Introduction :: CURACAO
-
Originally settled by Arawak Indians, Curacao was seized by the Dutch in 1634 along with the neighboring island of Bonaire. Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, Curacao was hard hit economically by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity (and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in the early 20th century with the construction of the Isla Refineria to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields. In 1954, Curacao and several other Dutch Caribbean possessions were reorganized as the Netherlands Antilles, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In referenda in 2005 and 2009, the citizens of Curacao voted to become a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The change in status became effective in October 2010 with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles.
Geography :: CURACAO
-
Caribbean, an island in the Caribbean Sea, 30 nm off the coast of Venezuela
12 10 N, 69 00 W
Central America and the Caribbean
total: 444 sq km
land: 444 sq km
water: 0 sq km
country comparison to the world: 200
more than twice the size of Washington, DC
0 km
364 km
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm
tropical marine climate, ameliorated by northeast trade winds, results in mild temperatures; semiarid with average rainfall of 60 cm/year
generally low, hilly terrain
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mt. Christoffel 372m
calcium phosphates, aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables, tropical fruit
agricultural land: 10%
arable land 10%; permanent crops 0%; permanent pasture 0%
forest: 0%
other: 90% (2011 est.)
NA
NA
Curacao is south of the Caribbean hurricane belt and is rarely threatened
NA
Curacao is a part of the Windward Islands (southern) group
People and Society :: CURACAO
-
noun: Curacaoan
adjective: Curacaoan; Dutch
Afro-Caribbean majority; Dutch, French, Latin American, East Asian, South Asian, Jewish minorities
Papiamentu (official) (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) 81.2%, Dutch (official) 8%, Spanish 4%, English (official) 2.9%, other 3.9% (2001 census)
Roman Catholic 72.8%, Pentecostal 6.6%, Protestant 3.2%, Adventist 3%, Jehovah's Witness 2%, Evangelical 1.9%, other 3.8%, none 6%, unspecified 0.6% (2011 est.)
148,406 (July 2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 189
0-14 years: 20.3% (male 15,334/female 14,739)
15-24 years: 14.7% (male 11,356/female 10,448)
25-54 years: 37.6% (male 27,125/female 28,716)
55-64 years: 13.2% (male 8,545/female 11,150)
65 years and over: 14.2% (male 8,698/female 12,340) (2015 est.)
population pyramid:
total dependency ratio: 51.1%
youth dependency ratio: 28.7%
elderly dependency ratio: 22.4%
potential support ratio: 4.5% (2015 est.)
total: 36.1 years
male: 33 years
female: 39.9 years (2015 est.)
0.43% (2015 est.)
NA 13.8 births/1,000 population (2015 est.)
8.2 deaths/1,000 population (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 98
-1.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 59
urban population: 89.3% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 2.04% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
WILLEMSTED (capital) 145,000 (2014)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.09 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.77 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2015 est.)
total: 7.9 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.5 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 7.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2015 est.)
total population: 78.2 years
male: 75.9 years
female: 80.6 years (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 62
2.07 children born/woman (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 107
NA
NA
NA
Government :: CURACAO
-
Dutch long form: Land Curacao
Dutch short form: Curacao
Papiamentu long form: Pais Korsou
Papiamentu short form: Korsou
former: Netherlands Antilles; Curacao and Dependencies
constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 2010; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs
parliamentary
name: Willemstad
geographic coordinates: 12 06 N, 68 55 W
time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
King's Day, 27 April 1967
previous 1947, 1955; latest adopted 5 September 2010, entered into force 10 October 2010 (regulates governance of Curacao but is subordinate to the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands); note - in October 2010, with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, Curacao became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands
based on Dutch civil law system with some English common law influence
see the Netherlands
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: King WILLEM-ALEXANDER of the Netherlands (since 30 April 2013); represented by Governor Lucille A. GEORGE-WOUT (since 4 November 2013)
head of government: Prime Minister Bernard WHITEMAN (1 September 2015); Prime Minister Ivar ASJES resigned 31 August 2015
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor
elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually elected prime minister by the parliament; next election is scheduled for 2016
description: unicameral Estates of Curacao or Staten van Curacao (21 seats; members directly elected by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)
elections: last held 19 October 2012 (next to be held in 2016)
election results: percent of vote by party - PS 22.6%, MFK 21.2%, PAR 19.7%, PAIS 17.7%, MAN 9.5%, PNP 5.9%, other 3.4%; seats by party - PS 5, MFK 5, PAR 4, PAIS 4, MAN 2, PNP 1
highest court(s): Common Court of Justice of Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (consists of judges from the subordinate courts)
judge selection and terms of office: NA
subordinate courts: first instance courts, appeals court; specialized courts
Movementu Futuro Korsou or MFK [Gerrit SCHOTTE]
Movishon Antia Nobo or MAN [Hensley KOEIMAN]
Partido Antia Restruktura or PAR [Zita JESUS-LEITO]
Partido pa Adelanto I Inovashon Soshal or PAIS [Alex ROSARIA]
Partido Nashonal di Pueblo or PNP [Humphrey DAVELAAR]
Pueblo Soberano or PS [Ivar ASJES]
none (represented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
chief of mission: Consul General James R. Moore (since June 2013); note - also accredited to Aruba and Sint Martin
consulate(s) general: J. B. Gorsiraweg
mailing address: P. O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao
telephone: [599] (9) 4613066
FAX: [599] (9) 4616489
on a blue field a horizontal yellow band somewhat below the center divides the flag into proportions of 5:1:2; two five-pointed white stars - the smaller above and to the left of the larger - appear in the canton; the blue of the upper and lower sections symbolizes the sky and sea respectively; yellow represents the sun; the stars symbolize Curacao and its uninhabited smaller sister island of Klein Curacao; the five star points signify the five continents from which Curacao's people derive
laraha (citrus tree); national colors: blue, yellow, white
name: Himmo di Korsou (Anthem of Curacao)
lyrics/music: Guillermo ROSARIO, Mae HENRIQUEZ, Enrique MULLER, Betty DORAN/Frater Candidus NOWENS, Errol "El Toro" COLINA
note: adapted 1978; the lyrics, originally written in 1899, were rewritten in 1978 to make them less colonial in nature
Economy :: CURACAO
-
Tourism, petroleum refining and bunkering, offshore finance, and transportation and communications are the mainstays of this small island economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. Although GDP grew only slightly during the past decade, Curacao enjoys a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure compared with other countries in the region. Curacao has an excellent natural harbor that can accommodate large oil tankers, and the Port of Willemstad hosts a free trade zone and a dry dock. Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA, under a contract in effect until 2019, leases the single refinery on the island from the government, directly employing some 1,000 people; most of the oil for the refinery is imported from Venezuela; most of the refined products are exported to the US and Asia. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, with the US, the Netherlands and Venezuela being the major suppliers. The government is attempting to diversify its industry and trade and has signed an Association Agreement with the EU to expand business there. Most of Curacao’s GDP results from services. Curacao has limited natural resources, poor soil, and inadequate water supplies, and budgetary problems complicate reform of the health and education systems. In 2013, the government implemented changes to the sales tax and reformed the public pension and health care systems, including increasing the sales tax from 5% to as high as 9% on some products, raising the age for public pension withdrawals to 65, and requiring citizens to pay higher premiums.
$3.128 billion (2012 est.)
$3.02 billion (2011 est.)
$2.96 billion (2010 est.)
note: data are in 2012 US dollars
country comparison to the world: 184
$5.6 billion (2012 est.)
3.6% (2012 est.)
2% (2011 est.)
0.1% (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 88
$15,000 (2004 est.)
country comparison to the world: 105
agriculture: 0.7%
industry: 15.5%
services: 83.8% (2012 est.)
aloe, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables, tropical fruit
tourism, petroleum refining, petroleum transshipment, light manufacturing, financial and business services
NA%
73,010 (2013)
country comparison to the world: 185
agriculture: 1.2%
industry: 16.9%
services: 81.8% (2008 est.)
13% (2013 est.)
9.8% (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 140
16.6% of GDP (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 183
-0.4% of GDP (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 51
33.2% of GDP (2012 est.)
40.6% of GDP (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 128
2.6% (2013 est.)
2.8% (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 117
$1.607 billion (2011 est.)
$1.44 billion (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 152
petroleum products
$1.285 billion (2011 est.)
$1.275 billion (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 174
crude petroleum, food, manufactures
Netherlands Antillean guilders (ANG) per US dollar -
1.79 (2014)
1.79 (2013)
1.79 (2012 est.)
1.79 (2011 est.)
1.79 (2010 est.)
Energy :: CURACAO
-
1.785 billion kWh (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 142
968 million kWh (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 153
0 kWh (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 116
0 kWh (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 127
0 bbl (1 January 2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 115
531.1 bbl/day (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 110
72,000 bbl/day (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 87
211,100 bbl/day (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 33
291,700 bbl/day (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 25
0 cu m (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 167
0 cu m (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 126
0 cu m (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 73
0 cu m (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 173
0 cu m (1 January 2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 121
Communications :: CURACAO
-
international: country code - 599
government-run Telecuracao operates a TV station and a radio station; several privately owned radio stations
.cw
NA
Transportation :: CURACAO
-
total: 550 km
country comparison to the world: 193
major seaport(s): Willemstad
oil terminal(s): Bullen Baai (Curacao Terminal)
bulk cargo port(s): Fuik Bay (phosphate rock)
Military :: CURACAO
-
no regular military forces; the Dutch Government controls foreign and defense policy (2012)
no conscription (2010)
defense is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Central Intelligence Agency
