The
Netherlands Antilles (
Dutch: ), 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:
Curaçao and
Bonaire, just off the
Venezuelan coast, and
Sint Eustatius,
Saba and
Sint Maarten, located southeast of the
Virgin 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.
The Netherlands Antilles is scheduled to be dissolved as a unified political entity on October 10, 2010, so that the five constituent islands will attain new constitutional statuses within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
History
In the 18th century
St. Eustatius was the most important Dutch island in the Caribbean.
Both the leeward (
Alonso de Ojeda, 1499) and windward (
Christopher Columbus, 1493) island groups were discovered and initially settled by
Spain. 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 Curaçao 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:
- closer ties with the Netherlands
- remaining within the Netherlands Antilles
- autonomy as a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (status aparte)
Of the five islands, Sint Maarten and Curaçao voted for
status aparte, Saba and Bonaire voted for closer ties to the Netherlands, and Sint Eustatius voted to stay within the Netherlands Antilles.
On November 26, 2005 a Round Table Conference (RTC) was held between the governments of the Netherlands, Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles, and each island in the Netherlands Antilles. The final statement to emerge from the RTC stated that autonomy for Curaçao and Sint Maarten, plus a new status for Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius would come into effect by July 1, 2007.
On October 12, 2006, the Netherlands reached an agreement with Saba, Bonaire, and Sint Eustatius; this agreement would make these islands special municipalities.
On November 3, 2006, Curaçao and Sint Maarten were granted autonomy in an agreement,
but this agreement was rejected by the then island council of Curaçao on November 28.
The Curaçao government was not sufficiently convinced that the agreement would provide enough autonomy for Curaçao. On July 9, 2007 the new island council of Curaçao approved the agreement previously rejected in November 2006.
Constitution
The head of state is the ruling monarch of the
Netherlands, who is represented in the Netherlands Antilles by a governor. A council of ministers, chaired by a prime minister, forms the local government. Together with the governor, who holds responsibility for external affairs and defense, it forms the
executive branch of the government.
The
legislative branch is two-layered. Delegates of the islands are represented in the government of the Netherlands Antilles, but each island has its own government that takes care of the daily affairs on the island.
The Netherlands Antilles are not part of the
European Union.
Since 2006 the Islands have given rise to diplomatic disputes between Venezuela and the Netherlands. Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez claims that the Netherlands might allow the United States to install military bases that would be necessary for a planned U.S. invasion of Venezuela. Curaçao is under consideration as a
Cooperative Security Location, not a full
Main Operating Base.
Future status
The Netherlands Antilles is to be disbanded on October 10, 2010.
The idea of the Netherlands Antilles as a state never enjoyed the full support of all of the islands, and political relations between islands were often strained.
Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986, and formed its own state within the
Kingdom of the Netherlands. The desire for secession has also been strong in
Sint Maarten.
In 2004, a commission of the governments of the Netherlands Antilles and the
Netherlands reported on a future status for the Netherlands Antilles. The commission advised a revision of the
Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in order to dissolve the Netherlands Antilles.
Two new
associated states within the
Kingdom of the Netherlands would be formed,
Curaçao and
Sint Maarten. Meanwhile,
Bonaire,
Saba, and
Sint Eustatius would become a direct part of the Netherlands as special municipalities (
bijzondere gemeente), a form of "public body" (
openbaar lichaam) as outlined in article 134 of the
Dutch Constitution. These municipalities will resemble ordinary
Dutch municipalities in most ways (they will have a mayor, aldermen and a municipal council, for example) and will have to introduce most Dutch law. Residents of these three islands will also be able to vote in Dutch national and European elections.
There are, however, some derogations for these islands.
Social security, for example, will not be on the same level as it is in the Netherlands, and it is not certain whether the islands will be obliged to introduce the
euro; they may retain the
Antillean guilder pending further negotiations. All five of the island territories may also continue to access the Common Court of Justice of Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles (with the Joint Court probably receiving a new name). The three islands will also have to involve the Dutch Minister of Foreign Relations before they can make agreements with countries in the region.
Originally the term used for Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius to describe their expected association with the Netherlands was "Kingdom Islands" (
Koninkrijkseilanden). The Dutch province of
North Holland has offered the three new municipalities the opportunity to become part of the province.
Additionally, the Kingdom government would consist of the government of the Netherlands and one mandated minister per Caribbean country. The special municipalities would be represented in the Kingdom Government by the Netherlands, as they can vote for the
Dutch parliament.
The Netherlands has proposed that the
Treaty of Lisbon allow the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba to opt for the status of
Outermost Region (OMR) also called
Ultra Peripheral Region (UPR), if they wish.
Islands
Map showing French Saint-Martin (north) and Dutch Sint Maarten (south).
The Netherland Antilles have no major administrative divisions, although each island has its own local government.
The two island groups of which the Netherlands Antilles consists are:
Geography
Map of the Netherlands Antilles
The windward islands are all of volcanic origin and hilly, leaving little ground suitable for
agriculture. The leeward islands have a mixed volcanic and coral origin. The highest point is
Mount Scenery, 877 metres (2,828 ft), on
Saba (also the highest point in all the Kingdom of the Netherlands).
The Netherlands Antilles have a
tropical climate, with warm weather all year round. The windward Islands are subject to
hurricanes in the summer months.
Economy
Tourism, petroleum transshipment and oil refinement (on Curaçao), as well as offshore finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. 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
United States, and
Mexico being the major suppliers, as well as the Dutch government which supports the islands with substantial
development aid. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of
agriculture. The
Antillean guilder has a fixed exchange rate with the
United States dollar of 1.79:1.
Demographics
A large part of the Netherlands Antilleans descends from European colonists and
African
slaves that were brought and traded here from the 17th to 19th century. The rest of the population originates from other Caribbean islands,
Latin America,
East Asia and elsewhere in the world. In Curaçao there is a strong Jewish element going back to the 17th century.
Papiamentu is predominant on Curaçao and Bonaire (as well as the neighboring island of Aruba). This
creole descends from
Portuguese and West African languages with a strong admixture of Dutch, plus subsequent lexical contributions from
Spanish and
English. English is the mother tongue of the inhabitants of Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten.
After a decades-long debate, English and Papiamentu have been made official languages alongside
Dutch in early March 2007.
[, The Times Hague/Amsterdam/Rotterdam, 9 March 2007, page 2.]Legislation is produced in Dutch but parliamentary debate is in Papiamentu or English, depending on the island. Due to a massive influx of immigrants from Spanish speaking territories such as the Dominican Republic in the Windward Islands and increased tourism from Venezuela in the Leeward Islands, Spanish is also becoming increasingly known.
The majority of the population are followers of the
Christian faith, mostly
Roman Catholic. Curaçao also hosts a sizeable group of followers of the
Jewish faith, descendants of a
Portuguese group of
Sephardic Jews that arrived from Amsterdam and
Brazil from 1654.
Most Netherlands Antilleans are
Dutch citizens and this status permits and encourages the young and university-educated to emigrate to the Netherlands. This exodus is considered to be to the islands' detriment as it creates a
brain drain. On the other hand, immigrants from the
Dominican Republic,
Haiti, the
Anglophone Caribbean and
Colombia have increased their presence in recent years.
Culture
The origins of the population and location of the islands give the Netherlands Antilles a mixed culture.
Tourism and overwhelming media presence from the
United States have increased the regional United States influence. On all the islands, the holiday of
Carnival has become an important event after its importation from other
Caribbean and
Latin American countries in the 1960's. Festivities include "jump-up" parades with beautifully colored costumes, floats, and live bands as well as beauty contests and other competitions. Carnival on the islands also includes a middle-of-the-night
j'ouvert (juvé) parade that ends at sunrise with the burning of a straw
King Momo, cleansing the island of sins and bad luck.
Miscellaneous topics
Unlike the metropolitan Netherlands,
same-sex marriages cannot be performed here, but those performed in other jurisdictions are recognized.
See also
