Fort Aguada is a well-preserved seventeenth-century Portuguese -era fort , along with a lighthouse, standing in Goa , India, on Sinquerim Beach , overlooking the Arabian Sea . It is an ASI protected Monument of National Importance in Goa .
132-519: Aguada fort was originally constructed in 1612 to guard against the Dutch . It was a reference point for the vessels coming from Europe at that time. This old Portuguese fort stands on the beach south of Candolim , at the shore of the Mandovi River . It was initially tasked with defense of shipping and the nearby Bardez sub-district. A freshwater spring within the fort provided water supply to
264-761: A Minister Plenipotentiary based in the Netherlands, who had the right to participate in Dutch cabinet meetings that discussed affairs of the Kingdom as a whole when they pertained directly to Suriname or the Netherlands Antilles. Delegates of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles could participate in sessions of the First and Second Chamber of the States General . An overseas member could be added to
396-614: A Prime Minister . The sovereign people of Aruba are represented by 21 parliamentarians in the Parliament of Aruba . The Governor of Aruba is Alfonso Boekhoudt , and the Prime Minister is Evelyn Wever-Croes . It has its own Central Bank and currency, the Aruban florin , linked to the U.S. dollar; the U.S. dollar is accepted almost everywhere on the island. Aruba has two official languages: its own national language Papiamento and
528-678: A unitary state . Its administration consists of the Monarch and the Council of Ministers, which is headed by a Prime Minister (currently Dick Schoof ). The people are represented by the States General of the Netherlands , which consists of a House of Representatives and a Senate . The Netherlands is divided into 12 provinces: Drenthe , Flevoland , Friesland , Gelderland , Groningen , Limburg , North Brabant , North Holland , Overijssel , South Holland , Utrecht and Zeeland . The provinces are divided into municipalities. The Netherlands has
660-569: A 'heavy union' led by the Dutch monarch , while Indonesia favored a loose organization opting individual sovereignty. The union was virtually collapsed by 1954 over the West New Guinea dispute , leaving the Dutch an opportunity to reorganize its colonial holdings. Initially, a federal constitution was considered too heavy as the economies of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles were insignificant compared to that of
792-601: A colony at the Cape of Good Hope on the southern African coast, as a victualing station for its ships on the route between Europe and Asia. Dutch immigration in the Cape rapidly swelled as prospective colonists were offered generous grants of land and tax exempt status in exchange for producing the food needed to resupply passing ships. The Cape authorities also imported a number of Europeans of other nationalities, namely Germans and French Huguenots , as well as thousands of slaves from
924-526: A desire to review the relations between the Netherlands and its colonies after the end of the war. After liberation, the government would call a conference to agree on a settlement in which the overseas territories could participate in the administration of the Kingdom on the basis of equality. Initially, this speech had propaganda purposes; the Dutch government had the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia ) in mind, and hoped to appease public opinion in
1056-537: A massive human cost, with an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 victims, of which 350,000 to 400,000 were civilians killed by disease and what would later be considered war crimes. The war was largely fought on the European continent, but war was also conducted against Phillip II's overseas territories, including Spanish colonies and the Portuguese metropoles, colonies, trading posts and forts belonging at that time to
1188-406: A mayor, aldermen, and a municipal council, for example) and are subject to the ordinary Dutch legislative process. Residents of these three islands are also able to vote in Dutch national and European elections. There are, however, some derogations for these islands. Social security , for example, is not on the same level as it is in the Netherlands proper. In November 2008 it was decided to introduce
1320-473: A part of the historic city centre of Willemstad was destroyed by fire. Order was restored by Dutch marines . In the same year, Suriname saw serious political instability with the Surinamese prime minister, Jopie Pengel , threatening to request military support to break a teachers' strike. In 1973, a new Dutch cabinet under Labour leader Joop den Uyl assumed power. In the government policy statement ,
1452-468: A population in the Netherlands of 17,821,419 (as of January 2023 ), and of 29,418 (as of November 2023 ) in Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius. The Kingdom of the Netherlands originated in the aftermath of French Emperor Napoleon I 's defeat in 1815. In that year the Netherlands regained its independence from France under its First Empire , which had annexed its northern neighbour in 1810, as
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#17327810755991584-530: A series of successful expeditions, he gradually extended the Dutch possessions from Sergipe on the south to Maranhão in the north. The WIC also succeeded in conquering Gorée , Elmina Castle , Saint Thomas, and Luanda on the west coast of Africa. Both regions were also used as bases for Dutch privateers plundering Portuguese and Spanish trade routes. The dissolution of the Iberian Union in 1640 and Maurits's recall in 1643 led to increased resistance from
1716-577: A series of three wars which took place between the English and the Dutch from 1652 to 1674. The causes included political disputes and increasing competition from merchant shipping. The English in the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–54) had the naval advantage with larger numbers of more powerful " ships of the line " which were well suited to the naval tactics of the era. The English also captured numerous Dutch merchant ships. Holmes's Bonfire
1848-677: A settlement in the ruins of the Spanish settlement of Valdivia , in southern Chile . The purpose of the expedition was to gain a foothold on the west coast of the Americas, an area that was almost entirely under the control of Spain (the Pacific Ocean , at least most of it to the east of the Philippines, being at the time almost a "Spanish lake"), and to extract gold from nearby mines. Uncooperative indigenous peoples, who had forced
1980-641: A true tribute to the heroic deeds and glorious sacrifices of all those who took part in Goa's Liberation and who fought against the British rule for the freedom of India and were jailed there. It was inaugurated on December 19, 2021 by PM Narendra Modi . The redevelopment cost approximately Rs 22 crore under the Centre's Swadesh Darshan Scheme. This museum has two particular cells dedicated to liberation fighters T B Cunha and Ram Manohar Lohia, where they were imprisoned under
2112-453: A year before it was recaptured by a joint Spanish-Portuguese expedition., In 1630, the Dutch occupied the Portuguese sugar-settlement of Pernambuco and over the next few years pushed inland, annexing the sugar plantations that surrounded it. In order to supply the plantations with the manpower they required, a successful expedition was launched from Brazil to capture the Portuguese slaving post of Elmina in 1637, and successfully captured
2244-417: Is difficult to group the constitutional arrangements of the Kingdom in one of the traditional models of state organisation, and consider the Kingdom to be a sui generis arrangement. Instead, the Kingdom is said to have characteristics of a federal state , a confederation , a federacy , and a devolved unitary state . The Kingdom's federal characteristics include the delineation of Kingdom affairs in
2376-516: Is proposed, the proposal shall not be submitted to or considered by a representative assembly until the Governments in the other countries have had the opportunity to express their views on the matter. In case of a conflict between a constituent country and the Kingdom, Article 12 of the Charter prescribes an administrative reconciliation procedure. This was often deemed a democratic deficit of
2508-515: Is the head of state of the Kingdom. The Monarch is represented in Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten by a governor. The Netherlands Armed Forces ( Dutch : Nederlandse krijgsmacht ) are the shared military services of all countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and fall under the Ministry of Defense . The legislature of the Kingdom consists of the States General of the Netherlands and
2640-543: The Compagnie van Verre ("Company of Far Lands") was founded in Amsterdam, with the aim of sending two fleets to the spice islands of Maluku . The first fleet sailed in 1596 and returned in 1597 with a cargo of pepper, which more than covered the costs of the voyage. The second voyage (1598–1599), returned its investors a 400% profit. The success of these voyages led to the founding of a number of companies competing for
2772-513: The Affairs of the Kingdom : One additional Kingdom affair is specified in article 43(2): Paragraph 2 of Article 3 specifies that "other matters may be declared to be Kingdom affairs in consultation". These Kingdom affairs are only taken care of by the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands , if the affair affects Aruba , Curaçao or St. Maarten . Article 14, paragraph 3, of
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#17327810755992904-845: The American Revolutionary War , Britain declared war on the Netherlands, the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War , in which Britain seized the Dutch colony of Ceylon. Under the Peace of Paris (1783), Ceylon was returned to the Netherlands and Negapatnam ceded to Britain. In 1795, the French Revolutionary Army invaded the Dutch Republic and turned the nation into a satellite of France, named the Batavian Republic . Britain, which
3036-453: The Council of State when appropriate. According to the Charter, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles could each alter its "Basic Law" ( Staatsregeling ). The right of the two autonomous countries to leave the Kingdom, unilaterally, was not recognised; yet it also stipulated that the Charter could be dissolved by mutual consultation. Before the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands
3168-545: The Dutch East Indies . Anglo-Dutch rivalry in Southeast Asia continued to fester over the port of Singapore , which had been ceded to the British East India Company in 1819 by the sultan of Johore. The Dutch claimed that a treaty signed with the sultan's predecessor the year earlier had granted them control of the region. However, the impossibility of removing the British from Singapore, which
3300-549: The Dutch Gold Coast of Africa, towards the Indian Ocean, and the source of the lucrative spice trade . This brought the Dutch into direct competition with Portugal , which had dominated these trade routes for several decades, and had established colonial outposts on the coasts of Brazil, Africa and the Indian Ocean to facilitate them. The rivalry with Portugal, however, was not entirely economic: from 1580, after
3432-656: The Dutch Republic . The Second Anglo-Dutch War was precipitated in 1664, when English forces moved to capture New Netherland . Under the Treaty of Breda (1667), New Netherland was ceded to England in exchange for the English settlements in Suriname, which had been conquered by Dutch forces earlier that year. Though the Dutch would again take New Netherland in 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, it
3564-627: The Netherlands , is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands , who functions as head of state . The realm is not a federation ; it is a unitary monarchy with its largest subdivision, the eponymous Netherlands , predominantly located in Northwestern Europe and with several smaller island territories located in the Caribbean . The four subdivisions of
3696-959: The Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands . The great powers of Europe, united against Napoleonic France, had decided in the secret treaty of the London Protocol to establish a single state in the territories that were previously the Dutch Republic / Batavian Republic / Kingdom of Holland , the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège , awarding rule over this to William, Prince of Orange and Nassau , although these southern territories remained under Prussian (German) rule until Napoleon's return from his first exile on Elba ("Hundred Days"). In March 1815, amidst
3828-650: The Straits of Magellan . The directors of the company, the " Heeren XVII ", were given the legal authority to establish "fortresses and strongholds", to sign treaties, to enlist both an army and a navy, and to wage defensive war. The company itself was founded as a joint stock company , similarly to its English rival that had been founded two years earlier, the English East India Company . Dutch enterprise, companies and government institutions were inspired by their English counterparts. Shortly after
3960-543: The loss of Ormuz to England in 1622, but the Dutch Empire was the main beneficiary. The VOC began immediately to prise away the string of coastal fortresses that, at the time, comprised the Portuguese Empire. The settlements were isolated, difficult to reinforce if attacked, and prone to being picked off one by one, but nevertheless, the Dutch only enjoyed mixed success in its attempts to do so. Amboina
4092-740: The 1560s, the Eighty Years' War broke out in the Habsburg Netherlands . A coalition of rebel provinces united in the Union of Utrecht declared independence from the Spanish Empire with the 1581 Act of Abjuration , in 1588 establishing the de facto independent northern Dutch Republic (alias the United Provinces), whose sovereignty was recognised by the Treaty of Antwerp (1609) . The eight decades of war came at
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4224-678: The 1580s, the Eighty Years' War led many financiers and traders to emigrate from Antwerp , a major city in Brabant and then one of Europe's most important commercial centres, to Dutch cities, particularly Amsterdam , Efficient access to capital enabled the Dutch in the 1580s to extend their trade routes beyond northern Europe to new markets in the Mediterranean and the Levant . In the 1590s, Dutch ships began to trade with Brazil and
4356-614: The 17th century, known as the Dutch Golden Age . In their search for new trade passages between Asia and Europe , Dutch navigators explored and charted distant regions such as Australia , New Zealand , Tasmania , and parts of the eastern coast of North America . During the period of proto-industrialization , the empire received 50% of textiles and 80% of silks import from the India's Mughal Empire , chiefly from its most developed region known as Bengal Subah . In
4488-689: The 18th century, the Dutch colonial empire began to decline as a result of being overwhelmed from the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War of 1780–1784, in which the Dutch Republic lost a number of its colonial possessions and trade monopolies to the British Empire and French colonial empire , along with the conquest of the Mughal Bengal at the Battle of Plassey by the British East India Company . Nevertheless, major portions of
4620-657: The Banda Islands was a process of military conquest from 1609 to 1621 by the Dutch East India Company of the Banda Islands . The Dutch, having enforced a monopoly on the highly lucrative nutmeg production from the islands, were impatient with Bandanese resistance to Dutch demands that the Bandanese sell only to them. Negotiations collapsed after Bandanese village elders deceived and murdered
4752-633: The British retook the Cape Colony and the Dutch West Indies. The British also invaded and captured the island of Java in 1811 . In 1806, Napoleon dissolved the Batavian Republic and established a monarchy with his brother, Louis Bonaparte , on the throne as King of the Netherlands. Louis was removed from power by Napoleon in 1810, and the country was ruled directly from France until its liberation in 1813. The following year,
4884-658: The Caribbean , South America ( Suriname and Brazil ), Africa (on the Gold Coast and at the Cape ), mainland India , Sri Lanka , Indonesia and Taiwan . It also chartered new lands of Australia and New Zealand . It was initially a trade-based system which derived most of its influence from merchant enterprise and from Dutch control of international maritime shipping routes through strategically placed outposts, rather than from expansive territorial ventures. Because small European trading-companies often lacked
5016-546: The Charter, foresees the handling of Kingdom affairs in all other cases by the Netherlands. On the basis of Article 38, the countries of the Kingdom can decide to adopt a Kingdom Act outside of the scope of the aforementioned Kingdom affairs. Such acts are referred to as Consensus Kingdom Acts, as they require the consent of the parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten. The Kingdom negotiates and concludes international treaties and agreements. Those that do not affect Aruba, Curaçao, or Sint Maarten directly are dealt with by
5148-460: The Council of State. Aruba is currently exercising this right. This has not always been the case; the Netherlands Antilles had no member until 1987 and Aruba had none until 2000. Sint Maarten's first member of the Council of State will be former Lieutenant Governor Dennis Richardson. The Hoge Raad der Nederlanden is the supreme court of the Kingdom by virtue of the Cassation regulation for
5280-569: The Dutch Republic about the legality, utility, and moral permissibility of this act. As a result, in September 1604 jurist Hugo Grotius wrote a treatise titled De Jure Praedae Commentarius ("Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty"), later published in 1609 as Mare Liberum, sive de jure quod Batavis competit ad Indicana commercia dissertatio ("The Freedom of the Seas, Or, The Right Which Belongs to
5412-670: The Dutch Second Fleet sent to the Spice Islands were blown off course in a storm and landed there in 1598. They named it in honour of Prince Maurice of Nassau , the Stadtholder of the Netherlands. The Dutch found the climate hostile and abandoned the island after several further decades. The Dutch established a colony at Tayouan (present-day Anping ), in the south of Taiwan , an island then largely dominated by Portuguese traders and known as Formosa ; and, in 1642
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5544-705: The Dutch by 1648. On the north-east coast of North America, the West India Company took over a settlement that had been established by the Company of New Netherland (1614–1618) at Fort Orange at Albany on the Hudson River , relocated from Fort Nassau which had been founded in 1614. The Dutch had been sending ships annually to the Hudson River to trade fur since Henry Hudson 's voyage of 1609. To protect its precarious position at Albany from
5676-430: The Dutch proved unable to control their own settlers, who disregarded the agreement and crossed into Xhosa territory, sparking one of Southern Africa's longest colonial conflicts: the Xhosa Wars . In 1651, the English parliament passed the first of the Navigation Acts which excluded Dutch shipping from the lucrative trade between England and its Caribbean colonies, and led directly to the outbreak of hostilities between
5808-454: The Dutch representative Pieter Willemsz Verhoeff . Under the command of Jan Pieterszoon Coen the Dutch resorted to a forcible conquest of the islands, which became severely depopulated as a result of Coen’s massacres, forced deportations, and the resulting starvation and disease. The Dutch East India Company, which was founded in 1602 as an amalgamation of 12 voorcompagnies , had extensive financial interests in maritime Southeast Asia ,
5940-414: The Dutch to Take Part in the East Indian Trade"), in which the act of aggression was justified. In the meantime, the States-General had already passed a resolution on 1 November 1603, authorising VOC ships "to damage the enemies and inflict harm on their persons, ships and goods by all means possible, so that they may with reputation not only continue their trade, but also expand it and make it grow". This
6072-429: The Dutch took northern Formosa from the Spanish by force. The Dutch colonisation of the Americas started with many mixed results. In the Atlantic, the West India Company concentrated on wresting from Portugal its grip on the sugar and slave trade, and on opportunistic attacks on the Spanish treasure fleets on their homeward bound voyage. Bahia on the north east coast of Brazil was captured in 1624 but only held for
6204-410: The Dutch were disrupting the Spanish-Portuguese trade, and they eventually ranged as far afield as the Philippines. The Dutch sought to dominate the commercial sea trade in Southeast Asia, going so far in pursuit of this goal as to engage in what other nations and powers considered to be little more than piratical activities. During the negotiations for and implementation of the Twelve Years' Truce in
6336-418: The Dutch were reunited with the Southern Netherlands in a constitutional monarchy, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands . The union lasted just 15 years. In 1830, a revolution in the southern half of the country led to the de facto independence of the new state of Belgium . The bankrupt Dutch East India Company was liquidated on 1 January 1800, and its territorial possessions were nationalized as
6468-456: The Dutch were unable in four attempts to capture Macau , from where Portugal monopolized the lucrative China-Japan trade , the Tokugawa shogunate 's increasing suspicion of the intentions of the Catholic Portuguese led to their expulsion in 1639. Under the subsequent sakoku policy , from 1639 till 1854 (215 years), the Dutch were the only European power allowed to operate in Japan, confined in 1639 to Hirado and then from 1641 at Dejima . In
6600-417: The East Indies, to bolster the local Dutch workforce. Nevertheless, there was a degree of cultural assimilation between the various ethnic groups due to intermarriage and the universal adoption of the Dutch language, and cleavages were likelier to occur along social and racial lines. The Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope expanded beyond the initial settlement and its borders were formally consolidated as
6732-469: The German Confederation for that loss, the remainder of the Dutch province of Limburg received the same status that Luxembourg had enjoyed before, as a Dutch province that at the same time formed a Duchy of the German Confederation. That status was reversed when the German Confederation ceased to exist in 1867, when Limburg became an ordinary Dutch province. The Netherlands abolished slavery in its colonies in 1863. The Kingdom's 1954 administrative reform
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#17327810755996864-434: The Government. Articles 14, 16 and 17 of the Charter give some participation to the parliaments of the Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. Article 13 of the Charter specifies that there is a Council of State of the Kingdom. It is (as all institutions of the Kingdom) regulated in the Constitution, but the Charter implies that at the request of Aruba, Curaçao, or Sint Maarten, a member from each of these islands can be included in
6996-429: The King of Spain and Portugal. The port of Lisbon in Portugal had since 1517 been the main European market for products from India, drawing merchants from across Europe to purchase exotic commodities. But as a result of Portugal's incorporation in the Iberian Union with Spain by Philip II in 1580, all Portuguese territories were thereafter Spanish Habsburg branch territory, and thus all Portuguese markets were closed to
7128-416: The Kingdom do not affect Aruba, Curaçao, or Sint Maarten, they are dealt with according to the provisions laid down in the Constitution. In these cases the Netherlands, the jurisdiction ruled directly by the Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands , acts alone, according to its constitution and in its capacity as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The other three countries cannot do the same for affairs of
7260-412: The Kingdom of the Netherlands does not provide for that. Two legal instruments are available at the Kingdom level: the Kingdom act ( Dutch : Rijkswet ) and the Order-in-Council for the Kingdom ( Dutch : Algemene maatregel van Rijksbestuur ). An example of a Kingdom act is the "Kingdom Act regarding Dutch citizenship" ( Dutch : Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap ). The Monarch of the Netherlands
7392-406: The Kingdom of the Netherlands' Dutch language. Curaçao , with its own constitution, is also a representative parliamentary democracy organised as a centralised unitary state . Its administration consists of the Governor , who represents the Monarch, and the (Curaçao) Council of Ministers, headed by a Prime Minister . The sovereign people of Curaçao are represented by 21 members of parliament and
7524-409: The Kingdom that only pertain to them and not to the Netherlands proper. In these cases, the provisions of the Charter prevail. Changes in the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands can only be made when all constituent countries agree. The Monarch and the ministers he appoints form the Government of the Kingdom. According to Article 7 of the Charter, the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of
7656-401: The Kingdom, leading to the adoption of an amendment to the Charter, which entered into force on 23 November 2010. The new Article 12a specifies that in addition to the administrative reconciliation procedure, "by Kingdom Act measures shall be made allowing for the arbitration of certain conflicts, as specified by Kingdom Act, between the Kingdom and the countries." The imperative formulation was
7788-420: The Kingdom. The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four constituent countries : the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. There is a difference between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Netherlands: the Kingdom of the Netherlands is the comprehensive sovereign state, while the Netherlands is one of its four constituent countries. Three Caribbean islands (Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten) are
7920-466: The Kingdom— Aruba , Curaçao , the Netherlands , and Sint Maarten —are constituent countries ( landen in Dutch ; singular: land ) and participate on a basis of equality as partners in the Kingdom. In practice, however, most of the Kingdom's affairs are administered by the Netherlands—which comprises roughly 98% of the Kingdom's land area and population—on behalf of the entire Kingdom. Consequently, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten are dependent on
8052-407: The Netherlands ( Dutch : Staten-Generaal der Nederlanden ), the Ministers Plenipotentiary may communicate their wish that the treaty or agreement concerned shall be subject to the express approval of the States General. Article 25 gives Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten the opportunity to opt out from an international treaty or agreement. The treaty or agreement concerned then has to specify that
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#17327810755998184-410: The Netherlands consists of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands complemented by one Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba , one Minister Plenipotentiary of Curaçao , and one Minister Plenipotentiary of Sint Maarten . The Dutch Prime Minister chairs the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom. In December 2007, a Deputy Council for Kingdom Relations was established. This deputy council prepares
8316-425: The Netherlands that also constitutes and regulates the institutions of the Kingdom as a whole as mentioned in the Charter. The Constitution is also subordinate to the Charter. The provisions in the Charter for some of these institutions are additional and are applicable only for those affairs of the Kingdom, as described in the Charter, when they affect Aruba, Curaçao, or Sint Maarten directly. In cases where affairs of
8448-426: The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The basis for this regulation is article 23 of the Charter. The second paragraph of that article specifies that if an overseas country of the Kingdom so requests, the Kingdom Act should provide for an additional court member from that country. To date, neither Aruba, Curaçao, nor Sint Maarten has used this right. According to Article 39 of the Charter, " civil and commercial law ,
8580-430: The Netherlands Antilles was divided into six. Three are constituent countries: Aruba (since 1986), Curaçao and Sint Maarten (since 2010); three are special municipalities of the Netherlands proper: Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. Netherlands New Guinea was a dependent territory of the Kingdom until 1962, followed by seven-month transitional period when it was annexed by Indonesia . It was not an autonomous country, and
8712-414: The Netherlands Antilles, becoming a constituent country of the Kingdom in its own right. In October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and Curaçao and Sint Maarten became the newest constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom celebrated its bicentennial in a series of festive occasions spanning from 2013 to 2015, the last being the year of the actual 200th anniversary of
8844-402: The Netherlands for matters like foreign policy and defence , but are autonomous to a certain degree, with their own parliaments . The vast majority of land area of the constituent country of the Netherlands is in Europe, while its three special municipalities ( Bonaire , Saba , and Sint Eustatius ) are located in the Caribbean, as are the other three constituent countries. The Kingdom has
8976-400: The Netherlands. By the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands , as enacted in 1954, a composite state was created (also known as the "Tripartite Kingdom of the Netherlands"), consisting of the Netherlands (mainland), Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. Under the provisions of the Charter, both former colonies were granted internal autonomy. Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles each got
9108-412: The Portuguese colonists who still made up a majority of the Brazilian settlers. The Dutch were finally overcome during the 1650s but managed to receive 4 million reis (63 metric tons of gold) in exchange for extinguishing their claims over Brazil in the 1661 Treaty of the Hague . The war between Phillip II's possessions and other countries led to a deterioration of the Portuguese Empire, as with
9240-406: The Portuguese had never been able to capture the entire island of Ceylon, they had been able to keep the coastal regions under their control for a considerable time before the coming of the Dutch in war. Portugal's South American colony, Brazil , was partially conquered by the United Provinces. In 1621, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) was set up and given a 25-year monopoly to those parts of
9372-453: The Portuguese in Brazil and Africa were short-lived. Years of settlement had left large Portuguese communities under the rule of the Dutch, who were by nature traders rather than colonisers. In 1645, the Portuguese community at Pernambuco rebelled against their Dutch masters, and by 1654, the Dutch had been ousted from Brazil. In the intervening years, a Portuguese expedition had been sent from Brazil to recapture Luanda in Angola, expelling
9504-469: The Portuguese regime. This site also contains Portuguese cannons, and several monuments to Goa's anti-colonial struggle. Taj Fort Aguada Resort formerly Fort Aguada Beach Resort is part of Taj Hotel Group . The hotel opened in 1974 at the site of the historic Portuguese Fort Aguada. 10 forts in goa Dutch Empire 18th century 19th century 20th century The Dutch colonial empire ( Dutch : Nederlandse koloniale rijk ) comprised
9636-562: The Portuguese settlements in Angola in 1641. In 1642, the Dutch captured the Portuguese possession of Axim in Africa. By 1650, the West India Company was firmly in control of both the sugar and slave trades, and had occupied the Caribbean islands of Sint Maarten , Curaçao , Aruba , and Bonaire in order to guarantee access to the islands' salt-pans . Unlike in Asia, Dutch successes against
9768-719: The President of the Parliament of Curaçao is Charetti America-Francisca . The Governor of Curaçao is Lucille George-Wout , and the Prime Minister is Gilmar Pisas . It has the Netherlands Antillean guilder as its currency. Sint Maarten is a centralised unitary state , with similar administrative characteristics to Aruba. It has the Antillean Guilder as its currency. Unlike the other Dutch Caribbean countries and special municipalities, Sint Maarten covers only part of an island. It consists of roughly
9900-500: The Spanish to leave Valdivia in 1604 contributed to get the expedition to leave after some months of occupation. This occupation triggered the return of the Spanish to Valdivia and the building of one of the largest defensive complexes of colonial America. By the middle of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company had overtaken Portugal as the dominant player in the spice and silk trade, and in 1652 founded
10032-718: The Straits of Singapore". Thus the archipelago was divided into two spheres of influence: a British one, on the Malay Peninsula , and a Dutch one in the East Indies. For most of the Dutch East Indies history, and that of the VOC before it, Dutch control over their territories was often tenuous, but was expanded over the course of the 19th century. Only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what
10164-494: The U.S. dollar in the three islands. The date of introduction was 1 January 2011. The Netherlands carries the risk of exchange rate fluctuations regarding cash flows between the state and the islands. Aruba , with its own constitution, is a representative parliamentary democracy organised as a unitary state. Its administration consists of the Governor , who represents the Monarch, and the (Aruban) Council of Ministers, headed by
10296-522: The United Provinces. Thus, in 1595, the Dutch decided to set sail on their own to acquire products for themselves, making use of the "secret" knowledge of the Portuguese trade routes, which Cornelis de Houtman had managed to acquire in Lisbon. The coastal provinces of Holland and Zeeland had been important hubs of the European maritime trade network for centuries prior to Spanish rule. By
10428-655: The United States, which had become skeptical towards colonialism . With Indonesia 's independence, a temporary confederal constitution was established through the Linggadjati Agreement in 1946, which mandated the creation of a Netherlands-Indonesia Union . However, this arrangement was considered burdensome, as the two nations differed in their interpretations and expectations of the Linggadjati Agreement. The Netherlands advocated for
10560-527: The VOC was founded, the problem of justifying attacks on Spanish and Portuguese ships became more acute when in February 1603, the Portuguese carrack Santa Catarina was captured off the coast of Singapore by three VOC ships under the command of Jacob van Heemskerck . When Heemskerck returned to Amsterdam in 1604 with the enormous booty from the Santa Catarina , this caused a major controversy in
10692-436: The biggest freshwater storage of the time in whole of Asia . This fort is divided in two segments: the upper part acted as fort and watering station, while the lower part served as a safe berth for Portuguese ships . Whereas the upper part has a moat , underground water storage chamber, gunpowder room, lighthouse , and bastions , it also has a secret escape passage to use during time of war and emergency. The lighthouse at
10824-632: The cabinet declared a wish to determine a date for the independence of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles with the governments of those nations. The Antillean government was non-committal; the same held for the Surinamese Sedney cabinet (1969–1973). Suriname's 1973 elections brought the National Party Combination ( Nationale Partij Kombinatie ) to power, with Henck Arron as prime minister. The new government declared that Suriname would be independent before 1976. This
10956-479: The capital of the Dutch East Indies . Meanwhile, the Dutch continued to drive out the Portuguese from their bases in Asia. Malacca finally succumbed in 1641 (after a second attempt to capture it), Colombo in 1656, Ceylon in 1658, Nagapattinam in 1662, and Cranganore and Cochin in 1662. Goa , the capital of the Portuguese Empire in the East, was unsuccessfully attacked by the Dutch in 1603 and 1610. Whilst
11088-559: The capital or the manpower for large-scale operations, the States General chartered larger organisations—the Dutch West India Company and the Dutch East India Company—in the early seventeenth century, based on England's model that was slowly developed a century before. The companies' domination of global commerce contributed greatly to a commercial revolution and a cultural flowering in the Netherlands of
11220-463: The colony proved to be unprofitable. It was recaptured by the Dutch in 1676, but was returned again a year later, this time permanently. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 saw the Dutch William of Orange ascend to the throne, and win the English, Scottish, and Irish crowns, ending eighty years of rivalry between the Netherlands and England, while the rivalry with France remained strong. During
11352-628: The composite Dutch Cape Colony in 1778. At the time, the Dutch had subdued the indigenous Khoisan and San peoples in the Cape and seized their traditional territories. Dutch military expeditions further east were halted when they encountered the westward expansion of the Xhosa people . Hoping to avoid being drawn into a protracted dispute, the Dutch government and the Xhosa chieftains agreed to formally demarcate their respective areas of control and refrain from trespassing on each other's borders. However,
11484-442: The country's ties with the Kingdom. Article 27 specifies the involvement of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten in the preparations for a treaty or agreement that affects them and Article 28 specifies that Aruba, Curaçao, or Sint Maarten may, if they so desire, accede to membership of international organisations. Among other affiliations, the kingdom is also a founding member of NATO , OECD and WTO . Most scholars agree that it
11616-483: The death of the King of Portugal, Sebastian I , and much of the Portuguese nobility in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir , the Portuguese crown had been joined to that of Spain in an " Iberian Union " under the heir of Emperor Charles V, Philip II of Spain . By attacking Portuguese overseas possessions, the Dutch forced Spain to divert financial and military resources away from its attempt to quell Dutch independence. Thus began
11748-692: The empire survived until the advent of global decolonisation following World War II , namely the East Indies and Dutch Guiana . Three former colonial territories in the West Indies islands around the Caribbean Sea — Aruba , Curaçao , and Sint Maarten —remain as constituent countries represented within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This list does not include several former trading posts stationed by Dutch , such as Dejima in Japan. In
11880-554: The enemies and inflict harm on their persons, ships and goods by all means possible, so that they may with reputation not only continue their trade, but also expand it and make it grow, otherwise by neglecting this they will certainly lose it. For this was the principal reason why the Gentlemen States General have undertaken the union of the Companies and awarded them a charter and authorisation to inflict damage on
12012-494: The enemies." – States-General resolution 1 November 1603 As a result of the problems caused by inter-company rivalry, the Dutch East India Company ( Dutch : Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie , VOC) was founded in 1602. The charter awarded to the company by the States-General granted it sole rights, for an initial period of 21 years, to Dutch trade and navigation east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of
12144-574: The euro as its currency, except in the special municipalities of the Caribbean Netherlands (BES islands), where the Netherlands Antillean guilder was replaced by the U.S. dollar in 2011. The special municipalities of Bonaire , Sint Eustatius , and Saba , together referred to as Caribbean Netherlands or BES islands , are islands in the Caribbean that are part of the Netherlands proper but not part of any Dutch province. They resemble ordinary Dutch municipalities in most ways (with
12276-606: The independent Netherlands signed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 with Britain. All the colonies Britain had seized were returned to the Netherlands, with the exception of the Dutch Cape Colony , Dutch Ceylon , and part of Dutch Guyana . After Napoleon's defeat in 1815, Europe's borders were redrawn at the Congress of Vienna . For the first time since the declaration of independence from Spain in 1581,
12408-479: The initial stage is used to emit light once in 7 minutes. Fort Aguada was the most prized and crucial fort of Portuguese . The fort is so large that it envelops the entire peninsula at the southwestern tip of Bardez . Built on the mouth of Mandovi River , it was strategically located and was the chief defense of Portuguese against the Dutch . During the Salazar Administration, Fort Aguada
12540-670: The islands to the United States or Latin America, leaving behind small populations with little income and which required subsidies from the Dutch government. The Antilles were combined under one administration with Suriname from 1828 to 1845. Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands ( Dutch : Koninkrijk der Nederlanden , pronounced [ˈkoːnɪŋkrɛiɡ dɛr ˈneːdərlɑndə(n)] ; , West Frisian : Keninkryk fan Nederlân , Papiamento : Reino Hulandes ), commonly known simply as
12672-409: The law of civil procedure, criminal law , the law of criminal procedure, copyright , industrial property , the office of notary , and provisions concerning weights and measures shall be regulated as far as possible in a similar manner in the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten". The Article further stipulates that when a drastic amendment of the existing legislation in regard to these matters
12804-471: The meetings of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom. The establishment of such a Council has long been advocated by the Council of State of the Kingdom. The Government and the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom, along with the monarchy itself, are subject to Article 5 of the Charter that refers their regulation mainly to the Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands as far as the Charter for
12936-594: The mid-17th century, the Dutch also explored the western Australian coasts, naming many places . The Dutch tried to use military force to make Ming China open up to Dutch trade but the Chinese defeated the Dutch in a war over the Penghu islands from 1623 to 1624, forcing the VOC to abandon Penghu for Taiwan. Then Chinese defeated the Dutch again at the Battle of Liaoluo Bay in 1633. The Dutch colonised Mauritius in 1638, several decades after three ships out of
13068-507: The nearby English and French, the Company founded the fortified town of New Amsterdam in 1625, at the mouth of the Hudson, encouraging settlement of the surrounding areas of Long Island and New Jersey . The fur trade ultimately proved impossible for the company to monopolize due to the massive illegal private trade in furs, and the settlement of New Netherland was unprofitable. In 1655,
13200-548: The nearby colony of New Sweden on the Delaware River was forcibly absorbed into New Netherland after ships and soldiers were sent to capture it by the Dutch governor, Pieter Stuyvesant . Since its inception, the Dutch East India Company had been in competition with its counterpart, the English East India Company , founded two years earlier, for the same goods and markets in the East. In 1619,
13332-488: The overseas territories and trading posts controlled and administered by Dutch chartered companies —mainly the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company —and subsequently by the Dutch Republic (1581–1795), and by the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands after 1815. By Jan van Riebeeck 's landing at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, it had colonial provinces in eastern North America ,
13464-475: The provisions of the Constitution (in fact by the Netherlands alone). Article 24 of the Charter specifies that when an international treaty or agreement affects Aruba, Curaçao, or Sint Maarten, the treaty or agreement concerned shall be submitted to their representative assemblies. The article further specifies that when such a treaty or agreement is submitted for the tacit approval of the States General of
13596-465: The result of an amendment in the Chamber of Representatives by special delegates Evelyna Wever-Croes and J.E. Thijsen of Aruba; the original formulation was "by Kingdom Act measures can be made". The new Article 38a allows for measures to be made for arbitration between countries as well. In contrast with Article 12a, this article is not imperatively formulated. Article 3 of the Charter specifies
13728-628: The rivalry resulted in the Amboyna massacre , when several English Company men were executed by agents of the Dutch. The event remained a source of English resentment for several decades, and indeed was used as a cause célèbre as late as the Second Anglo-Dutch War in the 1660s; nevertheless, in the late 1620s the English Company shifted its focus from Indonesia to India. In 1643, the Dutch West India Company established
13860-487: The same time, a member state of the German Confederation . In 1830, the southerners, calling themselves Belgians, seceded from the Kingdom , a step that was recognised by the Netherlands only in 1839 in the Treaty of London . At that point, Luxembourg became a fully independent country in a personal union with the Netherlands. Luxembourg also lost more than half of its territory to Belgium. To compensate
13992-421: The several decade-long Dutch–Portuguese War . In the 1590s, the voorcompagnie ën ("pioneer companies") emerged, which were given "express instructions to focus on trade and engage in violence only in self-defense". The Dutch took inspiration from England's many joint-stock companies and private investment, including Muscovy Company , Eastland Company , Levant Company , and East India Company . In 1594,
14124-517: The ships that used to stop by. This is how the fort got its name: Aguada, meaning watery in the Portuguese language. Crews of passing ships would often visit to replenish their freshwater stores. The Aguada Fort Lighthouse erected in 1864 is the oldest of its kind in Asia . Built in 1612, it was once the grandstand of 79 cannons . It has the capacity of storing 2,376,000 gallons of water, one of
14256-454: The source of highly profitable spices which were in high demand in Europe. A Dutch expedition had already made contact with the islands in 1599, signing several contracts with Bandanese chiefs. The profitability of the spices was heightened by the fact that they grew nowhere else on Earth, making them extremely valuable to whoever controlled them. As the Dutch attempted to form a monopoly over
14388-479: The southern half of the divided island of Saint Martin . The northern half of the island is the French Collectivity of Saint Martin . Aruba , Curaçao , and Sint Maarten regulate the governance of their respective countries, but are subordinate to the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands . The Netherlands is ruled by the provisions and institutions of the Constitution for the Kingdom of
14520-568: The spices and forbid the Bandanese from selling to any other group, they resisted, and the Dutch decided to conquer the islands by force. With the aid of Japanese mercenaries , the Dutch launched several military expeditions against the Bandanese. The Dutch attacked most of Portugal's far-flung trading network in and around Asia , including Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka ), and Goa , as well as attacks upon her commercial interests in Japan , Africa (especially Mina ), and South America . Even though
14652-598: The sugarcane plantations and the slave ports needed to resupply their labour. Although weakened by the Iberian Union with Spain, whose attention was focused elsewhere, the Portuguese were able to fight off the initial assault before the Battle of Matanzas Bay provided the WIC with the funds needed for a successful operation. Johan Maurits was appointed governor of " New Holland " and landed at Recife in January 1637. In
14784-421: The three remaining constituent countries. Three other Caribbean islands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba) are special municipalities within the country of the Netherlands. Until its dissolution in 2010, the islands had formed the Netherlands Antilles , with the exception of Aruba, which left the grouping in 1986. Comparison table The Netherlands is a representative parliamentary democracy organised as
14916-582: The trade. The competition was counterproductive to the companies' interests as it threatened to drive up the price of spices at their source in Indonesia whilst driving them down in Europe. "The present deputies of the East India Company are seriously admonished to look into and give orders to the effect that the ships, which are already equipped or afterwards shall be equipped to sail to the East Indies, can have charge and instruction to damage
15048-460: The treaty or agreement does not apply to Aruba, Curaçao, or Sint Maarten. Article 26 specifies that when Aruba, Curaçao, or Sint Maarten communicate their wish for the conclusion of an international economic or financial agreement that applies solely to the country concerned, the Government of the Kingdom shall assist in the conclusion of such an agreement, unless this would be inconsistent with
15180-660: The turmoil of the Hundred Days , the Sovereign Prince William of Orange and Nassau adopted the style of " king of the Netherlands ". Following Napoleon's second defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, the Vienna Congress supplied international recognition of William's unilateral move. The new king of the Netherlands was also made Grand Duke of Luxembourg , a part of the Kingdom that was, at
15312-535: The two countries the following year, the first of three Anglo-Dutch Wars that would last on and off for two decades and slowly erode Dutch naval power to England's benefit. In 1661, amidst the Qing conquest of China, Ming general Koxinga led a fleet to invade Formosa. The Dutch defense, led by governor Frederick Coyett , held out for nine months . However, after Koxinga defeated Dutch reinforcements from Java, Coyett surrendered Formosa. The Anglo-Dutch Wars were
15444-675: The world not controlled by its East India counterpart: the Atlantic, the Americas and the west coast of Africa. The Dutch also established a trading post in Ayutthaya, modern day Thailand during the reign of King Naresuan , in 1604. In the 17th century, the " Grand Design " of the West India Company involved attempting to corner the international trade in sugar by attacking Portuguese colonies in Brazil and Africa, seizing both
15576-465: The years 1608–1610, the Dutch sought to secure all sorts of commercially and strategically important positions in Southeast Asia, and the VOC rushed to conclude as many contracts as possible with local monarchs and polities in the so-called frontline regions: the Malay Peninsula (particularly Johor ), Sumatra , the Banda Islands , the Moluccas , Timor and southern India . The Dutch conquest of
15708-563: Was a "critical" event according to several historical studies, with Borschberg (2013) stating it "marked a major shift in policy of the VOC" and "set the cornerstone for the establishment of the Dutch colonial empire in Asia", because the resolution transformed the VOC "into an instrument of war and colonial expansion that was directed against the Iberian powers in Asia and later, of course, also against local Asian rulers and polities." Pursuing their quest for alternative routes to Asia for trade,
15840-523: Was a raid on the Vlie estuary in the Netherlands, executed by the English Fleet during the Second Anglo-Dutch War on 19 and 20 August 1666. The attack, named after the commander of the landing force, Rear-Admiral Robert Holmes , was successful in destroying by fire a large Dutch merchant fleet of 140 ships. During the same action, the town of West-Terschelling was burnt down, which caused outrage in
15972-436: Was abolished in 1791, and its colonies in Suriname and the Caribbean brought under the direct rule of the state. The economies of the Dutch colonies in the Caribbean had been based on the smuggling of goods and slaves into Spanish America , but with the end of the slave trade in 1814 and the independence of the new nations of South and Central America from Spain, profitability rapidly declined. Dutch traders moved en masse from
16104-514: Was at war with France, soon moved to occupy Dutch colonies in Asia, South Africa , and the Caribbean. Under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens signed by Britain and France in 1802, the Cape Colony and the islands of the Dutch West Indies that the British had seized were returned to the Republic. Ceylon was not returned to the Dutch and was made a British Crown Colony . After the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and France again in 1803,
16236-411: Was becoming an increasingly important centre of trade, became apparent to the Dutch, and the disagreement was resolved with the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 . Under its terms, the Netherlands ceded Malacca and their bases in India to the British, and recognized the British claim to Singapore. In return, the British handed over Bencoolen and agreed not to sign treaties with rulers in the "islands south of
16368-526: Was captured from the Portuguese in 1605, but an attack on Malacca the following year narrowly failed in its objective to provide a more strategically located base in the East Indies with favourable monsoon winds. The Dutch found what they were looking for in Jakarta , conquered by Jan Pieterszoon Coen in 1619, later renamed Batavia after the putative Dutch ancestors the Batavians, and which would become
16500-645: Was found in the ruins of Saint Augustine monastery in Old Goa. Aguada Central Jail is a part of the fort and was the largest prison in Goa until 2015. The 17th-century Portuguese-era structure has been renovated by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation along with the Goa Heritage Action Group and Goa's freedom fighters and opened for tourists as a Freedom Struggle Museum to showcase Goa's freedom struggle and be
16632-488: Was not mentioned in the Charter. In 1955, Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard visited Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. The royal couple were welcomed enthusiastically by the local population, and the trip was widely reported in the Dutch press. Several other royal visits were to follow. In 1969, an unorganised strike on the Antillean island of Curaçao resulted in serious disturbances and looting , during which
16764-431: Was proclaimed in 1954, Suriname, Netherlands New Guinea , and the Netherlands Antilles, (formerly, Kolonie Curaçao en Onderhorige Eilanden , "Colony of Curaçao and subordinates ") were colonies of the Netherlands. Suriname was a constituent country within the Kingdom from 1954 to 1975, while the Netherlands Antilles was a constituent country from 1954 until 2010. Suriname has since become an independent republic, and
16896-533: Was remarkable, as independence had not been an issue during the election campaign. The Den Uyl government in The Hague now had a willing partner in Paramaribo to realise its plans for Surinamese independence. Despite vehement and emotional resistance by the Surinamese opposition, Den Uyl and Arron reached an agreement, and, on 25 November 1975, Suriname became independent. In January 1986, Aruba seceded from
17028-401: Was repurposed for use as a prison primarily, some claim, for Salazar's political opponents. The Aguada lighthouse was built in 1864 on a hill located on the west to the fort. It is one of the oldest in Asia. It is located between Mormugao peninsula and Calangute beach. It was replaced by a new lighthouse in 1976 after serving for about a century. There was a large bell on the lighthouse which
17160-473: Was returned to England the following year, thereby ending Dutch rule in continental North America, but leaving behind a large Dutch community under English rule that persisted with its language, church and customs until the mid-18th century. In South America, the Dutch seized Cayenne from the French in 1658 and drove off a French attempt to retake it a year later. However, it was returned to France in 1664, since
17292-534: Was sparked by the 1941 Atlantic Charter (stating "the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live, and the desire for a permanent system of general security"), which was signed by the Netherlands on 1 January 1942. Changes were proposed in the 7 December 1942 radio speech by Queen Wilhelmina . In this speech, the Queen, on behalf of the Dutch government in exile in London , expressed
17424-445: Was to become the boundaries of modern-day Indonesia. Although highly populated and agriculturally productive Java was under Dutch domination for most of the 350 years of the combined VOC and Dutch East Indies era, many areas remained independent for much of this time including Aceh , Lombok , Bali , and Borneo . In 1871, all of the Dutch possessions on the Dutch Gold Coast were sold to Britain . The Dutch West India Company
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