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The Dutch East India Company, or ''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'' (VOC, "United East India Company"), was a joint-stock company formed in [[1602]] which held a monopoly on Dutch colonial and mercantile activities in the Far East. The VOC maintained major bases of operations in Batavia (today, Jakarta), Fort Zeelandia (on [[Taiwan]]), and on the man-made island of [[Dejima]] in [[Nagasaki]] Harbor. Following the imposition of [[maritime restrictions]] in the 1630s, the Dutch were the only Europeans with whom Japan traded or otherwise interacted, for the duration of the [[Edo period]] (until the 'opening' of the country in the [[Bakumatsu period|1850s]]).

The Dutch East India Company, or ''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'' (VOC, "United East India Company"), was a joint-stock company formed in [[1602]] which held a monopoly on Dutch colonial and mercantile activities in the Far East. The VOC maintained major bases of operations in Batavia (today, Jakarta), Fort Zeelandia (on [[Taiwan]]), and on the man-made island of [[Dejima]] in [[Nagasaki]] Harbor. Following the imposition of [[maritime restrictions]] in the 1630s, the Dutch were the only Europeans with whom Japan traded or otherwise interacted, for the duration of the [[Edo period]] (until the 'opening' of the country in the [[Bakumatsu period|1850s]]).

The VOC is often cited as the first company in history to sell stocks and operate based on responsibilities to stockholders. The history of multinational corporations and other similar developments are often traced back to the Dutch East India Company.

The VOC is often cited as the first company in history to sell stocks and operate based on responsibilities to stockholders, and as, perhaps, the first multi-national corporation.<ref>Matt Matsuda, ''Pacific Worlds'', Cambridge University Press (2012), 73.</ref>

==History==

==History==