39°44′12″N 75°32′19″W / 39.73667°N 75.53861°W
New Sweden Nya Sverige (Swedish) | |||||||||||
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1638–1655 | |||||||||||
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Status | Swedish colony | ||||||||||
Capital | Fort Christina | ||||||||||
Common languages | Swedish, Finnish, Munsee, Unami | ||||||||||
Religion | Church of Sweden Native American religion | ||||||||||
Monarch of Sweden | |||||||||||
• 1632–1654 | Christina | ||||||||||
• 1654–1660 | Charles X Gustav | ||||||||||
Governor | |||||||||||
• 1638 | Peter Minuit | ||||||||||
• 1638–1640 | Måns Nilsson Kling | ||||||||||
• 1640–1643 | Peter Hollander Ridder | ||||||||||
• 1643–1653 | Johan Björnsson Printz | ||||||||||
• 1653–1654 | Johan Papegoja | ||||||||||
• 1654–1655 | Johan Risingh | ||||||||||
Historical era | Colonial period | ||||||||||
• Established | 1638 | ||||||||||
1655 | |||||||||||
Currency | Swedish riksdaler | ||||||||||
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Today part of | United States |
New Sweden (Swedish: Nya Sverige)[1] was a colony of the Swedish Empire along the lower reaches of the Delaware River between 1638 and 1655 in present-day Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in the United States.[2] Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great power, New Sweden formed part of the Swedish efforts to colonize the Americas.
Settlements were established on both sides of the Delaware River. Fort Christina, located in what is now Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement, named after Christina, Queen of Sweden. The settlers were Swedes, Finns, and a number of Dutch. New Sweden was conquered by the Dutch Republic in 1655 during the Second Northern War and incorporated into the Dutch colony of New Netherland.