colony · South America

Demerara

1745 CE – 1812 CE · capital Stabroek

A Dutch plantation colony on the Demerara river, settled largely by British planters, whose capital Stabroek became Georgetown, Guyana's capital.

Origins

In 1745 Laurens Storm van 's Gravesande, commander of Essequibo, opened the Demerara river to settlement, and the Dutch West India Company granted land to planters. Many settlers came from Barbados and other British islands, attracted by fertile soil. Demerara soon outgrew Essequibo.

Rule and society

Demerara's plantations produced sugar, coffee and cotton worked by a large enslaved African population. A separate commander was appointed in 1750. The British seized the colony in 1781, and the French took it in 1782 and founded a new town at the river mouth, which the Dutch renamed Stabroek in 1784. A Court of Policy of officials and planters governed with the commander.

Decline and legacy

Britain occupied Demerara again from 1796. In 1812 it was united with Essequibo as Demerara-Essequibo, and Stabroek was renamed Georgetown. The colony was ceded to Britain in 1814 and merged into British Guiana in 1831, whose sugar economy it dominated.

Lineage

Essequibo 1616 CE – 1814 CEDemeraraDemerara-Essequibo 1812 CE – 1831 CE

Connections (1)

Demerara was a colony of Dutch Empire1745 CE – 1814 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Demerara. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/demerara
MLA: “Demerara.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/demerara. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Demerara.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/demerara.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Demerara’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/demerara (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻