Fort Christina, also called Fort Altena, was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony. Built in 1638 and named after Christina, Queen of Sweden, it was located approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) east of the present-day downtown Wilmington, Delaware, at the confluence of the Brandywine River and the Christina River, approximately 2 mi (3 km) upstream from the mouth of the Christina on the Delaware River.
Wilmington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It lies at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. The population was 70,898 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities near the Delaware Valley metropolitan area.
Wilmington was founded by Swedish settlers in 1638 as Christinaham or spelled Kristinehamn, which was planned to be the capital of New Sweden. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, which was the first Swedish settlement in North America. Control of the area shifted before it was formally incorporated as the Village of Willingtown in 1731, then later granted Borough Charter within the Delaware Colony as Wilmington in 1739, named after Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Wilmington developed as an industrial hub with industries in shipbuilding, milling, and later chemical manufacturing, largely influenced by DuPont. Its modern economy is focused on national banking and finance institutions.
New Sweden (Swedish: Nya Sverige) was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great power, New Sweden formed part of the Swedish efforts to colonize the Americas.
Settlements were established on both sides of the Delaware River. Fort Christina, located in what is now Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement, named after Christina, Queen of Sweden. The settlers were mostly Swedes, Finns, a number of Dutch, and some Germans. New Sweden was conquered by the Dutch Republic in 1655 and incorporated into the Dutch colony of New Netherland.