Map of Aruba | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: Discovered and claimed for Spain in 1499 Aruba was acquired by the Dutch in 1636. The island's economy has been dominated by three main industries. A 19th century gold rush was followed by prosperity brought on by the opening in 1924 of an oil refinery. The last decades of the 20th century saw a boom in the tourism industry. Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 and became a separate autonomous member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Movement toward full independence was halted at Aruba's request in 1990.


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Location: Caribbean island in the Caribbean Sea north of Venezuela

Geographic coordinates: 12 30 N 69 58 W

Map reference: Central America and the Caribbean

Area
Total: 193 km²
Land: 193 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Washington DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 68.5 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: tropical marine; little seasonal temperature variation

Terrain: flat with a few hills; scant vegetation

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Mount Jamanota 188 m

Natural resources: NEGL; white sandy beaches

Land use
Arable land: 7% (including aloe 0.01%)
Permanent crops: 0%
Permanent pastures: 0%
Forests and woodland: 0%
Other: 93% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 0.01 km²

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: lies outside the Caribbean hurricane belt

Geography


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Population: 70,007 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 0.64% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: Aruban
Adjective: Aruban; Dutch

Ethnic groups: mixed white/Caribbean Amerindian 80%

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

Religions: Roman Catholic 82% Protestant 8% Hindu Muslim Confucian Jewish

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 21.29% (male 7,709; female 7,193)
15-64 years: 68.52% (male 23,111; female 24,859)
65 years and over: 10.19% (male 2,954; female 4,181) (2001 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 0.64% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 12.64 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 6.21 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: NEGL

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: NA

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.07 male/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male/female
Total population: 0.93 male/female (2001 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 6.39 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 78.52 years
Male: 75.16 years
Female: 82.04 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: NA%
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: NA
Total population: 97%
Male: NA%
Female: NA%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Aruba

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital: Oranjestad

Administrative divisions: none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)

Dependent areas

Independence: none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)

National holiday: Flag Day 18 March

Constitution: 1 January 1986

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 of the Netherlands (since 30 April 1980), represented by Governor General Olindo KOOLMAN (since 1 January 1992)
Head of government: Prime Minister Jan (Henny) H. EMAN (since 29 July 1994) and Deputy Prime Minister Lili BEKE-MARTINEZ
Cabinet: Council of Ministers (elected by the Staten)
Elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed for a six-year term by the monarch; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by the Staten for four-year terms; election last held 12 July 1997 (next to be held by December 2001)
Election results: Jan (Henny) H. EMAN elected prime minister; percent of legislative vote - NA%; Lili BEKE-MARTINEZ elected deputy prime minister; percent of legislative vote - NA%

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 12 December 1997 (next to be held by NA December 2001)
Election results: percent of vote by party - AVP 43%, MEP 39%, OLA 9% PPA 4%, ADN 2%, PARA 1%, MAS 0.5%; seats by party - AVP 10, MEP 9, OLA 2

Judicial branch: Joint High Court of Justice (judges are appointed by the monarch)

Political parties and leaders: Aruba Solidarity Movement or MAS [leader NA]; Aruban Democratic Party or PDA [Leo BERLINSKI]; Aruban Liberal Party or OLA [Glenbert CROES]; Aruban Patriotic Party or PPA [Benny NISBET]; Aruban People's Party or AVP [Tico CROES]; Electoral Movement Party or MEP [Nelson ODUBER]; For a Restructured Aruba Now or PARA [leader NA]; National Democratic Action or ADN [Pedro Charro KELLY]

International organization participation: Caricom (observer) ECLAC (associate) Interpol IOC UNESCO (associate) WCL WToO (associate)

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none (represented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
From the us chief of mission: Consul General Barbara J. STEPHENSON
From the us embassy: J. B. Gorsiraweg #1, Curacao
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao
From the us telephone: [599] (9) 461-3,066
From the us fax: [599] (9) 461-6,489

Flag description: blue with two narrow horizontal yellow stripes across the lower portion and a red four-pointed star outlined in white in the upper hoist-side corner

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Tourism is the mainstay of the Aruban economy although offshore banking and oil refining and storage are also important. The rapid growth of the tourism sector over the last decade has resulted in a substantial expansion of other activities. Construction has boomed with hotel capacity five times the 1985 level. In addition the reopening of the country's oil refinery in 1993 a major source of employment and foreign exchange earnings has further spurred growth. Aruba's small labor force and less than 1% unemployment rate have led to a large number of unfilled job vacancies despite sharp rises in wage rates in recent years.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 3.5% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $28,000 (2000 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: NA%
Industry: NA%
Services: NA%

Agriculture products: aloes; livestock; fish

Industries: tourism transshipment facilities oil refining

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 41,501 (1997 est.)
By occupation: most employment is in wholesale and retail trade and repair followed by hotels and restaurants; oil refining

Unemployment rate: 0.6% (1999 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: NA%

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $NA
Expenditures: $541 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 4.2% (2000 est.)

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: $2.2 billion (including oil reexports) (2000 est.)
Commodities: live animals and animal products art and collectibles machinery and electrical equipment transport equipment
Partners: US 42% Colombia 20% Netherlands 12% (1999)

Imports: $2.5 billion (2000 est.)
Commodities: machinery and electrical equipment crude oil for refining and reexport chemicals; foodstuffs
Partners: US 63% Netherlands 11% Netherlands Antilles 3% Japan (1999)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $285 million (1996)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Aruban guilders/florins per US dollar - 1.7900 (fixed rate since 1986)


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Electricity
Production: 450 million kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 100%
Production by source hydro: 0%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0% (1999)
Consumption: 418.5 million kWh (1999)
Exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 33,000 (1997)
Mobile cellular: 3,402 (1997)

Telephone system
General assessment: NA
Domestic: more than adequate
International: 1 submarine cable to Sint Maarten (Netherlands Antilles); extensive interisland microwave radio relay links

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .aw
Service providers isps: NA
Users: 4,000 (2000)

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: 1 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways: 0 km

Roadways

Waterways: none

Merchant marine
Total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,120 GRT/3,635 DWT
Ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs