Netherlands Antilles | ||||||||||||||||
Nederlandse Antillen (Dutch) Antia Hulandes (Papiamento) |
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Former constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands |
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Motto Latin: Libertate unanimus "Unified by freedom" |
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Anthem Tera di Solo y suave biento (1964–2000) Anthem without a title (2000–2010) |
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Capital | Willemstad | |||||||||||||||
Languages |
Dutch English Papiamento |
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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/km2 (790/sq mi) | |||||||||||||||
Currency | Netherlands Antillean guilder | |||||||||||||||
Internet TLD | .an | |||||||||||||||
Calling code | +599 | |||||||||||||||
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The Netherlands Antilles (Dutch: Nederlandse Antillen [ˈneːdərˌlɑntsə ɑnˈtɪlə(n)] ( listen); 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 Leeward Antilles) and a western group (part of the Leeward Islands). No part of the country was in the southern Windward Islands.