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The Netherlands Antilles are located in the Caribbean. They are
known for their mix of historic architecture in cities like
Willemstad, UNESCO World Heritage sites, picturesque beaches and a
variety of opportunities for adventure such as diving and snorkeling
in the colorful coral reefs.
This article focuses on the
small "SSS Islands" above the Windward; there is a separate article
on the ABC Islands.
Until October 10, 2010, they formed a
joint administrative unit. Today it is just a collective name for
the Caribbean islands that are politically linked to the
Netherlands. On the one hand, these include the islands of Sint
Maarten, Sint Eustatius and Saba (collectively known as the SSS
Islands), which are part of the Windward Islands, and on the other
hand, the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao) hundreds of
kilometers further southwest off the coast of Venezuela. The two
island groups differ greatly in both their geographical location and
their culture - the only thing they have in common is their
political affiliation with the Netherlands.
Originally,
despite their different geographical locations, the six islands
together formed the Netherlands Antilles (Nederlandse Antillen), an
autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Aruba left
this union on January 1, 1986 and became an autonomous part of the
Netherlands. The so-called "Status Aparte". On October 10, 2010, the
alliance between the remaining five islands was finally dissolved.
Curaçao and Sint Maarten were given equal status to Aruba, while
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (the BES islands) became special
municipalities within the Netherlands.
"Independent part of
the kingdom" means that foreign policy, defense (army) and passports
(citizenship) are still regulated by The Hague, but the rest, from
schools to speed limits, police (uniforms), radio/TV and social
security, is regulated by the Kingdom itself. So you can do whatever
you want internally. Nevertheless, all residents have a Dutch
passport and the rights of an EU member (although they are not part
of the EU) and can travel to the Netherlands at any time without
formalities and without restrictions, which almost 1/3 of all
Antilleans and Arubans have done so far.
Nonetheless,
Antilleans who have immigrated to the Netherlands are classified as
allochthons (in contrast to the native Dutch); when looking for
work, housing, etc., the native Dutch are generally given
preference.
So: there is no "Embassy of the Netherlands
Antilles" abroad and consequently no German embassy on Curaçao, just
a consulate. And if a resident of Curaçao has problems in Australia
or Hungary, he would have to go to the respective Dutch embassy. The
special communities are part of the mother country, their
relationship with the European Union has yet to be clarified.
By Caribbean standards, people here are very wealthy thanks to
the subsidies from the Netherlands to date; there is no illiteracy,
malaria, infant mortality, etc. But it all depends on how you look
at it: rich for a Venezuelan or Dominican, but since the Netherlands
Antilles are based on The Hague and Amsterdam, people find
themselves poor and prefer to move to the motherland if possible:
There are currently around 50,000 Antilleans living in the European
Netherlands, and that is no problem (with a Dutch passport).
All six islands have their own political parties, their own radio
and TV stations, their own telecom, their own daily newspapers,
their own flags, their own island anthems, etc. So the "we" feeling
has never been very strong.
All information on population and
area numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. Statistics do not
seem to be taken too seriously in the Caribbean. Aruba is sometimes
180 km² and sometimes 193 km² in size. Some say that Curaçao has
152,700 inhabitants (= Landenreeks of the Kon. Instituut voor de
Tropen, 1999), the book "ANWB-Reisgids" from 2000 says that the
island has 160,000 inhabitants, the Marco Polo travel guide says
144,000.
ABC Islands: The islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao are located
about 25 to 80 km off the coast of Venezuela. Aruba and Curaçao are
independent parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and have equal
rights with the mother country. Bonaire has the status of a special
municipality within the mother country. The archipelago makes up 92%
of the land area and 90% of the population of the Netherlands
Antilles. The name of the Netherlands Antilles is therefore often
mistakenly equated with the ABC Islands.
SSS Islands: The Sint
Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius, located 950 km northeast of the
ABC Islands, are called SSS Islands. They belong to the Leeward
Islands, the northern part of the Lesser Antilles. Sint Maarteen is
only partly Dutch, the other part, Saint-Martin, is French. Like
Aruba and Curaçao, Sint Maarten has the status of an independent
part of the kingdom, while Saba and Sint Eustatius are special
municipalities. Saba has just 1,400 inhabitants, Sint Eustatius
2,100.
Caribbean Netherlands or BES Islands: Since the
dissolution of the administrative unit, the three islands of
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba have been called the BES Islands or
Caribbean Netherlands. This takes into account the fact that these
islands are special municipalities within the territory of the
Netherlands, where some laws apply different to those in the rest of
the Netherlands. On January 1, 2011, the US dollar replaced the
Antillean guilder as the official currency on these three islands.
Philipsburg. Philipsburg, the capital of Sint Maarten, offers a mix of beautiful beaches such as Great Bay Beach and exciting shopping along Front Street. Historical sights such as Fort Amsterdam and the St. Maarten Museum invite you to explore local history and culture. Water sports such as jet skiing and parasailing, as well as the experience of watching planes land over Maho Beach, complement the tourist offering. Duty-free shopping completes the experience by offering a variety of bargains for visitors.
20 minutes by ferry to Anguilla, a British island within sight of Sint Maarten to the north.
Saba National Marine Park is a protected marine reserve off the coast of Saba in Leeward Islands. It covers a total sea area of 5 sq mi (13 sq km).
By plane
Every island has an airport.
By ship
Various
cruise ships dock in Willemstad/Curaçao and Philipsburg/St. Maarten.
Such ships cannot dock on the other three islands.
Different on each island:
Sint Maarten: There are a few buses and
minibuses that go to the French side. Just wave and stop.
Other
islands: No public transport.
A passenger ferry runs daily between
St. Maarten and Saba. There is also a fast ferry for passengers between
Bonaire and Curaçao.
Dutch and Papiamentu were the two official languages of the
Netherlands Antilles. On the Windward Islands (St. Maarten, Saba, St.
Eustatius) English was the lingua franca, on the Leeward Islands
(Bonaire, Curaçao) Papiamentu was the lingua franca and second official
language. In primary school, lessons were given either in English or
Dutch (St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius) or Papiamentu or Dutch
(Bonaire, Curaçao). From middle school (5th grade) onwards, lessons were
only given in Dutch because the final exam was in Dutch and was the same
as in the Netherlands. Further university lessons took place in the
Netherlands. From the 2008/09 school year, lessons were no longer given
in Papiamentu on Curaçao because too many deficiencies had come to light
(e.g. there were only Dutch language textbooks). The Catholic School
Association therefore decided to start teaching in Dutch again from the
first grade onwards from the 2008/09 school year. This also corresponded
to the wishes of the majority of the population. For years, the number
of applications for Dutch-speaking schools had been ten times higher
than the number of places available. The final exams were held in Dutch.
All public announcements and laws were written in Dutch. The
literature of the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles was mainly
written in Dutch and Papiamentu, with only a small part in English and
Spanish. The following table gives an overview of how many native
speakers of each language had.
No vaccinations, no malaria. 'Clean' like in Europe, you can eat
anything without having to fear Montezuma's revenge. But be careful of
the strong sunlight. Drink a lot!
Each of the islands has a
hospital.
Tropical hot, eternal summer.
The S islands (Saba, Sint
Eustatius, Sint Maarten) have a tropical rainforest climate, with
rainfall of around 1200 mm per year (humid).
The ABC islands
(Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) have a steppe climate, with rainfall of around
500 mm per year (arid).
On all these islands there is a more or
less constant temperature of 26°Celsius and a more or less constant
northeast trade wind.
The islands were "discovered" by Alonso de Ojeda at the end of the
15th century and conquered from the Spanish by the Dutch West India
Company in 1634. Over time, the islands were in the hands of other
European powers several times and had various forms of government – in
varying compositions. This colonial status came to an end when, on 15
December 1954, after eight years of negotiations, the Statute for the
Kingdom of the Netherlands was signed by the Netherlands, Suriname and
the Netherlands Antilles. On 25 November 1975, Suriname became an
independent state and since then the Kingdom of the Netherlands has
consisted of the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles.
As of
1 January 1986, Aruba acquired a separate status. This meant that Aruba
obtained the status of Country within the Kingdom. From that date on,
the Netherlands Antilles consisted of only five islands. At the same
time, it was agreed that Aruba would become independent on 1 January
1996, but in 1994, at Aruba's request, the prospect of independence for
Aruba was scrapped.
On 2 November 2006, an agreement was
concluded between the Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, on the
basis of which these two islands would receive a separate status within
the Kingdom, comparable to that of Aruba. Agreements had already been
made earlier in which Saba, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire would receive the
status of public body, comparable to that of a Dutch municipality. Dutch
legislation will replace that of the Antilles under certain conditions.
The inhabitants will now be allowed to vote for the House of
Representatives and the European Parliament. Curaçao and Sint Maarten
will retain their own legislation. There will be a Joint Court of
Justice for the Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The Netherlands
took over the debts of the Antilles (4 billion Antillean guilders). In
return, the islands were no longer allowed to take out loans. The
Netherlands Antilles would be dissolved as a country within the Kingdom
on 15 December 2008. However, this did not work out. Minister Sarah
Wescot-Williams of Sint Maarten wanted the next end date to be early
2010, but the Netherlands did not agree. On 1 September 2009, Saba
announced that it wanted to leave the Netherlands Antilles with
immediate effect because it did not want to wait any longer for
developments regarding the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles.
According to then State Secretary Ank Bijleveld of Kingdom Relations, it
was not legally possible for Saba to leave the Antilles at that time.
During the political consultation that took place on 30 September
2009 in Curaçao between State Secretary Ank Bijleveld of Kingdom
Relations and the responsible politicians of the Netherlands Antilles
and the individual islands, it was decided that the Netherlands Antilles
would be dissolved as a country on 10 October 2010. Curaçao and Sint
Maarten would become independent countries within the Kingdom from that
date; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba would become special Dutch
municipalities. On October 10, 2010 (local time), the Netherlands
Antilles were dissolved as a country.
At the 2001 census, the Netherlands Antilles (excluding Aruba) had
227,049 inhabitants with a population density of 283.8/km². The capital
and largest city, Willemstad, had 140,000 inhabitants.
The age
distribution was:
0-14 years 23.9%
15-65 years 67.3%
66 years
and older 8.7%
The life expectancy was:
Total population 76.03
years
Men 73.76 years
Women 78.41 years
The Netherlands
Antilles had a population growth of 0.79%.
Curaçao is the largest and most populous island of the Netherlands Antilles. Bonaire is the second largest and least populated island. Characteristic of Sint Maarten is the high number of foreigners (residents with a nationality other than Dutch): 49% of the population comes from elsewhere. Many workers from the region work on all islands: on the Windward Islands they mainly come from Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, on the Leeward Islands they mainly come from Venezuela and Colombia.
The official languages of the Netherlands Antilles have been Dutch,
English and Papiamento since 2007. Papiamento is the vernacular on the
Leeward Islands. It is a Creole language based on Portuguese and
Spanish, with many Dutch and also English, French, African and Arawak
influences. English is the vernacular on the Windward Islands. The
schools were always Dutch-speaking, but in the 2000s it was decided to
introduce Papiamento and English as the language of instruction in
primary schools. The secondary schools remained Dutch-speaking, because
the same Central Written Final Exam was used as in the Netherlands and
because many pupils went on to higher education in the Netherlands after
completing secondary school. Since the 2008/2009 school year, Dutch has
also been the language of instruction in primary schools on Curaçao.
The literature of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands is mainly written in Dutch and Papiamento, and to a small
extent also in English and Spanish.
The Netherlands Antilles are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic (72%). In addition, there are large Protestant communities on the Windward Islands (3.1%) (Pentecostal churches (4.9%), Methodists (2.9%), Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists (3.1%), Jehovah's Witnesses (1.7%) and Anglicans). In addition, there has traditionally been a significant Jewish community on Curaçao and Sint Maarten (1.3%). There is also a Muslim community on Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
The administration of the Netherlands Antilles has consisted of a
government and the States, the parliament, since 1954. The governor
represented the head of state of the kingdom, Queen Juliana or Queen
Beatrix, and was formally head of government. Political responsibility,
however, lay with the Prime Minister and the ministers. The last Prime
Minister was Emily de Jongh-Elhage. The States of the Netherlands
Antilles had 22 seats, distributed among the islands according to a
fixed formula: 1954 to 1985 12 for Curaçao, 8 for Aruba, 1 for Bonaire
and 1 for the SSS islands; 1986 to 2010 14 for Curaçao, 3 for Sint
Maarten, 3 for Bonaire, 1 for Sint Eustatius and 1 for Saba. Government
coalitions were usually formed from the parties of the various islands.
On October 9, 2010, the States dissolved themselves in their last
session in the presence of the then Prince Willem-Alexander and the then
Princess Máxima as well as the Chairmen of the First and Second Chambers
of the States-General of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands
Antilles were not part of the European Union, but had a preferential
relationship under the status of overseas countries and territories
(see: Territory of the European Union).
Since the beginning of
2006, the islands have been the cause of foreign policy differences
between Venezuela and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez claimed that the Netherlands would allow the USA
to build military bases that would be used for a planned invasion of
Venezuela. On May 23, 2006, an international military exercise (Joint
Caribbean Lion 2006) began with the participation of the US Navy.
In the early 1990s, a discussion began about the political future of
the Netherlands Antilles. Some politicians on Curaçao and Sint Maarten,
including members of the Antilles government at the time, supported
autonomy (status aparte) for their islands, following the example of
Aruba. In referendums on the various islands in 1993 and 1994, however,
the majority of voters voted for the continued existence of a
"restructured" Netherlands Antilles. On Curaçao, for example, 73.6%
voted to remain in the Netherlands Antilles, 17.9% for autonomy, 8% for
integration into the Netherlands (as a province or municipality) and
only 0.5% for complete independence. The result was similar on the other
islands, only on Sint Maarten a large minority of 32% was in favor of
autonomy. The government then resigned.
After the population of
Sint Maarten voted 69% for autonomy in a new referendum in June 2000,
talks began again about the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles as a
political unit. In 2004, a special advisory committee made up of
politicians and experts recommended to the Dutch government that the
country of the Netherlands Antilles be dissolved, that two new
countries, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, be formed within the Kingdom of the
Netherlands, and that the remaining islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint
Eustatius be incorporated into the Netherlands. In new referendums on
the islands (outside Sint Maarten) in 2004 and 2005, the population
confirmed the committee's recommendations; only on Sint Eustatius did a
majority continue to vote for the continued existence of the Netherlands
Antilles. At the end of 2005, the islands reached agreement with the
Dutch government on the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2008.
On October 11, 2006, Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius reached an
agreement with the Netherlands on their future legal status as "special
municipalities" of the Netherlands.
According to a decision taken
in Curaçao on 15 December 2008, the Netherlands Antilles were dissolved
as a political entity on 10 October 2010.
The economy of the Netherlands Antilles was based on three pillars:
tourism, oil and financial services. The influence and growth per sector
varied greatly from island to island. The oil industry, transport
sector, port activities and financial services were essential to the
economy of Curaçao. Willemstad had the seventh largest port in the world
for a while in the 20th century. The other large islands had specialized
in the tourist sector. As a result, the Antillean economy was strongly
focused on foreign countries. It was largely dependent on imports. The
Netherlands Antilles were not a member of the European Union, but were
associated with it. This offered a number of trade advantages. The
Antillean currency was the Antillean guilder linked to the US dollar.
This is still the currency of Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
The
Netherlands provided annual aid to the Netherlands Antilles. This aid
was mainly used for law enforcement, education, administrative
development and sustainable economic development.