Culture of the Netherlands Antilles

Netherlands Antilles
Nederlandse Antillen  (Dutch) Antia Hulandes  (Papiamento)
Former constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
1954–2010
Flag Coat of arms
Motto Latin: Libertate unanimus "Unified by freedom"
Anthem Het Wilhelmus (1954–1964) Tera di Solo y suave biento (1964–2000) Anthem without a title (2000–2010)
Capital		Willemstad
Languages		Dutch English Papiamento
Demonym		Netherlands Antillean
Government		Constitutional monarchy
Queen
•	1954–1980	Juliana
•	1980–2010	Beatrix
Governor
•	1951–1956	Teun Struycken
•	1962–1970	Cola Debrot
•	1983–1990	René Römer
•	2002–2010	Frits Goedgedrag
Prime Minister
•	1954–1968	Efraïn Jonckheer
•	1973–1977	Juancho Evertsz
•	2006–2010	Emily de Jongh-Elhage
Legislature		Estates of the Netherlands Antilles
History
•	Established	15 December 1954
•	Secession of Aruba	1 January 1986
•	Dissolved	10 October 2010
Area
•	2010	999 km² (386 sq mi)
Population
•	2010 est.	304,759
Density		305.1 /km²  (790.1 /sq mi)
Currency		Netherlands Antillean guilder
Internet TLD		.an
Calling code		+599
Preceded by Succeeded by Curaçao and Dependencies Aruba Curaçao Sint Maarten Caribbean Netherlands

The Netherlands Antilles (Dutch: Nederlandse Antillen [ˈneːdərˌlɑntsə ɑnˈtɪlə(n)]; Papiamentu: Antia Hulandes) was a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The country consisted of several island territories located in the Caribbean Sea. The islands were also informally known as the Dutch Antilles. The country came into being in 1954 as the autonomous successor of the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies, and was dissolved in 2010. The former Dutch colony of Surinam, although it was relatively close by on the continent of South America, did not become part of Netherlands Antilles but became a separate autonomous country at the same time. All the island territories that belonged to the Netherlands Antilles remain part of the kingdom today, although the legal status of each differs. As a group they are still commonly called the Dutch Caribbean, regardless of their legal status.

The islands of the Netherlands Antilles are all part of the Lesser Antilles island chain. Within this group, the country was spread over two smaller island groups: a northern group (part of the Leeward Islands) and a western group (part of Leeward Antilles). No part of the country was in the southern Windward Islands.

This island sub-group was located in the eastern Caribbean Sea, to the east of Puerto Rico. There were three islands, collectively known as the "SSS islands":

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