Netherlands Antilles
Netherlands Antilles Nederlandse Antillen | |
|---|---|
| Motto: Libertate unanimus (Latin: "Unified by freedom") | |
| Anthem: Anthem without a title | |
 | |
| Capital and largest city | Willemstad |
| Official languages | Dutch, Papiamento, English |
| Government | |
• Queen | Beatrix |
• Governor | Frits Goedgedrag |
| Emily de Jongh-Elhage | |
| Non-sovereign Dependent area of Kingdom of the Netherlands | |
• Water (%) | Negligible |
| Population | |
• July 2005 estimate | 183,000 (185th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2003 estimate |
• Total | $ 2.45 billion (180th) |
• Per capita | $ 11,400 (2003 est.) (79th) |
| HDI (2003) | n/a Error: Invalid HDI value (n/a) |
| Currency | Netherlands Antillean gulden (ANG) |
| Time zone | UTC-4 |
| Calling code | 599 |
| Internet TLD | .an |
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The Netherlands Antilles (Dutch: Nederlandse Antillen), previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, are part of the Lesser Antilles and consist of two groups of islands in the Caribbean Sea that form an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (none of the other Antilles use this term in their name). The islands' economy is dependent mostly upon tourism and petroleum.
History
- See also Dutch colonial empire.
Both the leeward (Alonso de Ojeda, 1499) and windward (Christopher Columbus, 1493) island groups were discovered and initially settled by the Spanish. In the 17th century, the islands were conquered by the Dutch West India Company and were used as bases for slave trade. Only in 1863 was slavery abolished.
In 1954, the islands were promoted from colony to a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as an associated state within a federacy. The island of Aruba was part of the Netherlands Antilles until 1986, when it was granted a "status apart", and became a separate part of the kingdom. Some of the other islands have indicated that they wish to obtain the same status, but no agreements on this have yet been reached. Other options sometimes considered are independence or together becoming a province of the Netherlands.
Politics
The head of state is the ruling monarch of the Netherlands, who is represented in the Netherlands Antilles by a governor. The governor is also head of the local government, and forms, together with the council of ministers, the executive branch of the government.
The legislative branch is two-layered. Delegates of the islands are represented in the government of the Netherlands Antilles, but each island has its own government that takes care of the daily tasks on the island.
Future status
In 2004 a commission of the governments of the Netherlands Antilles and the Netherlands reported on a future status for the Netherlands Antilles. The commission advised a revision of the Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in order to dissolve the Netherlands Antilles.
Two new associated states within the Kingdom of the Netherlands would be formed, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius would become directly part of the Netherlands as Kingdom Islands. On November 28, 2005, an agreement was signed between the Dutch government and the governments of each island that would put into effect the commission's findings by July 2007. [1]
Islands
The Netherland Antilles have no major administrative divisions, although each island has its own local government.
The two island groups of which the Netherlands Antilles consists are:
- the "Leeward Islands" (Benedenwindse Eilanden) off the Venezuelan coast (with also Aruba nearby):
- Bonaire, including an islet called Klein Bonaire ("Little Bonaire")
- Curaçao, including an islet called Klein Curaçao ("Little Curaçao")
- the "Windward Islands" (Bovenwindse Eilanden) east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. These are part of what are in English called the Leeward Islands, but in e.g. French, Spanish, German, Dutch and the English spoken locally these are considered part of the Windward Islands.
- Saba
- Sint Eustatius
- Sint Maarten, the southern half of the island Saint Martin (the northern half, Saint-Martin, is French and part of the overseas department of Guadeloupe).
Geography
The windward islands are all of volcanic origin and hilly, leaving little ground suitable for agriculture. The leeward islands have a mixed volcanic and coral origin. The highest point is Mount Scenery, 862 metres (2,828 ft), on Saba (also the highest point in all the Netherlands).
The Netherlands Antilles have a tropical climate, with warm weather all year round. The windward Islands are subject to hurricanes in the summer months.
Economy
Tourism, petroleum transshipment and oil refinement (on Curaçao), as well as offshore finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. The islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure as compared with other countries in the region. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, with Venezuela, the United States, and Mexico being the major suppliers, as well as the Dutch government which supports the islands with substantial development aid. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture. The Antillean guilder has a fixed exchange rate with the United States dollar of 1.79:1.
Demographics
A large part of the Netherlands Antilleans descends from European colonists and African slaves that were brought and traded here from the 17th to 19th century. The rest of the population originates from other Caribbean islands, Latin America, East Asia and elsewhere in the world.
Papiamento is predominant on Curaçao and Bonaire (as well as the neighboring island of Aruba). This creole language is formed from elements of Dutch, Spanish, English and Portuguese.
English is the chief language of the northern islands (St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius). Spanish is becoming the second language after English in the northern islands, mostly in St. Maarten.
Although the official language is Dutch, the Netherlands Antillean government officially recognizes the usage of both English and Papiamentu. While legislature is produced in Dutch, parliamentary speeches or political discussion is in English or Papiamentu, depending on the island.
The majority of the population are followers of the Christian faith, mostly Roman Catholic. Curaçao also hosts a sizeable group of Jews, descendants of a Portuguese group of Sephardic Jews that arrived from Amsterdam and Brazil in 1654.
A large group of young and/or highly educated Antilleans have emigrated to the Netherlands over the past decades, which leaves the islands with substantial social and economic problems. On the other hand, immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Anglophone Caribbean and Colombia have increased their presence in the last years.
Culture
The origins of the population and location of the islands give the Netherlands Antilles a mixed culture. The Wikipedia articles on the specific islands have more information on culture.
Tourism and overwhelming media presence from the United States has increased the regional United States influence. On all the islands, the holiday of Carnival is, like in many Caribbean and Latin American countries, an important one.
See also: Music of Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles
Miscellaneous topics
Both the land area and population of the Netherlands Antilles are just more than half that of Zeeland, a mainland province. Unlike the metropolitan Netherlands, same-sex marriages cannot be performed here, but those performed in other jurisdictions are recognized. Also unlike the mainland, prostitution and marijuana are also illegal.
- Communications in the Netherlands Antilles
- Foreign relations of the Netherlands Antilles
- Military of the Netherlands Antilles
- Postage stamps and postal history of the Netherlands Antilles
- Transportation in the Netherlands Antilles
- Scouting Antiano
- Antillenhuis-- Cabinet of the minister plenipotentiary of the Netherlands Antilles in the Hague
External links
- GOV.an - Main governmental site
- Central Bank of the Netherlands Antilles
- map
- Antillenhuis - Cabinet of the Netherlands Antilles' Plenipotentiary Minister in the Netherlands
- CIA World Factbook: Netherlands Antilles
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