They are located to the south of the IJ and the Zeeheldenbuurt, to the north of the railway line between Central Station and Amsterdam-Sloterdijk, to the west of the Westerdok and to the east of the Planciusbuurt on the Westerkanaal.

The Westelijke Eilanden form the core of the Golden Reael area, which also includes the adjacent Westerdok island, the Haarlemmerbuurt and the Planciusbuurt.

The Nieuwe Waal was deepened in the IJ in 1610 and demarcated with rows of poles as an extension of the Port of Amsterdam.

The warehouses stored herring, grain, tobacco, wine, salt, anchovies, cat skins, pitch and tar.

The Silodam, Zoutkeetsgracht, Bokkinghangen, Nieuwe Teertuinen and Breeuwerstraten owe their names to the activities of grain storage, salt refining, fish smoking, tarring and calking.

On the islands and in the immediate vicinity there were also salt sheds, buckling smokehouses, and tar and tanning works where ship timbers, sails and fishing nets were preserved.

Then the ships became too large for this port, and the development of the Eastern Docklands took over the role the Westelijke Eilanden had played for more than 200 years.

Bickerseiland, originally the Vooreiland, was named after the Jan Bicker who invested specifically in the island which he bought from the city in 1631.

After a city council conflict that lasted ten years, the sale of building plots on Princes' Island began in 1623.

The island was rediscovered by the artists Jan Sierhuis, Johan van der Keuken, Jef Diederen, Reinier Lucassen, Peter Schat and Willem Breuker.

The neighborhood still attracts many people with an artistic background: actors, musicians, furniture makers, program makers and artists, such as Benno Premsela, Ans Marcus, Willem Nijholt, Tijmen Ploeg, Raoul Hynckes, Han Wezelaar, Auke Hettema and Martijn Padding.

A herring smokehouse was built in 1648 by the Reael family on the Zandhoek, the side that bordered on the IJ (now shielded by Westerdok and Westerdoksdijk).

As early as 1676 there was a brandy distillery at the Drieharingenbrug, called De drie gecroonde haringen (The three crowned herrings).