Even Sweden had a colony in the Caribbean. In 1784, the French island was ceded to Sweden, which declared it a free port and began trading various goods. The Swedish colony of Saint Barthélemy existed for almost a hundred years, until 1878, when the French repurchased the island. A remnant of a bygone era is the port of Gustavia, named after the King of Sweden Gustav III, the current capital of the island. There are still houses built during the Swedish period in the old town and street signs can be found in both French and Swedish.
