Danish East India Company West European countries not occupied by Bonaparte) lost its entire fleet and the island of Helgoland (part of the duchy of Holstein-Gottorp) to Britain. Denmark finally sold its remaining settlements in mainland India in 1845 and the Danish Gold Coast in 1850, both to the British. Danish East India Company The Danish East India Company () refers to two separate Danish chartered companies. The first company operated between 1616 and 1650. The second company existed between 1670 and 1729, however, in 1730 it was re-founded as the Asiatic Company (). The first Danish East India Company was chartered in 1616
Sugar production in the Danish West Indies colonists exploited the island, including the area around Belvedere on the north coast of the island from 1763. There is a historic sugar plantation located at Belvedere and sugar mill which was built by the Danish. When the Danes arrived on Saint Croix they found a number of British families raising cane and making rum. The Danes divided the islands into 150 and 300 acre plantations and into nine quarters but faced stiff competition from the British who at one point owned 5 times as many plantations as the Danish. Due to extremely low land costs and tax benefits, planters