Flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands |
|
|
Location of the Dutch Caribbean islands |
|
| Area | 999 km2 (386 sq mi) |
|---|---|
| Population (2010) | 304,759 |
| Density | 305 /km2 (790 /sq mi) |
| Languages | Dutch, English, Papiamento |
| Government | 3 constituent countries 3 special municipalities |
The term Dutch Caribbean refers to the islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that are located in the Caribbean and their inhabitants, and in the past also to Dutch territory on the northern coast of South America.
Three of the six main islands presently under Dutch sovereignty are constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten (which actually comprises only the southern half of the island of Saint Martin). The three remaining islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are special municipalities of the Netherlands, which is the fourth constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (and mainly located in Europe). These are collectively known as the Caribbean Netherlands. There are also several smaller islands, like Klein Curaçao and Klein Bonaire, that belong to one of the island countries or special municipalities.
All the islands have formerly been part of the Netherlands Antilles. Aruba gained autonomy much earlier than the other islands, seceding as a separate country in 1986. Curaçao and Sint Maarten followed upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, while Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba were integrated into the Netherlands proper instead.
There are several acronyms that indicate groups of islands of the Dutch Caribbean:
| Name | Population (1 Jan 2010) |
Area (km²) |
Population density (inh. per km²) |
Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Countries | Aruba | 107,138 | 193 | 555 | [lower-roman 1] |
| Curaçao | 142,180 | 444 | 320 | [lower-roman 2] | |
| Sint Maarten | 37,429 | 34 | 1,101 | [lower-roman 2] | |
| Special municipalities (part of the Netherlands) |
Bonaire | 13,389 | 294 | 46 | [lower-roman 2] |
| Sint Eustatius | 2,886 | 21 | 137 | [lower-roman 2] | |
| Saba | 1,737 | 13 | 134 | [lower-roman 2] | |
| Total: | 304,759 | 999 | 305 | ||
|
|||||
|
|||||||