The Dutch-Portuguese War is an armed conflict involving Dutch forces, in the form of the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, against the Portuguese Empire.
Beginning in 1602, the conflict primarily involves the Dutch companies invading Portuguese colonies in the Americas, Africa, India and the Far East.
The war can be thought of as an extension of the Eighty Years War being fought in Europe at the time between Spain and The Netherlands, as Portugal is unified under the Spanish Crown for most of the conflict.
However, the conflict has little to do with the war in Europe and serves mainly as a way for the Dutch to gain an overseas empire and control trade at the cost of the Portuguese.
English forces also assist the Dutch at certain points in the war.The result of the war is the formation of a strong Dutch presence in the Far East.
Dutch ambitions are largely thwarted in other parts of the world by Portuguese resistance.
English ambitions also greatly benefit from the long standing war between its two main rivals in the Far East.
