Map of Netherlands Antilles | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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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 Sint Maarten is shared with France (whose northern portion is named Saint Martin and is part of Guadeloupe).


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Location: Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea_one includes Cura�ao and Bonaire north of Venezuela and the other is east of the Virgin Islands

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area
Total: total:960 km²; land:960 km²
Comparative: slightly less than 5.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 364 km

Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone:12 nm; territorial sea:12 nm

Climate: Tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds

Terrain: Generally hilly, volcanic interiors; Lowest point:Caribbean Sea 0 m; Highest point:Mount Scenery 862 m (Saba)

Elevation

Natural resources: Phosphates (Cura�ao only); Salt (Bonaire only)

Land use: arable land:8%; permanent crops:0%; permanent pastures:0%; forests and woodland:0%; other:92%

Irrigated land: NA

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: Includes Bonaire, Cura�ao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)


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Population: 208,968 (July 1996 est.); 203,505 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: 1.03% (1996 est.); 1.06% (1995 est.)

Nationality: noun:Netherlands Antillean(s); adjective:Netherlands Antillean

Ethnic groups: Mixed African 85%; Carib Indian, European, Latin, Oriental

Languages: Dutch (official), Papiamento a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect predominates, English widely spoken, Spanish

Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Seventh-Day Adventist

Demographic profile

Age structure: 0-14 years:26% (female 25,349; male 26,577) (July 1995 est.); 15-64 years:67% (female 69,273; male 67,485) (July 1995 est.); 65 years and over:7% (female 8,599; male 6,222) (July 1995 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.03% (1996 est.); 1.06% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 15.98 births/1000 population (1996 est.); 16.23 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 5.29 deaths/1000 population (1996 est.); 5.26 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.37 migrant(s)/1000 population (1996 est.); -0.38 migrant(s)/1000 population (1995 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: NA; Natural hazards:Cura�ao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt, so rarely threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October
International agreements: party to_Whaling (extended from Netherlands)

Air pollutants

Sex ratio: at birth:1.05 male(s)/female; under 15 years:1.05 male(s)/female; 15-64 years:0.95 male(s)/female; 65 years and over:0.72 male(s)/female; all ages:0.96 male(s)/female (1996 est.) Infant Mortality Rate:8.9 deaths/1000 live births (1996 est.); 9 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate

Life expectancy at birth: total population:77.06 years (1996 est.); 76.94 years (1995 est.); male:74.78 years (1996 est.); 74.67 years (1995 est.); female:79.46 years (1996 est.); 79.33 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: definition:age 15 and over that can read and write (1981); total population:98%; male:98%; female:99%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: none; conventional short form: Netherlands Antilles; local long form: none; local short form: Nederlandse Antillen

Government type: Part of the Dutch realm; full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954

Capital: Willemstad

Administrative divisions: None (part of the Dutch realm)

Dependent areas

Independence: None (part of the Dutch realm)

National holiday: Queen's Day, 30 April (1938)

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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state:Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980), represented by Governor General Jaime SALEH (since NA October 1989); head of government:Prime Minister Miguel POURIER (since 25 February 1994); cabinet:Council of Ministers was appointed by the Staten

Legislative branch: Unicameral Staten:Elections last held on 25 February 1994 (next to be held March 1998); results_percent of vote by party NA; seats_(23 total) PAR 8, PNP 3, SPA 2, PDB 2, UPB 1, MAN 2, DP 1, WIPM 1, DP-St.E 1, DP-St.M 1, Nos Patria 1; note:The government of Prime Minister Miguel POURIER is a coalition of several parties

Judicial branch: Joint High Court of Justice

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: Caricom (observer), ECLAC (associate), Interpol, IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WMO, WToO (associate)

Diplomatic representation

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, Cura�ao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Tourism and offshore finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. The islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure as compared with other countries in the region. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, with Venezuela and the US being the major suppliers. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 1.8% (1994 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity_ $10,400 (1994 est.); $10,000 (1993 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: Chief products_aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables, tropical fruit

Industries: Tourism (Cura�ao and Sint Maarten); Petroleum refining (Cura�ao); Petroleum transshipment facilities (Cura�ao and Bonaire); Light manufacturing (Cura�ao)

Industrial production growth rate: Growth rate NA

Labor force: 89,000
By occupation: Government 65%; Industry and commerce 28% (1983)

Unemployment rate: 13.4% (1993 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues:$209 million; expenditures:$232 million, including capital expenditures of $8 million (1992 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: Calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: total value. $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
Commodities: Petroleum products 98%
Partners: U.S. 39%; Brazil 9%; Colombia 6%

Imports: total value:$1.8 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
Commodities: Crude petroleum 64%; Food; Manufactures
Partners: Venezuela 26%; U.S. 18%; Colombia 6%; Netherlands 6%; Japan 5%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $1.95 billion (December 1995); $672 million (December 1991)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Netherlands Antillean guilders, gulden, or florins (NAf.) per US$1: 1.79 (fixed rate since 1989; 1.80 fixed rate 1971-88)


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Electricity
Capacity: 200,000 kW
Production: 810 million kWh
Consumption per capita: 4,054 kWh (1993)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system: NA telephones; generally adequate facilities; Local:NA; Intercity:extensive interisland microwave radio relay links; international:2 submarine cables; 2 INTELSAT (Atlantic Ocean) earth stations

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 4
With paved runways: over 3,047 m :1; 1,524 to 2,437 m:2; 914 to 1,523 m:1 (1995 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine: total:119 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,141,003 GRT/1,490,958 DWT; Ships by type:bulk 1, cargo 38, chemical tanker 7, combination bulk 1, container 2, liquefied gas tanker 4, multifunction large-load carrier 18, oil tanker 9, passenger 4, refrigerated cargo 27, roll-on/roll-off cargo 8 (1995 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: Money-laundering center; transshipment point for South American cocaine and marijuana bound for the U.S. and Europe