Danish Gold Coast
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.
Danish Gold Coast Settlements Danske Guldkyst | |||||||||
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| 1658–1850 | |||||||||
Denmark-Norway and its overseas territories | |||||||||
Danish Gold Coast (Ghana) Map of the Danish Gold Coast | |||||||||
| Status | Denmark–Norway crown colony (1658–1814) Danish Colony (1814–1850) | ||||||||
| Capital | Osu (Christiansborg) (1658–1850) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Danish, 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 | ||||||||
• Treaty of Copenhagen | 1660 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | March 30 1850 | ||||||||
| Currency | Danish rigsdaler | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Ghana | ||||||||
| Gold Coast |
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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. The purchased settlements and forts were later incorporated into the British Gold Coast.