where were stocks first created?

Stocks were first created in Amsterdam in 1602 when the Dutch East India Company issued shares and established the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, widely considered the world's first organized stock market. This allowed investors to buy portions of the company and share in its profits, marking the origin of modern stock trading. Before this, various forms of trade, loans, and contracts involving risk and reward existed in ancient and medieval times, but the Amsterdam Stock Exchange was the first to issue public shares in a formalized market setting.