|
Source: CIA World Factbook
|
Capital
|
name: Willemstad (on Curacao)
geographic coordinates: 12 06 N, 68 56 W
time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
|
Country Name
|
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Netherlands Antilles
local long form: none
local short form: Nederlandse Antillen
former: Curacao and Dependencies
|
Dependency Status
|
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
|
Type of Government
|
parliamentary
|
Background
|
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.
|
Branches
|
no regular military forces; National Guard (2010)
|
Age Structure
|
0-14 years: 22.3% (male 26,116/female 24,864)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 75,012/female 79,972)
65 years and over: 9.9% (male 9,219/female 13,510) (2010 est.)
|
Languages
|
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)
|
Population
|
228,693 (July 2010 est.)
|
Religions
|
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)
|
Internet Users
|
*
|
Area - Comparative
|
more than five times the size of Washington, DC
|
Area
|
total: 800 sq km
land: 800 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)
|
Terrain
|
generally hilly, volcanic interiors
|
Climate
|
tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds
|
Natural Hazards
|
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
|
