The small wealthy former duchy of Courland took part in European colonialism. The colonies were established under duke Jacob Kettler. During his reign the nation established trading relations with all of the major European powers. Kettler established the one of the largest merchant fleets in Europe, with its main harbours in Ventspils, Liepaja. His fleet took voyages to the West Indies as early as 1637 when the settlers on the ship established the first colony on Tobago. The first colony was a failure but refounded in 1639. In 1651 the duchy gained a conly in Africa on St. Andrews Island at the Gambia River. They established the Jacob Fort there. His colonies exported sugar, sugar, tobacco, coffee, cotton, ginger, indigo, rum, cocoa, tortoise shells, tropical birds and their feathers. The colonies when various nationas took advantage of Courland during the Northern Wars when Jacob was held captive by the Swedish army.(1658-60) . However Tobago was returned to Courland, but left in 1666. In 1668 a Courland ship attempted to reoccupy Fort Jacob but was driven off by the Dutch. The Courland Monument near Courland Bay commemorates the Duchy's settlements. A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess. ... Map Kurland, Courland, Couronia, Curonia, or Kurzeme is a former Baltic province of the Teutonic Order state in Livonia (ca. ... World map of colonialism circa 1945. ... Ventspils is a city in northwestern Latvia, on the coast of the Baltic Sea. ... Liepāja. ... Events February 3 - Tulipmania collapses in Netherlands by government order February 15 - Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor December 17 - Shimabara Rebellion erupts in Japan Pierre de Fermat makes a marginal claim to have proof of what would become known as Fermats last theorem. ... Tobago is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, part of the nation of Trinidad and Tobago. ... Events January 14 - Connecticuts first constitution, the Fundamental Orders, is adopted. ... // Events January 1 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland in Scone. ... James Island is an island in the Gambia River, 30 km from the river mouth and near Juffure, The Gambia. ... Gambia River from space The Gambia River is a major river in Africa, running 1,130 km (700 miles) from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. ... Fort James was a originally built by Germans in 1651 on the south bank of the Gambia river but was captured by the British about a decade later. ... Jump to: navigation, search A In general use, sugar is taken to mean sucrose, also called table sugar, or saccharose, a disaccharide which is a white crystalline solid. ... Jump to: navigation, search A In general use, sugar is taken to mean sucrose, also called table sugar, or saccharose, a disaccharide which is a white crystalline solid. ... Jump to: navigation, search Species N. glauca N. longiflora N. rustica N. sylvestris N. tabacum Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005 Tobacco (, L.) refers to a genus of broad-leafed plants of the nightshade family indigenous to North and South America or to the dried and cured leaves. ... Jump to: navigation, search Coffee beans and a cup of coffee Coffee is a beverage, usually served hot, prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant. ... Jump to: navigation, search Cotton is a soft fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. ... Jump to: navigation, search Binomial name Zingiber officinale Roscoe Ginger root is used extensively as a spice in many if not most cuisines of the world. ... Jump to: navigation, search This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Caribbean rum, circa 1941 Rum is a distilled beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses and sugarcane juice by a process of fermentation and distillation. ... Cocoa is the dried and partially fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree, which by itself, has an extremely bitter flavor, but is commonly used to make chocolate. ... Tortoiseshell can refer to: a Tortoiseshell cat a pattern used in clothing and jewellery the Small Tortoiseshell, a butterfly the Hawksbill turtle Tortoiseshell, a song by The Boo Radleys which appeared on their EP Every Heaven This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise... King Charles X of Sweden The Northern Wars (1655-1661) is a name sometimes used for the series of conflicts between Sweden and its adversaries Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (The Deluge, 1655-1660), Russia (1656-1661), Brandenburg-Prussia (1657-1660), the Holy Roman Empire (1657-60) and Denmark (1657-1658, 1658... Events September 2 - Great Fire of London: A large fire breaks out in London in the house of Charles IIs baker on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. ... // Events January - The Triple Alliance of 1668 is formed. ...

Former Courland colonies

• St. Andrews Island
• Tobago

James Island is an island in the Gambia River, 30 km from the river mouth and near Juffure, The Gambia. ... Tobago is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, part of the nation of Trinidad and Tobago. ...

See also

• Courland colonization of the Americas
• Jacob Kettler