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- #CARD:Netherlands Antilles:Header
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Netherlands Antilles
- Header
-
-
- Affiliation:
- (part of the Dutch realm)
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Netherlands Antilles:Geography
- #IMAGE 49 66 TWPCX \maps\Netherla.PCX
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK Click Here for MAP
- Netherlands Antilles
- Geography
-
-
- Location:
- two island groups - Curacas and Bonaire in the southern Caribbean Sea are
- about 70 km north of Venezuela near Aruba and the rest of the country is
- about 800 km to the northeast about one-third of the way between Antigua and
- Barbuda and Puerto Rico
- Map references:
- Central America and the Caribbean
- Area:
- total area:
- 960 km2
- land area:
- 960 km2
- comparative area:
- slightly less than 5.5 times the size of Washington, DC
- note:
- includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch
- part of the island of Saint Martin)
- Land boundaries:
- 0 km
- Coastline:
- 364 km
- Maritime claims:
- exclusive fishing zone:
- 12 nm
- territorial sea:
- 12 nm
- International disputes:
- none
- Climate:
- tropical; ameliorated 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%
- Irrigated land:
- NA km2
- 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
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Netherlands Antilles:People
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Netherlands Antilles
- People
-
-
- Population:
- 184,990 (July 1993 est.)
- Population growth rate:
- 0.4% (1993 est.)
- Birth rate:
- 17.23 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Death rate:
- 5.69 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Net migration rate:
- -7.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- 10.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth:
- total population:
- 75.73 years
- male:
- 73.55 years
- female:
- 78.03 years (1993 est.)
- Total fertility rate:
- 1.99 children born/woman (1993 est.)
- Nationality:
- noun:
- Netherlands Antillean(s)
- adjective:
- Netherlands Antillean
- Ethnic divisions:
- mixed African 85%, Carib Indian, European, Latin, Oriental
- Religions:
- Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Seventh-Day Adventist
- Languages:
- Dutch (official), Papiamento a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect
- predominates, English widely spoken, Spanish
- Literacy:
- age 15 and over can read and write (1981)
- total population:
- 94%
- male:
- 94%
- female:
- 93%
- Labor force:
- 89,000
- by occupation:
- government 65%, industry and commerce 28% (1983)
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Netherlands Antilles:Government
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Netherlands Antilles
- Government
-
-
- Names:
- conventional long form:
- none
- conventional short form:
- Netherlands Antilles
- local long form:
- none
- local short form:
- Nederlandse Antillen
- Digraph:
- NA
- 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)
- Political parties and leaders:
- political parties are indigenous to each island
- Bonaire:
- Patriotic Union of Bonaire (UPB), Rudy ELLIS; Democratic Party of Bonaire
- (PDB), Franklin CRESTIAN
- Curacao:
- National People's Party (PNP), Maria LIBERIA-PETERS; New Antilles Movement
- (MAN), Domenico Felip Don 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
- Saba:
- Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM Saba), Will JOHNSON; Saba
- Democratic Labor Movement, Vernon HASSELL; Saba Unity Party, Carmen SIMMONDS
- Sint Eustatius:
- Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius (DP-St.E), K. Van PUTTEN; Windward
- Islands People's Movement (WIPM); St. Eustatius Alliance (SEA), Ralph BERKEL
- Sint Maarten:
- Democratic Party of Sint Maarten (DP-St.M), Claude WATHEY; Patriotic
- Movement of Sint Maarten (SPA), Vance JAMES
- Suffrage:
- 18 years of age; universal
- 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 3, UPB 3, MAN 2,
- DP-St. M 2, DP 1, SPM 1, WIPM 1, DP-St. E 1, Nos Patria 1; note - the
- government of Prime Minister Maria LIBERIA-PETERS is a coalition of several
- parties
- Executive branch:
- Dutch monarch, governor, prime minister, vice prime minister, Council of
- Ministers (cabinet)
- Legislative branch:
- unicameral legislature (Staten)
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Netherlands Antilles:Government
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Netherlands Antilles
- Government
- 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 NA October 1989)
- Head of Government:
- Prime Minister Maria LIBERIA-PETERS (since 17 May 1988, previously served
- from September 1984 to November 1985)
- Member of:
- CARICOM (observer), ECLAC (associate), ICFTU, INTERPOL, IOC, UNESCO
- (associate), UPU, WMO, WTO (associate)
- Diplomatic representation in US:
- as an autonomous part of the Netherlands, Netherlands Antillean interests in
- the US are represented by the Netherlands
- US diplomatic representation:
- chief of mission:
- Consul General Bernard J. WOERZ
- consulate general:
- Saint Anna Boulevard 19, Willemstad, Curacao
- mailing address:
- P. O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao
- telephone:
- [599] (9) 613066
- FAX:
- [599] (9) 616489
- 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
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Netherlands Antilles:Economy
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Netherlands Antilles
- 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 as 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.
- National product:
- GDP - exchange rate conversion - $1.6 billion (1991 est.)
- National product real growth rate:
- 4% (1991 est.)
- National product per capita:
- $8,700 (1991 est.)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices):
- 4% (1992 est.)
- Unemployment rate:
- 16.4% (1991 est.)
- Budget:
- revenues $209 million; expenditures $232 million, including capital
- expenditures of $8 million (1992 est.)
- Exports:
- $200 million (f.o.b., 1991)
- commodities:
- petroleum products 98%
- partners:
- US 40%, UK 7%, Guadeloupe 5%
- Imports:
- $1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
- commodities:
- crude petroleum 64%, food, manufactures
- partners:
- Venezuela 42%, US 21%, Netherlands 8%
- External debt:
- $701 million (December 1987)
- Industrial production:
- growth rate NA%
- Electricity:
- 125,000 kW capacity; 365 million kWh produced, 1,980 kWh per capita (1992)
- 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 (1970-89),
- $513 million
- Currency:
- 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
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Netherlands Antilles:Communications
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Netherlands Antilles
- Communications
-
-
- Highways:
- 950 km total; 300 km paved, 650 km gravel and earth
- Ports:
- Willemstad, Philipsburg, Kralendijk
- Merchant marine:
- 89 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 781,646 GRT/962,138 DWT; includes 4
- passenger, 29 cargo, 14 refrigerated cargo, 7 container, 7 roll-on/roll-off,
- 12 multifunction large-load carrier, 5 chemical tanker, 6 liquefied gas, 2
- bulk, 1 oil tanker, 1 railcar carrier, 1 combination ore/oil; note - all but
- a few are foreign owned, mostly in the Netherlands
- Airports:
- total:
- 5
- usable:
- 4
- with permanent-surface runways:
- 4
- with runways over 3,659 m:
- 0
- with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
- 1
- with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
- 3
- Telecommunications:
- generally adequate facilities; extensive interisland microwave radio relay
- links; broadcast stations - 9 AM, 4 FM, 1 TV; 2 submarine cables; 2 Atlantic
- Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Netherlands Antilles:Defense Forces
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Netherlands Antilles
- Defense Forces
-
-
- Branches:
- Royal Netherlands Navy, Marine Corps, Royal Netherlands Air Force, National
- Guard, Police Force
- Manpower availability:
- males age 15-49 48,965; fit for military service 27,531; reach military age
- (20) annually 1,638 (1993 est.)
- Note:
- defense is responsibility of the Netherlands
-
- #ENDCARD
-