| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Netherlands Antilles
local long form: none
local short form: Nederlandse Antillen
former: Curacao and Dependencies |
| Capital: |
Willemstad; note - located on Curacao, the largest of the islands |
| Location: |
Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - composed of five islands, Curacao and Bonaire located off the coast of Venezuela, and St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius lie east of the US Virgin Islands |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
12 15 N, 68 45 W |
| Area: |
total: 960 sq km
land: 960 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin) |
| Area
Comparative: |
more than five times the size of Washington, DC |
| Land
Boundaries: |
total: 10.2 km
border countries: Guadeloupe (Saint Martin) 10.2 km |
| Coastline: |
364 km |
| Maritime
Claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm |
| Climate: |
tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds |
| Terrain: |
generally hilly, volcanic interiors |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Scenery 862 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only) |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Netherlands Antilles
local long form: none
local short form: Nederlandse Antillen
former: Curacao and Dependencies |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
note: each island has its own government (an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs ) |
| 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 |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: Queen BEATRIX of the Netherlands (since 30 April 1980), represented by Governor General Frits GOEDGEDRAG (since 1 July 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Etienne YS (since 3 June 2004)
cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the Staten (legislature)
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 18 January 2002 (next to be held by NA 2006)
note: government coalition - PAR, PNP, PLKP, DP St. Maarten, UP Bonaire, WIPM Saba, DP Statia |
| Legislative
Branch: |
unicameral States or Staten (22 seats - Curacao 14, Bonaire 3, St. Maarten 3, St. Eustatius 1, Saba 1; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 18 January 2002 (next to be held in 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PAR 4, PNP 3, PLKP 2, DP St. M 2, UP Bonaire 2, WIPM 1, DP
note: the government of Prime Minister Etienne YS is a coalition of several parties; current government formed after collapse of FOL led government on 4 April 2004 |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Joint High Court of Justice (judges appointed by the monarch) |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
Antillean Restructuring Party or PAR [Etienne YS]; C 93 [Stanley BROWN]; Democratic Party of Bonaire or PDB [Jopi ABRAHAM]; Democratic Party of Curacao or DP [Errol HERNANDEZ]; Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius or DP-St. E [Julian WOODLEY]; Democratic Party of Sint Maarten or DP-St. M [Sarah WESCOTT-WILLIAMS]; Foundation Energetic Management Anti-Narcotics or FAME [Eric LODEWIJKS]; Labor Party People's Crusade or PLKP [Errol COVA]; National Alliance [William MARLIN]; National People's Party or PNP [Susanne F. C. CAMELIA-ROMER]; New Antilles Movement or MAN [Kenneth GIJSBERTHA]; Patriotic Union of Bonaire or UP Bonaire [Ramonsito BOOI]; Patriotic Movement of Sint Maarten or SPA [Vance JAMES, Jr.]; People's Party or PAPU [Richard HODI]; Pro Curacao Party or PPK [Winston LOURENS]; Saba Democratic Labor Movement [Steve HASSELL]; Saba Unity Party [Carmen SIMMONDS]; St. Eustatius Alliance or SEA [Kenneth VAN PUTTEN]; Serious Alternative People's Party or Sapp [Julian ROLLOCKS]; Social Action Cause or KAS [Benny DEMEI]; Windward Islands People's Movement or WIPM [Will JOHNSTON]; Workers' Liberation Front or FOL [Anthony GODETT, Rignald LAK, Editha WRIGHT]
note: political parties are indigenous to each island |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
219,958 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 24.2% (male 27,302/female 26,002)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 70,838/female 77,148)
65 years and over: 8.5% (male 7,673/female 10,995) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 32.46 years
male: 30.86 years
female: 34.01 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Dutch Antillean(s)
adjective: Dutch Antillean |
| Ethnic groups: |
mixed black 85%, Carib Amerindian, white, East Asian |
| Religions: |
Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Seventh-Day Adventist |
| Languages: |
Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) predominates, English widely spoken, Spanish |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
81,000 (2001) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
81,000 (2001) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment: generally adequate facilities
domestic: extensive interisland microwave radio relay links
international: country code - 599; submarine cables - 2; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 8, FM 19, shortwave 0 (2004) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
3 (there is also a cable service, which supplies programs received from various US satellite networks and two Venezuelan channels) (2004) |
| Internet country
code: |
.an |
| Internet hosts: |
119 (2001) |
| Internet users: |
2,000 (2000) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
|
| Highways: |
total: 600 km
paved: 300 km
unpaved: 300 km |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
|
| Ports and harbors: |
Kralendijk, Philipsburg, Willemstad |
| Merchant marine: |
total: 168 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,317,007 GRT/1,668,499 DWT
by type: barge carrier 3, bulk carrier 23, cargo 72, chemical tanker 2, container 21, liquefied gas 6, passenger 2, petroleum tanker 3, refrigerated cargo 30, roll on/roll off 4, specialized tanker 2
foreign-owned: 158 (Belgium 5, Cyprus 1, Denmark 1, Germany 57, Hong Kong 3, Netherlands 71, Peru 1, Sweden 9, Turkey 7, United Kingdom 2, United States 1) (2005) |
| Airports: |
5 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 5
over 3,047 m: 1
2038 to 3047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
|
| Heliports: |
|
