Swedish overseas colonies () consisted of the overseas colonies controlled by Sweden. Sweden possessed overseas colonies from 1638 to 1663, in 1733 and from 1784 to 1878. Sweden possessed five colonies, four of which were short lived. The colonies spanned three continents: Africa, Asia and North America. List The former Swedish colonies in Africa were: Swedish Gold Coast (1650–1663; lost to Denmark and the Dutch) Including the Cape Coast (1649–1663) consisting of the following settlements: Fort Apollonia, presently Beyin: 1655–1657. Fort Christiansborg/Fort Frederiksborg, which became the capital, presently Osu: 1652–1658 Fort Batenstein, presently Butri: 1649–1656. Fort Witsen, presently Takoradi: 1653–1658. Carolusborg: April 1650 – January/February 1658, 10 December 1660 – 22 April 1663 The former Swedish colonies in the Americas: New Sweden (1638–1655; lost to the Dutch) Saint-Barthélemy (1784–1878; sold to France) Guadeloupe (1813–1814; returned to France) The former Swedish colonies in Asia were: Parangipettai (1733; lost to the French and British East India Companies) Americas New Sweden By the middle of the 17th century, the Swedish Empire had reached its greatest territorial extent. The Swedes sought to extend their influence by creating an agricultural (tobacco) and fur trading colony to bypass French, English and Dutch merchants. The charter included Swedish, Dutch and German stockholders. Once they landed they established Fort Christina (now Wilmington, Delaware), named after Queen Christina of Sweden. Many of the settlers were Finnish, since until 1809 the area of modern Finland was the eastern third of the kingdom of Sweden. The settlement was actually an invasion of New Netherland since it was Dutch territory. The founder and first governor, Peter Minuit, had been Director-General of New Netherland from 1626 to 1633. Disgruntled after being dismissed from his post, he led a Swedish expedition to a location which he knew to be strategic as well as a thorn in the side of his former employers. Minuit died on a return trip from Stockholm in a hurricane near the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts. The colony would establish Fort Nya Elfsborg north of present-day Salem, New Jersey, in 1643. In May 1654, the Dutch Fort Casimir, located in present-day New Castle, Delaware, was captured by New Sweden. As a reprisal, the Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant sent an army to the Delaware River, which obtained the surrender of the Swedish forts. Antillian possessions Saint Barthélemy is the only Caribbean island to have been historically a Swedish colony for any