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Sweden’s Forgotten Overseas Colonies
Including a North American colony that is in the United States
At one point in its history, Sweden was striving to become a bona fide empire. For one century, they almost made the leap from regional power to true empire. But everyone knows you cannot truly be seen as an empire unless you have a swath of overseas colonies in your portfolio. No flag, no empire, as they say.
Not wanting to be left out of all the fun, Sweden followed in the footsteps of the other great powers of Europe and began colonizing distant lands in the name of the king. What followed was a surprising number of colonies started and administered by Sweden. Many of the colonies on this list are well known but few people remember that they were, in fact, Swedish at one point or another.
New Sweden, North America
Sweden established a colony along the Delaware River in what is now the United States of America in the early 17th century. The founding of the colony was marked in 1638 with the construction of Fort Christina. It was the first permanent Swedish possession in North America and was named for the queen at the time.
The colony slowly grew northwards along the river and encompassed both banks. Soon, hundreds of Scandinavian immigrants were pouring into the area from Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. Small settlements, log houses and forts popped up along the river. New Sweden was every bit the foundation of a burgeoning European colony.
Despite the hope back in Sweden that the promising colony spoke to a bright future of Swedish expansion in the New World the settlement only lasted 22 years. In 1655, the colony was seized by the Dutch in a war and New Sweden was incorporated into New Netherland. The Swedes never regained their former colony along the Delaware.
