CIA - The World Factbook

Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, the island of Curacao was hard hit by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity (and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in the early 20th century with the construction of oil refineries to service newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields. The island of Saint Martin is shared with France; its southern portion is named Sint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles; its northern portion, called Saint Martin, is an overseas collectivity of France.

Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - composed of five islands, Curacao and Bonaire located off the coast of Venezuela, and Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius lie east of the US Virgin Islands

more than five times the size of Washington, DC

tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds

generally hilly, volcanic interiors

phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only)

Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October; Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt and are rarely threatened

the five islands of the Netherlands Antilles are divided geographically into the Leeward Islands (northern) group (Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten) and the Windward Islands (southern) group (Bonaire and Curacao); the island of Saint Martin is the smallest landmass in the world shared by two independent states, the French territory of Saint Martin and the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten

227,049 (July 2009 est.)

14.19 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

6.48 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

-0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

1.97 children born/woman (2009 est.)

mixed black 85%, other 15% (includes Carib Amerindian, white, East Asian)

Roman Catholic 72%, Pentecostal 4.9%, Protestant 3.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3.1%, Methodist 2.9%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.7%, other Christian 4.2%, Jewish 1.3%, other or unspecified 1.2%, none 5.2% (2001 census)

Papiamento 65.4% (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect), English 15.9% (widely spoken), Dutch 7.3% (official), Spanish 6.1%, Creole 1.6%, other 1.9%, unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)

an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs

none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)

Queen's Day (Birthday of Queen-Mother JULIANA and accession to the throne of her oldest daughter BEATRIX), 30 April (1909 and 1980)

29 December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the Netherlands, as amended

based on Dutch civil law system with some English common law influence

18 years of age; universal

unicameral States or Staten (22 seats, Curacao 14, Bonaire 3, St. Maarten 3, St. Eustatius 1, Saba 1; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

Joint High Court of Justice (judges appointed by the monarch)

Employers Association (VBC); Unions (AVBO)

Caricom (observer), ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, UNESCO (associate), UNWTO (associate), UPU, WCL, WCO, WMO

none (represented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands); note - Mr. Jeffrey CORRION, Minister Plenipotentiary for Aruba at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

white, with a horizontal blue stripe in the center superimposed on a vertical red band, also centered; five white, five-pointed stars are arranged in an oval pattern in the center of the blue band; the five stars represent the five main islands of Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten

Tourism, petroleum refining, and offshore finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. Although GDP has declined or grown slightly in each of the past eight years, the islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure compared with other countries in the region. Most of the oil Netherlands Antilles imports for its refineries come from Venezuela. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, the US, Italy, and Mexico being the major suppliers. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture. Budgetary problems hamper reform of the health and pension systems of an aging population. The Netherlands provides financial aid to support the economy.

$2.8 billion (2004 est.)

NA% (31 December 2008)

9.21% (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$997.8 million (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$2.309 billion (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$2.927 billion (31 December 2007)

$488.6 billion (2003)

aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables, tropical fruit

tourism (Curacao, Sint Maarten, and Bonaire), petroleum refining (Curacao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curacao and Bonaire), light manufacturing (Curacao)

1.195 billion kWh (2006 est.)

992 million kWh (2006 est.)

0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

67,450 bbl/day (2006 est.)

206,900 bbl/day (2005)

277,600 bbl/day (2005)

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

$3.71 billion f.o.b. (2006)

US 18.9%, Mexico 13.3%, Panama 11.4%, Singapore 6.9%, Haiti 6.6%, The Bahamas 5.3% (2007)

$15.74 billion f.o.b. (2006)

crude petroleum, food, manufactures

Venezuela 59.1%, US 17.7%, Brazil 7.1% (2007)

$2.68 billion (2004)

Netherlands Antillean guilders (ANG) per US dollar - NA (2007), 1.79 (2006), 1.79 (2005), 1.79 (2004), 1.79 (2003)

AM 8, FM 19, shortwave 0 (2003)

3 (there is also a cable service that supplies programs received from various US satellite networks and 4 Venezuelan channels) (2003)

Bopec Terminal, Willemstad

no regular military forces; National Guard (2008)

16 years of age for National Guard recruitment; no conscription (2004)

defense is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

transshipment point for South American drugs bound for the US and Europe; money-laundering center