Danish overseas colonies and Dano-Norwegian colonies () were the colonies that Denmark–Norway (Denmark after 1814) possessed from 1536 until 1953. At its apex, the colonies spanned four continents: Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. The period of colonial expansion marked a rise in the status and power of Danes and Norwegians in the Kalmar Union. Danes and Norwegians during this time increasingly saw themselves as citizens of the same "State Fatherland" (), the realm of the Oldenburg monarchs. In the 17th century, following territorial losses on the Scandinavian Peninsula, Denmark–Norway began to develop forts with trading posts in West Africa, and colonies in the Caribbean, and the Indian subcontinent. Christian IV first initiated the policy of expanding Denmark–Norway's overseas trade, as part of the mercantilist wave that was sweeping Europe. Denmark–Norway's first colony was established at Tranquebar () on India's southern coast in 1620. Admiral Ove Gjedde led the expedition that established the colony. After 1814, when Norway was ceded to Sweden following the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark retained what remained of Norway's great medieval colonial holdings. Today, the only remaining vestiges are two originally Norwegian dependencies that are currently within the Danish Realm, the Faroe Islands and Greenland; the Faroes were a Danish county until 1948, while Greenland's colonial status ceased in 1953. They are now autonomous territories within the Kingdom of Denmark with home rule, in a relationship referred to as the "Unity of the Realm". Overview Africa Denmark maintained several trading stations and four forts along the Gold Coast in West Africa, especially around modern day Ghana. Three trading stations were built: Fort Frederiksborg, Kpompo; Fort Christiansborg near Accra in 1661, which was purchased from Sweden; and Frederiksberg. The forts were Fort Fredensborg (1734), Fort Kongenstein (1783), Fort Prinzenstein (1784), and Fort Augustaborg (1787), several of which exist as ruins today. Of these, only two are still in existence, the Osu Castle, and the Christiansborg Castle, the latter of which used to be the residence of Ghanaian presidents. Plantations were established near Frederiksborg, but they failed. Fort Christiansborg became the base for Danish power in West Africa, and the centre for the slave trade to the Danish West Indies. In 1807, Denmark's African business partners were suppressed by the Ashanti, which led to the abandonment of all trading stations. Denmark sold its forts to the United Kingdom in 1850. List Fort Fredensborg (Ningo: 1734 – March 1850) Fort