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…
