Dutch Virgin Islands (Nederlandse Maagdeneilanden) settled in 1648 but seized by the English in 1672 and New Walcheren (Nieuw-Walcheren) on Tobago held at various times between 1628 and 1677. Six of the original islands remain part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to this day. Three Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten are counted as "countries" within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while the BES Islands Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius are counted as special municipalities of the Netherlands proper within the country and overseas territories under the EU. Oceania New Holland New Holland was a nominal Dutch claim over western Australia. Although no formal colonization attempt was ever made, many places along the northwest coast retain Dutch names. Numerous Dutch ships on their way to the Dutch East Indies such as the Batavia were wrecked off the coast. Later British explorers also claimed to discover small pockets of aborigines with blonde hair and blue eyes. Van Diemen's Land Another Dutch claim in present-day Australia, that to Van Diemen's Land, dated from 1642 when Abel Tasman claimed the present-day island of Tasmania that now commemorates his name. It too was never colonized (or even re-visited by later Dutch explorers). South America Suriname Suriname (Surinam) was originally established as the English colony of Willoughbyland by Lord Willoughby in 1650. The colony was captured by a Dutch force on 26 February 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Under the terms of the treaties of Breda and Westminster, the English government accepted the loss of Suriname in exchange for receiving New Netherland (which they renamed New York) in North America. Slavery in Dutch Suriname was abolished in 1873, following a decade-long transition period. Suriname remained a Dutch colony until the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, during which the importance of its aluminum mines prompted its occupation by American troops. After the war, Suriname was returned to Dutch rule but promoted to a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1954. It was granted full independence in 1975. Suriname was known for its valuable sugar plantations so it fell into the hands of the Dutch in return for New Netherland when a treaty was signed in 1674. Guyana Pomeroon was established on its eponymous river in 1581 and destroyed by natives and Spaniards around 1596. Its original colonists fled to the ruins of an old Portuguese settlement on the