The Dutch-Portuguese War was a long conflict for trade and naval supremacy across the globe in the 17th Century. Both countries had successes and failures, and the war resulted, more than anything else, in increasing the prominence of other nation-states at the expense of its antagonists.

The Netherlands and Spain had gone to war in 1568. In 1581, when Portugal and Spain embarked on the Iberian Union, becoming essentially one entity, the resulting monolith declared an embargo on trade with the northern Netherlands, primarily because they were a hotbed of Protestantism, which was in opposition to Catholicism, the professed faith of the Spanish ruler, Philip II. The Dutch decided to force their way into the spice trade.

Philip had sent a huge number of ships north, in an attempt to conquer England, in 1588. The failure of the Spanish Armada weakened the Spanish (and, therefore, the Portuguese) naval capacity and also emboldened the Dutch Republic, which launched the Dutch East India Company in 1602, as a means to finance and expand efforts to expand Dutch trade around the world, at first primarily in Asian waters.

The very next year, Dutch ships seized a Portuguese ship, Santa Catarina carrying a very rich cargo. The decision of the Dutch sailors to keep the ship and the bounty angered both Portugal and Spain. Dutch ships then enacted a blockade of Goa, the main Portuguese base in India, and targeted its new enemy's other trade hubs, such as Macao and Malacca.

The Dutch efforts gained in expediency with the capture of Jakarta in 1619. Renaming it Batavia, the VOC made it the base of operations against Portugal. It was slow going, but Dutch victories piled up over time, as first Malacca and then Ceylon switched hands.

In the midst of this ongoing struggle in the East, the Dutch Republic launched the Dutch West India Company, in 1621, to target expansion in the Western Hemisphere. Dutch successes came more quickly on the America continents and included the establishment of a Dutch base (yet another New Holland) in what is now Brazil and the capture of Salvador, Portugal's main base in that part of the world. Dutch forces also shored up settlements in North America, including New Netherland, in what is now New York. Dutch forces also captured some Portuguese bases in West Africa.

Closer to home, the Dutch and Portuguese fought for supremacy in the Persian Gulf in the Battle off Hormuz, in February 1625. The Dutch had assistance from the English in this battle; even so, neither side could claim victory. The tactical result, however, was that the Portuguese preeminence in the Persian Gulf came to an end.

In that same year, the Portuguese reversed the recent trend, taking advantage of an infusion of Spanish ships and soldiers and scoring a series of victories, the result being the expulsion of the Dutch from Africa and most of the Americas.

Both sides struggled to gain traction during the next few decades, holding on to their trade routes but not achieving much else. A 1661 treaty brought an end to the fighting.