Canje Bridge New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam) is one of the largest towns in Guyana, located in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region, 62 mi (100 km) from the capital, Georgetown. It is located on the eastern bank of the Berbice River, 4 mi (6.4 km) upriver from its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean, and immediately south of the Canje River. New Amsterdam's population is approximately 33,000. New Amsterdam has its origins in a village which grew up alongside Fort Nassau in the 1730s and 1740s. The first Nieuw Amsterdam, as it was called then, was situated about 56 mi (90 km) up the Berbice River on the right bank. Before the 1763 slave uprising it comprised a Court of Policy building, a warehouse, an inn, two smithies, a bakery, a Lutheran church and a number of houses, among other buildings. Built in 1740 by the Dutch, New Amsterdam was first named Fort Sint Andries. It was made seat of the Dutch colonial government in 1790. In 1803 it was taken over by the British. (In