Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles, located in the Caribbean Sea, is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The island nation is consisted of two island groups, comprising five islands. Curaçao and Bonaire islands are situated off the Venezuelan coast, and Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten islands are situated at the southeast of the Virgin Islands. These islands have full autonomy in internal affairs while Dutch Government is responsible for their defense and foreign affairs. Willemstad is the capital of the Netherlands Antilles.

HISTORY:- The Arawaks people were the first inhabitants of the region. Spanish explorers Christopher Columbus discovered the windward in 1493 and Alonso de Ojeda discovered the leeward in 1499. In the 17th century, the Dutch West India Company conquered the islands. In 1845, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Aruba were unified with Dutch Windward islands to form a political unit, namely Netherlands Antilles. In 1954, Netherlands Antilles gained the status of a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1986, Aruba, splitting from the Netherlands Antilles, became a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

GEOGRAPHY:- The Netherlands Antilles is an archipelagic two island groups, consisting of 5 islands. The two inland groups are Leeward Islands and Windward Islands. The Leeward Islands comprises Bonaire and Curaçao. And The Windward Islands comprises Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten. The Netherlands Antilles is located at 12 15 N, 68 45 W in the Caribbean region. The islands occupy total 960 sq km area in the Caribbean Sea. The coastline is 364 km long along with the Caribbean Sea. The lowest point is Caribbean Sea (0 m) and the highest point is Mount Scenery (862 m). All the islands of windward group are hilly and volcanic in nature while the islands of leeward group are mixture of volcanic and coral origin.

CLIMATE:- The climate of the islands is predominantly tropical.

GOVERNMENT:- Netherlands Antilles is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a parliamentary government. The constitution was adopted on 29th December 1954. The legal system is based on the Dutch civil law and the English common law. The three major branches of the government are:

Executive branch comprises the Queen (chief of state), the Governor General, the Prime minister (head of government), and cabinet. The governor general is appointed by the monarch on a 6-year term, and he represents the monarch. The leader of the majority party is normally elected the prime minister by the Staten. The council of Ministers is also elected by the Staten.

Legislative branch comprises unicameral States or Staten (22 seats). The seats are divided between the islands as following manner: Curacao 14, Bonaire 3, St. Maarten 3, St. Eustatius 1, Saba 1.

Judicial branch comprises the Joint High Court of Justice. All the judges are appointed by the monarch.

Prominent major political parties of Netherlands Antilles can be listed in accordance of islands:

Curaçao:

Partido Antia Restruktura (PAR), Frente Obrero Liberashon 30 di Mei (FOL), MAN, Partido Nashonal di Pueblo (PNP), Forsa Korsou, Niun Paso Atras (NPA), Partido Laboral Krusado Popular (PLKP), Pueblo Soberano, Partido Democraat (DP), Un Pueblo Nobo, Moviemenu Social Laboral (MSL), Curacao Nobo Nobo (CNN), Partido Adelanto Korsou (PAK), Vota Kontra; Geen Stap Terug (GST), Movementu Patriotiko Korsou (MPK), Socialistise Party Antilliaanse Nederlanders (SPAN), BanVota, PAPPS, E Mayoria, ModPOR, Akshon Pro Independensha, Partido Trafiko Sigur (PTS), Lista Patriotiko Korsou (LPK), P-100.

St. Maarten:

St. Maarten Democratic Party (DP--St. Maarten), National Democratic Party (NDP), National Alliance, St. Maarten People’s Party (SMPP), People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA), United People’s Labor Party (UPLP).

Bonaire:

Bonaire Democratic Party (DP--Bonaire), Patriotic Union of Bonaire (UPB), Bonaire Social Party (PABOSO), New Labor Party of Bonaire (POB).

St. Eustatius:

St. Eustatius Democratic Party (DP--St. Eustatius), St. Eustatius Alliance (SEA), People’s Labor Party (PLP).

Saba:

Saba Labor Party (SLP) Windward Islands People’s Movement (WIPM).

Suffrage is universal at the age of 18.

NOTE:- Between 2000 to 2005, the 5 islands voted for their future status in a referendum. Sint Maarten and Curaçao voted for status aparte, Saba and Bonaire voted for closer ties to the Netherlands, and Sint Eustatius voted to stay within the Netherlands Antilles.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Netherlands Antilles has no administrative divisions.

CULTURE:- US culture, Caribbean and Latin American cultures have influenced the culture of Netherlands Antilles.

ECONOMY:- Tourism, petroleum refining, and offshore finance are the backbones of the tiny economy of Netherlands Antilles. The islands have high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure.

GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $2.8 billion; per capita $16,000.

Real growth rate: 1%.

Inflation: 2.1% (2003 est.).

Unemployment: 17% (2002 est.).

Arable land: 10%.

Agriculture: Aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables, tropical fruit.

Labor force: 83,600 (2005); agriculture 1%, industry 20%, services 79% (2005 est.).

Budget:  

Revenues: $757.9 million

Expenditures: $949.5 million (2004)

Debt - external: $2.68 billion (2004)

Currency: Netherlands Antillean guilder (ANG)

Industries: Tourism (Curacao, Sint Maarten, and Bonaire), petroleum refining (Curacao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curacao and Bonaire), light manufacturing (Curacao).

Natural resources: Phosphates (Curaçao only), salt (Bonaire only).

Exports: $2.076 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.): petroleum products.

Imports: $4.383 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.): crude petroleum, food, manufactures.

Major trading partners: U.S., Panama, Guatemala, Haiti, Bahamas, Honduras, Venezuela, Netherlands (2004).

LANGUAGE:- Dutch (7.3%), English(15.9%)are the official languages of the Netherlands Antilles. Papiamento, a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect is spoken by 65.4% of the total population.

Others:

Spanish 6.1%, Creole 1.6%, other 1.9%, unspecified 1.8% (2001).

CITIES:- The capital city Willemstad is the largest city of Netherlands Antilles as well.

POPULATION:- The estimated population of the archipelago is 223,472 with an average growth rate of 0.8%.

Density per sq mi: 602

Literacy rate: 97% (2003 est.).

RACE:-

Mixed black 85%

Other 15% (includes Carib Amerindian, white, East Asian)

RELIGION:-

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)

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 14.37 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 6.43 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 9.36 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 76.45 years

Total fertility rate: 1.98 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

TRANSPORTATION:-

Airports: 5 (2007); Airports - with paved runways: total: 5.

Roadways: total: 845

Ports and terminals: Bopec Terminal, Willemstad