Netherlands Antilles Introduction 2001

Background: Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, the island of Curacao was hard hit 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 oil refineries to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields. The island of Sint Maarten is shared with France; its northern portion is named Saint Martin and is part of Guadeloupe.

NOTE: The information regarding Netherlands Antilles on this page is re-published from the 2001 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Netherlands Antilles Introduction 2001 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Netherlands Antilles Introduction 2001 should be addressed to the CIA.