Amsterdam

=== Centre of the Dutch Golden Age ===
[[File:The_courtyard_of_the_Beurs_in_Amsterdam,_by_Emanuel_de_Witte.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Courtyard of the [[Amsterdam Stock Exchange]] by [[Emanuel de Witte]], 1653. The [[Amsterdam Stock Exchange]] was the first [[stock exchange]] to introduce continuous trade in the early 17th century.<ref name="Braudel">{{Cite book |last=Braudel |first=Fernand |url=https://archive.org/details/civilizationcapi01brau |title=Civilization and capitalism 15th–18th century: The wheels of commerce |date=1983 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0060150914 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}</ref>]]

During the 17th century, Amsterdam experienced what is considered its ''[[Dutch Golden Age|Golden Age]]'', during which it became the wealthiest city in the Western world.<ref>Haverkamp-Bergmann, E. ''Rembrandt; The Night Watch''. New Jersey: [[Princeton University Press]], 1982, p. 57.</ref> Ships sailed from Amsterdam to the [[Baltic Sea]], the Caribbean, North America, and Africa, as well as present-day [[Indonesia]], India, [[Sri Lanka]], and Brazil, forming the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants had the largest share in both the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC) and the [[Dutch West India Company]]. These companies acquired overseas possessions that later became [[Dutch Empire|Dutch colonies]].

Amsterdam was Europe's most important hub for the shipment of goods and was the leading [[financial centre]] of the [[Western world]].<ref>[http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/Amsterdam_l.html Amsterdam in the 17th century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826132532/http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/Amsterdam_l.html |date=26 August 2009 }}, The University of [[North Carolina]] at Pembroke</ref> In 1602, the Amsterdam office of the Dutch East India Company became the world's first [[stock exchange]] by trading in its own shares.<ref name="The oldest share">{{Cite web |title=The oldest share |url=http://www.oldest-share.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509123937/http://www.oldest-share.com/ |archive-date=9 May 2008 |access-date=22 May 2008}}</ref> The Bank of Amsterdam started operations in 1609, acting as a full-service bank for Dutch merchant bankers and as a reserve bank.

From the 17th century onwards, Amsterdam also became involved in the [[Atlantic slave trade]]. The city was a major destination port for Dutch [[slave ship]]s participating in the [[triangular trade]], which lasted until the [[Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands|United Netherlands]] abolished the Netherlands' involvement in the trade in 1814 at the request of the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]]. Amsterdam was also a member of the [[Society of Suriname]], an organisation founded to oversee the management of the Dutch colony of [[Surinam (Dutch colony)|Surinam]], which was economically dependent on [[slave plantation]]s. On 1 July 2021, the [[mayor of Amsterdam]], [[Femke Halsema]], apologised for the city's involvement in the slave trade.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThcUEAAAQBAJ |title=Tracing Slavery: The Politics of Atlantic Memory in The Netherlands<!--sic-->|last=Balkenhol |first=Markus |publisher=Berghahn Books |date=2021 |isbn=9781800731615}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/01/amsterdam-mayor-apologises-for-citys-past-role-in-slave-trade |title=Amsterdam mayor apologises for city's past role in slave trade |work=The Guardian |agency=Associated Press |date=1 July 2021 |access-date=27 October 2022}}</ref>