peace of Münster: independence |
| 15 Aug 1648 | 1648 · Portugal retakes Luanda |
| 6 Apr 1652 | 1652 · Van Riebeeck founds the Cape colony |
| 1653 | 1653 · VOC fort at Kupang, Timor |
| 26 Jan 1654 | 1654 · Dutch Brazil surrenders to Portugal |
| 15 Sep 1655 | 1655 · New Sweden absorbed |
| 12 May 1656 | 1656 · Colombo taken; Chinsurah in Bengal |
| 24 Jun 1658 | 1658 · Jaffna falls: coastal Ceylon Dutch |
| 6 Aug 1661 | 1661 · Treaty of The Hague: Brazil ceded |
| 1 Feb 1662 | 1662 · Koxinga expels the VOC from Formosa |
| 7 Jan 1663 | 1663 · Cochin taken; post at Padang |
| 8 Sep 1664 | 1664 · English seize New Amsterdam |
| 26 Feb 1667 | 1667 · Suriname taken from the English |
| 12 Jun 1669 | 1669 · Makassar conquered |
| 7 Apr 1672 | 1672 · Disaster Year: war with England, France |
| 9 Aug 1673 | 1673 · Dutch retake New York as New Orange |
| 19 Feb 1674 | 1674 · Treaty of Westminster: New Netherland lost |
| 12 Dec 1677 | 1677 · France takes Gorée and Tobago |
| 1 Jun 1683 | 1683 · Ternate and Banten become vassals |
| 1 Jun 1700 | 1700 · Cape farmers settle Tulbagh |
| 5 Oct 1705 | 1705 · Mataram cedes West Java |
| 1 Feb 1710 | 1710 · Mauritius abandoned |
| 5 Apr 1722 | 1722 · Roggeveen reaches Easter Island |
| 11 Nov 1743 | 1743 · Mataram cedes the north coast of Java |
| 1 Jun 1745 | 1745 · Swellendam: Cape colony grows east |
| 1 Jun 1746 | 1746 · Demerara colony founded |
| 13 Feb 1755 | 1755 · Treaty of Giyanti splits Mataram |
| 14 Feb 1766 | 1766 · Kandy cedes all of Ceylon’s coast |
| 3 Feb 1781 | 1781 · British sack St Eustatius |
| 1 Jun 1786 | 1786 · Graaff-Reinet: frontier at the Fish River |
| 19 Jan 1795 | 1795 · Batavian Republic proclaimed |
| 16 Sep 1795 | 1795 · Britain takes Cape, Malacca, Cochin |
| 16 Feb 1796 | 1796 · Britain takes Ceylon and Demerara |
| 20 Aug 1799 | 1799 · Britain occupies Suriname |
| 21 Feb 1803 | 1803 · Peace of Amiens: colonies restored |
| 5 May 1804 | 1804 · Britain seizes the Guianas again |
| 18 Jan 1806 | 1806 · Cape lost again; Kingdom of Holland |
| 1807 | 1807 · Britain occupies the Dutch Antilles |
| 9 Jul 1810 | 1810 · Holland annexed by Napoleon’s France |
| 18 Sep 1811 | 1811 · British conquer Java |
| 30 Nov 1813 | 1813 · Independence restored |
| 13 Aug 1814 | 1814 · Convention of London: Cape ceded |
| 16 Mar 1815 | 1815 · United Kingdom of the Netherlands |
| 19 Aug 1816 | 1816 · Java and the Indies handed back |
| 17 Mar 1824 | 1824 · Anglo-Dutch Treaty: Malacca swapped |
| 24 Aug 1828 | 1828 · Fort Du Bus: New Guinea claimed |
| 28 Mar 1830 | 1830 · Java War ends |
| 4 Oct 1830 | 1830 · Belgium declares independence |
| 21 Jul 1831 | 1831 · British Guiana formed |
| 16 Aug 1837 | 1837 · Padri War ends: West Sumatra |
| 19 Apr 1839 | 1839 · Treaty of London: Belgium recognised |
| 12 Oct 1839 | 1839 · Boer Republic of Natalia |
| 12 May 1843 | 1843 · Britain annexes Natalia |
| 1 May 1849 | 1849 · North Bali conquered |
| 17 Jan 1852 | 1852 · Sand River: Transvaal Boer republic |
| 23 Feb 1854 | 1854 · Orange Free State founded |
| 20 Apr 1859 | 1859 · Treaty of Lisbon: West Timor, Flores |
| 11 Jun 1860 | 1860 · Banjarmasin sultanate annexed |
| 1 Jul 1863 | 1863 · Slavery abolished in the colonies |
| 6 Apr 1872 | 1872 · Gold Coast forts handed to Britain |
| 26 Mar 1873 | 1873 · Aceh War begins |
| 12 Apr 1877 | 1877 · Britain annexes the Transvaal |
| 3 Aug 1881 | 1881 · Transvaal free again (Pretoria) |
| 23 Nov 1890 | 1890 · Union with Luxembourg ends |
| 20 Nov 1894 | 1894 · Lombok expedition |
| 1 Sep 1900 | 1900 · Britain annexes the Boer republics |
| 31 May 1902 | 1902 · Peace of Vereeniging: republics end |
| 1 Jun 1904 | 1904 · Aceh largely subdued |
| 20 Sep 1906 | 1906 · Bali and Sulawesi conquered |
| 1 Jun 1910 | 1910 · Dutch East Indies at its height |
| 8 Mar 1942 | 1942 · Japan occupies the Indies |
| 17 Aug 1945 | 1945 · Indonesia proclaims independence |
| 1 Mar 1946 | 1946 · Dutch return; war of independence |
| 27 Dec 1949 | 1949 · Sovereignty transferred to Indonesia |
| 15 Dec 1954 | 1954 · Charter for the Kingdom |
| 1 Oct 1962 | 1962 · West New Guinea handed to the UN |
| 1 May 1963 | 1963 · Indonesia takes West New Guinea |
| 2 Aug 1969 | 1969 · Act of Free Choice in West Papua |
| 25 Nov 1975 | 1975 · Suriname becomes independent |
| 1986 | 1986 · Aruba gains separate status |
| 10 Oct 2010 | 2010 · Netherlands Antilles dissolved |
| 24 Oct 2026 | 2026 · The Kingdom of the Netherlands today |
Layers
Dutch Republic → Kingdom of the Netherlands · Southern Netherlands (Belgium), 1815–1830 · Luxembourg (personal union), 1815–1890 · Java · Moluccas (Spice Islands) · Sulawesi (Celebes) · Sumatra · Borneo (Kalimantan) · Lesser Sunda Islands & West Timor · Netherlands New Guinea · Malacca · Dutch Ceylon · Dutch Malabar (Cochin) · Dutch Coromandel & Bengal · Pescadores · Dutch Formosa · Hirado → Dejima (Japan) · Mauritius · Cape Colony · Natalia (Boer republic) · Orange Free State (Boer republic) · South African Republic (Transvaal) · Dutch Gold Coast · Luanda & São Tomé · Gorée & Arguin · New Netherland · Bahia (São Salvador) · Dutch Brazil (New Holland) · Essequibo, Demerara & Berbice · Suriname · Tobago (New Walcheren) · Tortola · Curaçao, Aruba & Bonaire · Sint Eustatius, Saba & Sint Maarten
Events
- 22 Jun 1596, Eerste Schipvaart reaches Banten: Cornelis de Houtman’s fleet is the first Dutch expedition to reach the East Indies. Only 87 of 249 men return, but the voyage proves the route and starts the spice race.
- 26 Aug 1596, Failed: wintering on Nova Zembla (Behouden Huys): Third north-east passage attempt. The ship is trapped by ice at Ice Haven; the crew of 17 builds the “Behouden Huys” and survives the polar winter. In June 1597 they escape in two open boats. Barentsz dies on the way; 12 men reach Kola and get home.
- 26 Feb 1606, Duyfken: first recorded landing in Australia: Willem Janszoon charts the west coast of Cape York and lands near the Pennefather River. Clashes with the local people end the stay; he thinks the coast is part of New Guinea.
- 11 Sep 1609, Hudson explores the Hudson River for the VOC: Henry Hudson, sailing the Halve Maen for the VOC, looks for a passage to Asia and sails up the river later named after him, laying the basis for New Netherland.
- 29 Jan 1616, Le Maire & Schouten round Cape Horn: Seeking a route around the VOC monopoly, they discover Le Maire Strait and name Kaap Hoorn after their home town.
- 24 Jun 1622, Failed attack on Macau: A VOC fleet tries to take Portuguese Macau and is beaten off. The fleet moves on to the Pescadores instead.
- 8 Sep 1628, Piet Hein captures the Spanish silver fleet: In Matanzas Bay the WIC captures the entire treasure fleet without a fight, funding the conquest of Dutch Brazil.
- 4 Jun 1629, Failed: the Batavia wreck, Houtman Abrolhos: The VOC flagship Batavia strikes a reef on her maiden voyage. While commander Pelsaert sails for help, mutineers led by Jeronimus Cornelisz murder about 125 survivors. Mutineers are executed on the islands and two are marooned on the mainland.
- 24 Nov 1642, Tasman sights Van Diemen’s Land: Abel Tasman reaches Tasmania and names it after Governor-General Antonio van Diemen.
- 18 Dec 1642, Failed landing in Murderers’ Bay, New Zealand: Tasman’s first contact with Māori ends with four of his men killed. He leaves without landing and names the land Staten Landt.
- 24 Aug 1643, Failed: Brouwer’s colony at Valdivia: A WIC expedition from Brazil tries to found a base in southern Chile with Mapuche help. Brouwer dies, supplies fail and the Dutch leave after a few months.
- 16 Aug 1653, Sperwer wrecked on Jeju: 13 years in Korea: Hendrick Hamel and 35 survivors are held in Joseon Korea. Eight escape to Nagasaki in 1666; Hamel’s journal is the first Western account of Korea.
- 5 Apr 1722, Roggeveen reaches Easter Island: Jacob Roggeveen is the first European to visit Rapa Nui, on Easter Sunday 1722.