In the past, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and the Kingdoms around this area fought over the riches in North Sulawesi such as spices, rice and gold. The region was also the trading route between west and east and this helped the spread of Christianity, Islam, and other religions. The Portuguese first landed in the 16th century. The Spanish and the Dutch came and the Portuguese fought them. Finally, the Dutch got control in the 17th century. The Dutch ruled the area for three centuries until the Japanese came at the start of World War II. After the Japanese lost WWII in 1945, the Dutch controlled the area again for a short time. They left in 1949. , following the Round Table Conference, in which the Dutch recognized the newly created United States of Indonesia (RIS). So, North Sulawesi became part of the territory of the State of East Indonesia (NIT). The people did not like NIT, so it became part of the Republic of Indonesia in 1950. At first, the island of Sulawesi was one single province. Soon it separated into several different provinces. So, the province of North Sulawesi started on 14 August 1959.