Dutch Caribbean, previously known as the
Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of
the Lesser Antilles and consists of two groups of islands in the
Caribbean Sea: Aruba and Cura?o just off the Venezuelan
coast; and Sint Maarten, located southeast
of the VirgCuracaoin Islands. The islands form an autonomous part of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands. The islands' economy depends mostly upon
tourism, international financial services, international commerce,
shipping, and petroleum.
Both the leeward (Alonso de Ojeda, 1499) and
windward (Christopher Columbus, 1493) island groups were discovered
by Spain, but only the leeward islands were settled by them. In the
17th century, the islands were conquered by the Dutch West India
Company and were used as military outposts and trade bases. In the
late 18th century St. Eustatius became the most prosperous island of
the Northeastern Caribbean, earning the nickname "The Golden Rock."
Both Cura?o and Sint Eustatius became prominent in the slave trade.
Slavery was abolished in 1863.
In 1954, the status of the islands was up-graded
from a colonial territory to a part of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands as a separate country within the kingdom. The island of
Aruba was part of the Netherlands Antilles until 1986, when it was
granted status aparte, becoming yet another part of the Kingdom of
the Netherlands as a separate country within the kingdom.
Between June 2000 and April 2005, each island of
the Netherlands Antilles had a referendum on its future status. The
four options that could be voted on were:
A. Closer ties with the Netherlands.
B. Remaining within the Netherlands Antilles.
C. Autonomy as a country within the Kingdom of the
Netherlands (status aparte)
independence.
The outcome was:
Of the five islands, Sint Maarten and Cura?o voted for status
aparte, Saba and
Bonaire voted for closer ties to the Netherlands,
and Sint Eustatius voted to stay within the Netherlands Antilles.
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