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New Netherland, territory included in a commercial grant by the government of Holland to the Dutch West India Company in 1621. Colonists were settled along the Hudson River region; in 1624 the first permanent settlement was established at Fort Orange (now Albany, N.Y.). The principal settlement in the tract after 1625 was New Amsterdam (later New York City) at the southern end of Manhattan island, which was purchased from Native Americans in 1626. Colonization proceeded slowly, hampered by trouble with the native people, poor administration, and rivalry with New England settlers. In 1664 the territory was taken by the English, who divided it into the two colonies of New York and New Jersey.
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