*Netherlands Antilles, Geography

Location:
  two island groups - Curacas and Bonaire in the southern Caribbean Sea are
  about 70 km north of Venezuela near Aruba and the rest of the country is
  about 800 km to the northeast about one-third of the way between Antigua and
  Barbuda and Puerto Rico
Map references:
  Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
 total area:
  960 km2
 land area:
  960 km2
 comparative area:
  slightly less than 5.5 times the size of Washington, DC
 note:
  includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch
  part of the island of Saint Martin)
Land boundaries:
  0 km
Coastline:
  364 km
Maritime claims:
 exclusive fishing zone:
  12 nm
 territorial sea:
  12 nm
International disputes:
  none
Climate:
  tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds
Terrain:
  generally hilly, volcanic interiors
Natural resources:
  phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only)
Land use:
 arable land:
  8%
 permanent crops:
  0%
 meadows and pastures:
  0%  forest and woodland:
  0%
 other:
  92%
Irrigated land:
  NA km2
Environment:
  Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt, so rarely
  threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes
  from July to October

*Netherlands Antilles, People

Population:
  184,990 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  0.4% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  17.23 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  5.69 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  -7.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  10.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  75.73 years
 male:
  73.55 years
 female:
  78.03 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  1.99 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Netherlands Antillean(s)
 adjective:
  Netherlands Antillean
Ethnic divisions:
  mixed African 85%, Carib Indian, European, Latin, Oriental
Religions:
  Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Seventh-Day Adventist
Languages:
  Dutch (official), Papiamento a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect
  predominates, English widely spoken, Spanish
Literacy:
  age 15 and over can read and write (1981)
 total population:
  94%
 male:
  94%
 female:
  93%
Labor force:
  89,000
 by occupation:
  government 65%, industry and commerce 28% (1983)

*Netherlands Antilles, Government

Names:
 conventional long form:
  none
 conventional short form:
  Netherlands Antilles
 local long form:
  none
 local short form:
  Nederlandse Antillen
Digraph:
  NA
Type:
  part of the Dutch realm; full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954
Capital:
  Willemstad
Administrative divisions:
  none (part of the Dutch realm)
Independence:
  none (part of the Dutch realm)
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
National holiday:
  Queen's Day, 30 April (1938)
Political parties and leaders:
  political parties are indigenous to each island
 Bonaire:
  Patriotic Union of Bonaire (UPB), Rudy ELLIS; Democratic Party of Bonaire
  (PDB), Franklin CRESTIAN
 Curacao:
  National People's Party (PNP), Maria LIBERIA-PETERS; New Antilles Movement
  (MAN), Domenico Felip Don MARTINA; Workers' Liberation Front (FOL), Wilson
  (Papa) GODETT; Socialist Independent (SI), George HUECK and Nelson MONTE;
  Democratic Party of Curacao (DP), Augustin DIAZ; Nos Patria, Chin BEHILIA
 Saba:
  Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM Saba), Will JOHNSON; Saba
  Democratic Labor Movement, Vernon HASSELL; Saba Unity Party, Carmen SIMMONDS
 Sint Eustatius:
  Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius (DP-St.E), K. Van PUTTEN; Windward
  Islands People's Movement (WIPM); St. Eustatius Alliance (SEA), Ralph BERKEL
 Sint Maarten:
  Democratic Party of Sint Maarten (DP-St.M), Claude WATHEY; Patriotic
  Movement of Sint Maarten (SPA), Vance JAMES
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal
Elections:  Staten:
  last held on 16 March 1990 (next to be held March 1994); results - percent
  of vote by party NA; seats - (22 total) PNP 7, FOL-SI 3, UPB 3, MAN 2,
  DP-St. M 2, DP 1, SPM 1, WIPM 1, DP-St. E 1, Nos Patria 1; note - the
  government of Prime Minister Maria LIBERIA-PETERS is a coalition of several
  parties
Executive branch:
  Dutch monarch, governor, prime minister, vice prime minister, Council of
  Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
  unicameral legislature (Staten)

*Netherlands Antilles, Government

Judicial branch:
  Joint High Court of Justice
Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980), represented by
  Governor General Jaime SALEH (since NA October 1989)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister Maria LIBERIA-PETERS (since 17 May 1988, previously served
  from September 1984 to November 1985)
Member of:
  CARICOM (observer), ECLAC (associate), ICFTU, INTERPOL, IOC, UNESCO
  (associate), UPU, WMO, WTO (associate)
Diplomatic representation in US:
  as an autonomous part of the Netherlands, Netherlands Antillean interests in
  the US are represented by the Netherlands
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Consul General Bernard J. WOERZ
 consulate general:
  Saint Anna Boulevard 19, Willemstad, Curacao
 mailing address:
  P. O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao
 telephone:
  [599] (9) 613066
 FAX:
  [599] (9) 616489
Flag:
  white with a horizontal blue stripe in the center superimposed on a vertical
  red band also centered; five white five-pointed stars are arranged in an
  oval pattern in the center of the blue band; the five stars represent the
  five main islands of Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint
  Maarten

*Netherlands Antilles, Economy

Overview:
  Tourism, petroleum refining, and offshore finance are the mainstays of the
  economy. The islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed
  infrastructure as compared with other countries in the region. Unlike many
  Latin American countries, the Netherlands Antilles has avoided large
  international debt. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, with
  the US being the major supplier.
National product:
  GDP - exchange rate conversion - $1.6 billion (1991 est.)
National product real growth rate:
  4% (1991 est.)
National product per capita:
  $8,700 (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  4% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  16.4% (1991 est.)
Budget:
  revenues $209 million; expenditures $232 million, including capital
  expenditures of $8 million (1992 est.)
Exports:
  $200 million (f.o.b., 1991)
 commodities:
  petroleum products 98%
 partners:
  US 40%, UK 7%, Guadeloupe 5%
Imports:
  $1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
 commodities:
  crude petroleum 64%, food, manufactures
 partners:
  Venezuela 42%, US 21%, Netherlands 8%
External debt:
  $701 million (December 1987)
Industrial production:
  growth rate NA%
Electricity:
  125,000 kW capacity; 365 million kWh produced, 1,980 kWh per capita (1992)
Industries:
  tourism (Curacao and Sint Maarten), petroleum refining (Curacao), petroleum
  transshipment facilities (Curacao and Bonaire), light manufacturing
  (Curacao)
Agriculture:
  hampered by poor soils and scarcity of water; chief products - aloes,
  sorghum, peanuts, fresh vegetables, tropical fruit; not self-sufficient in
  food
Economic aid:
  Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89),
  $513 million
Currency:
  1 Netherlands Antillean guilder, gulden, or florin (NAf.) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
  Netherlands Antillean guilders, gulden, or florins (NAf.) per US$1 - 1.79
  (fixed rate since 1989; 1.80 fixed rate 1971-88)
Fiscal year:
  calendar year

*Netherlands Antilles, Communications

Highways:
  950 km total; 300 km paved, 650 km gravel and earth
Ports:
  Willemstad, Philipsburg, Kralendijk
Merchant marine:
  89 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 781,646 GRT/962,138 DWT; includes 4
  passenger, 29 cargo, 14 refrigerated cargo, 7 container, 7 roll-on/roll-off,
  12 multifunction large-load carrier, 5 chemical tanker, 6 liquefied gas, 2
  bulk, 1 oil tanker, 1 railcar carrier, 1 combination ore/oil; note - all but
  a few are foreign owned, mostly in the Netherlands
Airports:
 total:
  5
 usable:
  4
 with permanent-surface runways:
  4
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  1
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  3
Telecommunications:
  generally adequate facilities; extensive interisland microwave radio relay
  links; broadcast stations - 9 AM, 4 FM, 1 TV; 2 submarine cables; 2 Atlantic
  Ocean INTELSAT earth stations

*Netherlands Antilles, Defense Forces

Branches:
  Royal Netherlands Navy, Marine Corps, Royal Netherlands Air Force, National
  Guard, Police Force
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 48,965; fit for military service 27,531; reach military age
  (20) annually 1,638 (1993 est.)
Note:
  defense is responsibility of the Netherlands