NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
(part of the Dutch realm)
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 960 km2; land area: 960 km2; includes Bonaire,
Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the
island of Saint Martin)
Comparative area: slightly less than 5.5 times the size of
Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 364 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; modified by northeast trade winds
Terrain: generally hilly, volcanic interiors
Natural resources: phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only)
Land use: arable land 8%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 92%
Environment: Curacao 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
Note: consists of two island groups--Curacao and Bonaire
are located off the coast of Venezuela, and Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint
Eustatius lie 800 km to the north
PEOPLE
Population: 183,872 (July 1991), growth rate 0.2% (1991)
Birth rate: 18 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 10 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 8 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 79 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 2.0 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Netherlands Antillean(s); adjective--Netherlands
Antillean
Ethnic divisions: mixed African 85%; remainder Carib Indian,
European, Latin, and Oriental
Religion: predominantly Roman Catholic; Protestant, Jewish,
Seventh-Day Adventist
Language: Dutch (official); Papiamento, a
Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect predominates; English widely
spoken; Spanish
Literacy: 94% (male 94%, female 93%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1981)
Labor force: 89,000; government 65%, industry and commerce 28%
(1983)
Organized labor: 60-70% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: none
Type: part of the Dutch realm--full autonomy in internal affairs
granted in 1954
Capital: Willemstad
Administrative divisions: none (part of the Dutch realm)
Independence: none (part of the Dutch realm)
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
National holiday: Queen's Day, 30 April (1938)
Executive branch: Dutch monarch, governor, prime minister, vice
prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: legislature (Staten)
Judicial branch: Joint High Court of Justice
Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April
1980), represented by Governor General Jaime SALEH (since October 1989);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Maria LIBERIA-PETERS (since 17
May 1988, previously served from September 1984 to November 1985)
Political parties and leaders: political parties are indigenous
to each island:
Curacao--National People's Party (PNP), Maria
LIBERIA-PETERS;
New Antilles Movement (MAN), Domenico Felip MARTINA;
Workers' Liberation Front (FOL), Wilson (Papa) GODETT;
Socialist Independent (SI), George HUECK and Nelson MONTE;
Democratic Party of Curacao (DP), Augustin DIAZ;
Nos Patria, Chin BEHILIA;
Bonaire--Patriotic Union of Bonaire (UPB), C. V. Winklaar;
Democratic Party of Bonaire (PDB), John Evert (Jopie) ABRAHAM;
New Force, Rudy ELLIS;
Sint Maarten--Democratic Party of Sint Maarten (DP-St.M),
Claude WATHEY;
Patriotic Movement of Sint Maarten (SPM), Romeo PAPLOPHLET;
Sint Eustatius--Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius (DP-St.E),
Albert
K. Van PUTTEN; Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM), Eric HENRIQUEZ;
Saba--Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM Saba), Will
JOHNSTON; Saba Democratic Labor Movement, Vernon HASSELL; Saba Unity
Party, Carmen SIMMONDS
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
Staten--last held on 16 March 1990 (next to be held March 1994);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(22 total) PNP 7, FOL-SI-Curacao 3, UPB 3, MAN 2,
Democratic Party of Sint Maarten 2, Democratic Party of Curacao 1,
SPM-Sint Maarten 1, WIPM 1, Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius 1,
Nos Patria-Curacao 1; note--the government of Prime
Minister Maria LIBERIA-PETERS is a coalition of several parties
Communists: small leftist groups
Member of: CARICOM (observer), ECLAC (associate), ICFTU, INTERPOL,
IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WCL, WMO, WTO (associate)
Diplomatic representation: as an autonomous part of the
Netherlands, Netherlands Antillean interests in the US are represented by
the Netherlands;
US--Consul General Sharon P. WILKINSON; Consulate General at
Sint Anna Boulevard 19, Willemstad, Curacao (mailing address P. O.
Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao); telephone 599 (9) 613066
Flag: 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
ECONOMY
Overview: Tourism, petroleum refining, and offshore finance are the
mainstays of the economy. The islands enjoy a high per capita income and
a well-developed infrastructure compared with other countries in the
region. Unlike many Latin American countries, the Netherlands Antilles
has avoided large international debt. Almost all consumer and capital
goods are imported, with the US being the major supplier.
GDP: $1.0 billion, per capita $5,500; real growth rate 3% (1988
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.9% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 20% (1988)
Budget: revenues $454 million; expenditures $525 million, including
capital expenditures of $42 million (1989 est.)
Exports: $959 million (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--petroleum products 98%;
partners--US 55%, UK 7%, Jamaica 5%
Imports: $935 million (c.i.f., 1988);
commodities--crude petroleum 64%, food, manufactures;
partners--Venezuela 52%, Nigeria 15%, US 12%
External debt: $701.2 million (December 1987)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 125,000 kW capacity; 365 million kWh produced,
1,990 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: tourism (Curacao and Sint Maarten), petroleum
refining (Curacao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curacao and
Bonaire), light manufacturing (Curacao)
Agriculture: hampered by poor soils and scarcity of water; chief
products--aloes, sorghum, peanuts, fresh vegetables, tropical fruit; not
self-sufficient in food
Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
commitments (1970-88), $428 million
Currency: Netherlands Antillean guilder, gulden, or florin
(plural--guilders, gulden, or florins);
1 Netherlands Antillean guilder, gulden, or florin (NAf.) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Netherlands Antillean guilders, gulden, or florins
(NAf.) per US$1--1.79 (fixed rate since 1989; 1.80 fixed rate 1971-88)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 950 km total; 300 km paved, 650 km gravel and earth
Ports: Willemstad, Philipsburg, Kralendijk
Merchant marine: 54 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 431,958
GRT/441,056 DWT; includes 4 passenger, 19 cargo, 8 refrigerated cargo,
6 container, 6 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 7 multifunction large-load
carrier, 1 chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 2 bulk; note--all but a few
are foreign owned, mostly in the Netherlands
Civil air: 5 major transport aircraft
Airports: 7 total, 7 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 2 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: generally adequate facilities; extensive
interisland radio relay links; stations--9 AM, 4 FM, 1 TV; 2 submarine
cables; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Royal Netherlands Navy, Marine Corps, Royal
Netherlands Air Force, National Guard, Police Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49 49,249; 27,803 fit for military
service; 1,634 reach military age (20) annually
Note: defense is responsibility of the Netherlands