Map of Netherlands Antilles | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 | 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; its 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 Curacao and Bonaire north of Venezuela; the other is east of the Virgin Islands

Geographic coordinates: 12 15 N 68 45 W

Map reference: Central America and the Caribbean

Area
Total: 960 km²
Land: 960 km²
Water: 0 km²
Note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)
Comparative: more than five times the size of Washington DC

Land boundaries
Total: 10.2 km
Border countries: (0) Guadeloupe (Saint Martin) 10.2 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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Mount Scenery 862 m

Natural resources: phosphates (Curacao only) salt (Bonaire only)

Land use
Arable land: 10%
Permanent crops: 0%
Permanent pastures: 0%
Forests and woodland: 0%
Other: 90% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: NA km²

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

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

Geography


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Population: 212,226 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 0.97% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: Dutch Antillean
Adjective: Dutch Antillean

Ethnic groups: mixed black 85% Carib Amerindian white East Asian

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: 25.21% (male 27,332; female 26,169)
15-64 years: 66.99% (male 67,562; female 74,599)
65 years and over: 7.8% (male 6,874; female 9,690) (2001 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 0.97% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 16.55 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 6.41 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.42 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: NA

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 0.91 male/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male/female
Total population: 0.92 male/female (2001 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 11.4 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 74.94 years
Male: 72.76 years
Female: 77.22 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.07 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: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 98%
Male: 98%
Female: 99% (1981 est.)

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
Former: Curacao and Dependencies

Government type: parliamentary

Capital: Willemstad

Administrative divisions
Note: each island has its own government

Dependent areas

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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: Queen BEATRIX of the Netherlands (since 30 April 1980), represented by Governor General Jaime SALEH (since NA October 1989)
Head of government: Prime Minister Miguel POURIER (since 8 November 1999); Deputy Prime Minister Susanne CAMELIA-ROMER (since NA)
Note: government coalition - PDB, DP-St. M, FOL, PLKP, PNP
Cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the Staten
Elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch for a six-year term; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually elected prime minister by the Staten; election last held 30 January 1998 (next to be held by NA 2002)

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 30 January 1998 (next to be held by NA 2002)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PAR 4, PNP 3, SPA 1, PDB 2, UPB 1, MAN 2, PLKP 3, WIPM 1, SEA 1, DP-St. M 2, FOL 2; no party won enough seats to form a government
Note: the government of Prime Minister Miguel POURIER is a coalition of several parties; current seats by party - PAR 4, PNP 3, FOL 2, MAN 2, UPB 2, DP-St. M 2, PDB 1, SEA 1, WIPM 1, other 4

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

Political parties and leaders
Note: political parties are indigenous to each island

International organization participation: Caricom (observer) ECLAC (associate) Interpol IOC UNESCO (associate) UPU WCL WMO 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 consulates general: J. B. Gorsiraweg #1, Willemstad AN, Curacao
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao
From the us telephone: [599] (9) 4,613,066
From the us fax: [599] (9) 4,616,489

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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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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 slightly in each of the past five years 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 the US and Mexico being the major suppliers. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

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

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 1%
Industry: 15%
Services: 84% (1996 est.)

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%

Labor force: 89,000
By occupation agriculture: 1%
By occupation industry: 13%
By occupation services: 86% (1994 est.)

Unemployment rate: 14.9% (1998 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: $710.8 million
Expenditures: $741.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices: 6.4% (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: $276 million (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: petroleum products
Partners: US 17.5% Guatemala 8% Costa Rica 6.5% The Bahamas 4.6% Jamaica 4.1% Chile 3.4% (1998)

Imports: $1.5 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: crude petroleum food manufactures
Partners: Venezuela 35.3% US 21% Mexico 9.8% Italy 5.4% Netherlands 4.8% Brazil 3.1% (1998)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $1.35 billion (1996)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Netherlands Antillean guilders per US dollar - 1.790 (fixed rate since 1989)


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Electricity access

Electricity production: 1.11 billion kWh (1999)
By source fossil fuel: 100%
By source hydro: 0%
By source nuclear: 0%
By source other: 0% (1999)

Electricity consumption: 1.032 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular: 13,977 (1996)

Telephone system
General assessment: generally adequate facilities
Domestic: extensive interisland microwave radio relay links
International: submarine cables - 2; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Broadcast media

Internet country code: .an

Internet users: 2000 (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: 5 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 5
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Airports with paved runways
Total: 5
Over 3047 m: 1
15-24 to 2437 m: 2
914 to 1523 m: 1
Under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Airports with unpaved runways

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways: 0 km

Roadways

Waterways: none

Merchant marine
Total: 123 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,113,774 GRT/1,397,841 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 35, chemical tanker 2, combination ore/oil 3, container 19, liquefied gas 4, multi-functional large-load carrier 19, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 4, refrigerated cargo 28, roll on/roll off 7
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belgium 8, Germany 1, Italy 1 (2000 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs