Guide to Netherlands Antilles Introduction 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 the 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 is called Saint-Martin and is part of Guadeloupe (France).
Geography Location: Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - composed of five islands, Curacao and Bonaire located off the coast of Venezuela, and St. Maarten, Saba, and St. Eustatius lie east of the US Virgin Islands
Geographic coordinates: 12 15 N, 68 45 W
Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
Area: total
Area - comparative: more than five times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 364 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
Climate: tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds
Terrain: generally hilly, volcanic interiors
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only)
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt and are rarely threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October
Environment - current issues: NA
Geography - note: the five islands of the Netherlands Antilles are divided geographically into the Leeward Islands (northern) group (Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten) and the Windward Islands (southern) group (Bonaire and Curacao)
People Population: 219,958 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 0.82% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 15 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 6.41 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 2 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: mixed black 85%, Carib Amerindian, white, East Asian
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)
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)
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
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
Government type: parliamentary
Capital: Willemstad; note - located on Curacao, the largest of the islands
Administrative divisions: none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) note
Independence: none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
National holiday: Queen's Day (Birthday of Queen-Mother JULIANA in 1909 and accession to the throne of her oldest daughter BEATRIX in 1980), 30 April
Constitution: 29 December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the Netherlands, as amended
Legal system: based on Dutch civil law system with some English common law influence
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: unicameral States or Staten (22 seats - Curacao 14, Bonaire 3, St. Maarten 3, St. Eustatius 1, Saba 1; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections
Judicial branch: Joint High Court of Justice (judges appointed by the monarch)
Political parties and leaders: Antillean Restructuring Party or PAR [Etienne YS]; C 93 [Stanley BROWN]; Democratic Party of Bonaire or PDB [Jopi ABRAHAM]; Democratic Party of Curacao or DP [Errol HERNANDEZ]; Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius or DP-St. E [Julian WOODLEY]; Democratic Party of Sint Maarten or DP-St. M [Sarah WESCOTT-WILLIAMS]; Foundation Energetic Management Anti-Narcotics or FAME [Eric LODEWIJKS]; Labor Party People's Crusade or PLKP [Errol COVA]; National Alliance [William MARLIN]; National People's Party or PNP [Susanne F. C. CAMELIA-ROMER]; New Antilles Movement or MAN [Kenneth GIJSBERTHA]; Patriotic Union of Bonaire or UP Bonaire [Ramonsito BOOI]; Patriotic Movement of Sint Maarten or SPA [Vance JAMES, Jr.]; People's Party or PAPU [Richard HODI]; Pro Curacao Party or PPK [Winston LOURENS]; Saba Democratic Labor Movement [Steve HASSELL]; Saba Unity Party [Carmen SIMMONDS]; St. Eustatius Alliance or SEA [Kenneth VAN PUTTEN]; Serious Alternative People's Party or Sapp [Julian ROLLOCKS]; Social Action Cause or KAS [Benny DEMEI]; Windward Islands People's Movement or WIPM [Will JOHNSTON]; Workers' Liberation Front or FOL [Anthony GODETT, Rignald LAK, Editha WRIGHT] note
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WCL, WCO, WMO, WToO (associate)
Diplomatic representation in the US: none (represented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: white, with a horizontal blue stripe in the center superimposed on a vertical red band, also centered; five white, five-pointed stars are arranged in an oval pattern in the center of the blue band; the five stars represent the five main islands of Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten
Economy Economy - overview: Tourism, petroleum refining, and offshore finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. Although GDP has declined or grown slightly in each of the past eight years, the islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure compared with other countries in the region. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, the US and Mexico being the major suppliers. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture. Budgetary problems hamper reform of the health and pension systems of an aging population.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $2.45 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 0.5% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $11,400 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 89,000 (2000)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 1%, industry 13%, services 86% (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate: 15.6% (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1% (2003 est.)
Budget: revenues
Agriculture - products: aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables, tropical fruit
Industries: tourism (Curacao, Sint Maarten, and Bonaire), petroleum refining (Curacao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curacao and Bonaire), light manufacturing (Curacao)
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 1.005 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 934.3 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 72,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Exports: $1.579 billion f.o.b. (2002)
Exports - commodities: petroleum products
Exports - partners: US 20.4%, Panama 11.2%, Guatemala 8.8%, Haiti 7.1%, Bahamas, The 5.6%, Honduras 4.2% (2004)
Imports: $2.233 billion f.o.b. (2002)
Imports - commodities: crude petroleum, food, manufactures
Imports - partners: Venezuela 51.1%, US 21.9%, Netherlands 5% (2004)
Debt - external: $1.35 billion (1996)
Economic aid - recipient: IMF provided $61 million in 2000, and the Netherlands continued its support with $40 million (2000)
Currency (code): Netherlands Antillean guilder (ANG)
Currency code: ANG
Exchange rates: Netherlands Antillean guilders per US dollar - 1.79 (2004), 1.79 (2003), 1.79 (2002), 1.79 (2001), 1.79 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 81,000 (2001)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 81,000 (2001)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 8, FM 19, shortwave 0 (2004)
Radios: 217,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 3 (there is also a cable service, which supplies programs received from various US satellite networks and two Venezuelan channels) (2004)
Televisions: 69,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .an
Internet hosts: 119 (2001)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 6
Internet users: 2,000 (2000)
Transportation Highways: total
Ports and harbors: Bopec Terminal, Fuik Bay, Kralendijk, Willemstad
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 5 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Military Military branches: National Guard, Police Force
Military service age and obligation: 16 years of age for military recruitment; no conscription (July 2002)
Manpower available for military service: males age 16-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 16-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: none
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American drugs bound for the US and Europe; money-laundering center
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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