New Amsterdam

Port of northeast Guyana, on the east bank of the River Berbice, near its mouth on the Atlantic coast 90 km/56 mi southeast of Georgetown; population (2002) 16,000. It is connected by road to the capital, Georgetown, and to Rosignol by ferry across the Berbice River. It is the commercial and industrial centre for the agricultural lowlands of the coastal region, producing rice and sugar cane.

The town was founded by the Dutch in 1740 and became their centre of colonial government in 1790, before coming under British rule in 1803.

New Amsterdam

Original name of New York City, USA. It was a commercial settlement, established in 1624 as the capital of the Dutch colony of New Netherlands. After its capture by the British in 1664, it was renamed New York.