An Introduction to Netherlands Antilles (dissolved)
The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaao (ABC Islands), in the Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius (SSS islands), in the Leeward Islands southeast of the Virgin Islands. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Latin America
GOVERNMENT: was constitutional monarchy (Queen Beatrix)
AREA: 800 sq km
POPULATION: 175,653 (2001 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Languages: Dutch, English, Papiamento
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The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaao (ABC Islands), in the Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius (SSS islands), in the Leeward Islands southeast of the Virgin Islands.
The country was established in 1954 and dissolved in October 2010. The island of Aruba had seceded in 1986 as a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and therefore took part in Beijing 2008 in its own right. The 2010 dissolution resulted in two new constituent countries, Curaao (where most of the population live - 142,180 in 2010) and Sint Maarten, with the other islands joining the Netherlands as 'special municipalities', officially public bodies. (thanks to Wikipedia for this summary).
GDP: 2.8bn (2008 est. for Curaao) - $20,567 per capita
Religions Curacao is 85% Roman Catholic, with protestant religions, Muslims and Hindus also represented.
Currency: Netherlands Antillen Guilder - $1 = NN
Telephone Code: + 599
Curaao, which has fine deep water ports and a good location in the Caribbean, has one of the latter's highest standards of living, a well-developed infrastructure and a diverse economy. The government's 'Open Arms' policy aims to attract more foreign investment, especially from IT companies. It also has a spaceport - yes,you read that right - beginning in January 2014, the Lynx rocketplane is expected to be flying suborbital space tourism flights and scientific research missions from the island. Trade agreements with the US, EU and Venezuela. 2008 exports of $876m were based around petroleum and went to a variety of countries led by the USA, Guatemala, Singapore and the Dominican Republic. Imports of $1.34 billion, led by food and crude petroleum, came mostly from Venezuela (57.3%), the US (19.2%) and Brazil (8.1%).
Other islands depend largely on tourism - Bonaire is famous for its scuba diving and snorkelling.
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