Which Nation did NOT have a Colony in modern-day North America?

The story behind the answer

Portugal is correct because it never established a lasting colony in what is now the U.S. or Canada. By contrast, Spain ruled Florida, the Southwest, and California; the Dutch ran New Netherland (centered on New Amsterdam, today’s New York City); and Sweden founded New Sweden along the Delaware River.

Portugal focused its empire on Brazil, Atlantic islands, Africa, and the Indian Ocean, a pattern reinforced by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas. While Portuguese fishermen worked the Grand Banks and explorers like the Corte-Real brothers reached North Atlantic shores, no permanent North American colony emerged. Memory tip: “Spain north and west; Portugal Brazil and east.”