Editing History of Senegal (section)

===The Dutch West India Company===
{{main|Senegambia (Dutch West India Company)}}
After the [[Act of Abjuration]] in 1581, the [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces]] flouted the authority of the [[Philip II of Spain|King of Spain]]. They based their growth on maritime trade and expanded their colonial empire in Asia, the [[Americas]] and South Africa. In West Africa trading posts were opened at some points of the current [[Senegal]], [[Gambia]], [[Ghana]] and [[Angola]].

[[File:Het West Indisch Huys - Amsterdam 1655.png|thumb|The [[Dutch West India Company]] at [[Amsterdam]] in 1655]]

Created in 1621, the [[Dutch West India Company]] purchased the island of [[Gorée]] in 1627.<ref>The date of 1617, cited by [[Olfert Dapper]] in ''Description de l'Afrique contenant les noms, la situation & les confins de toutes ses parties, leurs rivières, leurs villes & leurs habitations, leurs plantes & leurs animaux : les moeurs, les coutumes, la langue, les richesses, la religion & le gouvernement de ses peuples : avec des cartes des États, des provinces & des villes, & des figures en taille-douce, qui representent les habits & les principales cérémonies des habitants, les plantes & les animaux les moins connus'', W. Waesberge, Boom et Van Someren, Amsterdam, édition de 1686, p. 229, is reprised in many sources. Implausible, given thé date of creation of the company, it is challenged by two historians of Gorée: J.-R. de Benoist et A. Camara, ''op. cit.'', pp. 15–18</ref> The company built two forts that are in ruins today: in 1628 on the face of Nassau Cove and 1639 at Nassau on the hill, as well as warehouses for goods destined for the mainland trading posts .

In his ''Description of Africa'' (1668), the [[humanism|humanist]] Dutch [[Olfert Dapper]] gives the etymology of the name given to it by his countrymen, ''Goe-ree'' ''Goede Reede'', that is to say "good harbor".,<ref>{{in lang|fr}} Olfert Dapper, ''op. cit.'', p. 229</ref> which is the name of (part of) an island in the Dutch province of Zeeland as well.

The Dutch settlers occupied the island for nearly half a century, dealing in wax, [[amber]], gold, [[ivory]] and also participated in the [[Atlantic slave trade|slave trade]], but kept away from foreign trading posts on the coast. The Dutch were dislodged several times: in 1629 by the Portuguese, in 1645 and 1659 by the French and in 1663 by the English.