Netherlands-Antilles

NETHERLANDS-ANTILLES

Airlines in Netherlands-Antilles
Airports in Netherlands-Antilles
Beer in Netherlands-Antilles
Cities in Netherlands-Antilles
Climate in Netherlands-Antilles
Current weather in Netherlands-Antilles
Hotels in Netherlands-Antilles

Information about travelling to Netherlands-Antilles

Netherlands-Antilles is located in Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - composed of five islands, Curacao and Bonaire located off the coast of Venezuela, and Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius lie east of the US Virgin Islands

Facts about Netherlands-Antilles

Population	225,369 (July 2008 est.)
Capital	Willemstad (on Curacao)
Time zone	UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Location	Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - composed of five islands, Curacao and Bonaire located off the coast of Venezuela, and Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius lie east of the US Virgin Islands

General info about Netherlands-Antilles

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, called Saint Martin, is an overseas collectivity of France.

Languages spoken

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)

What about drugs?

transshipment point for South American drugs bound for the US and Europe; money-laundering center

Ethnic division

mixed black 85%, other 15% (includes Carib Amerindian, white, East Asian)

HIV/AIDS prevalence rate

Climate

tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds

Resources

phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only)

Economy

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. Most of the oil Netherlands Antilles imports for its refineries come from Venezuela. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, the US, Italy, 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. The Netherlands provides financial aid to support the economy.