<P> The Dutch colonization of the Americas began with the establishment of Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas , which preceded the much wider known colonisation activities of the Dutch in Asia . While the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 ( in present - day Indonesia ) , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo River in Guyana date from the 1590s . Actual colonization , with the Dutch settling in the new lands , was not as common as with other European nations . Many of the Dutch settlements were lost or abandoned by the end of the 17th century , but the Netherlands managed to retain possession of Suriname until it gained independence in 1975 , as well as the Netherlands Antilles , which remain within the Kingdom of the Netherlands today . </P>
<P> The Dutch colonization of the Americas began with the establishment of Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas , which preceded the much wider known colonisation activities of the Dutch in Asia . While the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 ( in present - day Indonesia ) , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo River in Guyana date from the 1590s . Actual colonization , with the Dutch settling in the new lands , was not as common as with other European nations . Many of the Dutch settlements were lost or abandoned by the end of the 17th century , but the Netherlands managed to retain possession of Suriname until it gained independence in 1975 , as well as the Netherlands Antilles , which remain within the Kingdom of the Netherlands today . </P>
who gave the dutch a claim to north america
who gave the dutch a claim to north america
Asia
Asia