Danish Gold Coast

Danish Gold Coast Settlements
Danske Guldkyst
1658–1850
Denmark-Norway and its overseas territories
Map of the Danish Gold Coast
StatusDenmark–Norway crown colony (1658–1814)
Danish Colony (1814–1850)
CapitalOsu (Christiansborg) (1658–1850)
Common languagesDanish, German (official)
Ga, Dangme, Ewe, Akan
King of Denmark 
• 1658–1670
Frederick III of Denmark-Norway (first)
• 1848–1863
Frederick VII of Denmark (last)
Governor 
• 1658-1659
Hendrik Carloff
• 1847-1850
Rasmus Eric Schmidt
History 
• Denmark-Norway annexation from Sweden
1658
1660
• Disestablished
March 30 1850
CurrencyDanish rigsdaler
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Swedish Gold Coast
British Gold Coast
Today part ofGhana
A contemporary drawing of Fort Christiansborg, now Osu Castle. The outpost to the right is Fort Prøvestenen.

The Danish Gold Coast (Danish: Danske Guldkyst or Dansk Guinea) comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was colonized by the Dano-Norwegian fleet, first under indirect rule by the Danish West India Company (a chartered company), later as a crown colony of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway. The area under Danish influence was over 10,000 square kilometres.[1]

The five Danish Gold Coast Territorial Settlements and forts of the Kingdom of Denmark were sold to the United Kingdom in 1850. Denmark had wanted to sell these colonies for some time as the expenses required to run the colonies had increased following the abolition of slavery. Although Britain was also struggling with rising costs, it sought to purchase them to reduce French and Belgian influence in the region, as well as to further curtail the slave trade that still operated there.[2] The purchased settlements and forts were later incorporated into the British Gold Coast.[3]

  1. ^ Gøbel, Erik (2016-01-01), "Appendix B to the Report: Slaves Bought at Danish Settlements on the Gold Coast, 1777–89", The Danish Slave Trade and Its Abolition, BRILL, pp. 268–271, doi:10.1163/9789004330566_015, ISBN 978-90-04-33056-6, retrieved 2022-02-05
  2. ^ van Dantzig, Albert; Priddy, Barbara (1971). A Short History of the Forts and Castles of Ghana. Liberty Press. p. 49.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).