Curaçao
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- This article is about an island in the Caribbean Sea. For more information on the liqueur, see Blue Curaçao.
Curaçao (pronounced [kura'são]) is an island in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela. The isle is the largest and most populous of the three so-called ABC islands (for Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) and belongs to the Netherlands Antilles, a self-governing part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Curaçao's capital is Willemstad.
Curaçao has a land area of 444 square kilometres (171 mi²). At the 2001 Netherlands Antilles census, the population was 130,627 inhabitants, which means a population density of 294 inhabitants per square kilometre. In 2004 the population was estimated at 133,644 inhabitants.
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History
The original inhabitants were Arawak Indians. The first Europeans to discover were the Spaniards, who decimated the Arawak. The island was occupied by the Dutch in 1634, who brought slaves from Africa. With its natural harbour 'Schottegat' it proved to be ideal as a center for the trade. The area called [Asiento was the original trading area where slaves were shipped to South Americia and elsewhere in the Carribean. At the height of the trade large numbers of slaves were traded here. Later both the English and the French briefly occupied the island, adding to the mix of languages spoken on the island. The Dutch abolished slavery in 1863. Because of its history, the island now has a diverse ethnic background. Willemstad features colonial architecture and has the western hemisphere's oldest synagogues in continuous use, founded in 1651. This, along with the wide range of other historic buildings in and around Willemstad, which resemble the recognisable Dutch houses, earned the capital a place on UNESCO's world heritage list. Landhouses (former plantation estates) are scattered all over the island and some of them have been restored and can be visited.
When oil was discovered in the Bay of Maracaibo the fortunes of the small island changed drastically. The Royal Shell company and the Dutch Government set out to create a large employment scheme resulting in an extensive oil raffinary installation on the former site of the slave-trade market. Well away from the social and civil unrest in most of South America, the company brought a degree of affluence to the island. Large housing was provided and Willenstad provided with an extensive infrastructure. However, discrepencies started to appear and in the mid 60ies various riots broke out, resulting in a more automonous rule of the island. The island also developed a tourist industry and low corporate taxes meant many companies set up holdings to avoid rigorous schemes elsewhere. In the mid-80ies Royal Shell sold the raffinary for a symbolic amount to a local government consortium. Since then discussions have centered on changing the constitutional situation as well as finding new sources of income. Drug-trafficking has kept the Dutch Government strongly involved in the region and it retains a large contingent of marines and navy facilities on the island.
Geography
Curaçao is renowned for its coral reefs which make it an excellent spot for scuba diving. The beaches on the south side contain many popular diving spots. An unusual feature of Curaçao diving is that the sea floor drops off steeply within a few hundred feet of the shore, and the reef can easily be reached without a boat. This dropoff is locally known as the "blue edge." Strong currents and lack of beaches make the rocky northern coast dangerous for swimming and diving, but experienced divers sometimes dive there from boats when conditions permit. Curaçao's highest point is the 375-metre (1,230-ft) Christoffelberg in the northwestern part of the island. This lies in the reserved wildlife park, Curaçao Christoffelpark, and can be explored by car, bike or horse or on foot.
Several trails have been laid out. Curacao has a lot of places where one can hike. There are so called Salinjas which are salt water lakes where flamingos fly out to rest and feed.
South-east of the coast of Curaçao lies the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao ('Little Curaçao').
Language
The languages widely spoken on Curaçao are Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish and English. Of these languages, Papiamento is the native language of most inhabitants, with Dutch being the official state language taught in schools. Papiamento is a Creole language (mostly Portuguese with a bit of Spanish and Dutch) that has developed through centuries of contact between the different peoples living on Curaçao.
The name 'Curaçao' is derived from the Portuguese word for 'heart'. The Papiamento word for Curaçao is Korsou. The name "Curaçao" has become associated with a particular shade of blue, and is sometimes used as an adjective, because of the deep-blue liqueur named "Blue Curaçao".
Flag
The flag of Curaçao has a blue background with a yellow stripe near the bottom and two white, five-pointed stars near the top. The blue symbolises the blue sea and sky (the top and bottom blue sections, respectively) divided by a yellow stroke representing the bright sun which bathes the island. The two stars represent Curaçao and Klein Curaçao, but also 'Love & Happiness'. The five points on each star symbolise the five continents from which Curaçao's people come.
According to Flags of the World, the horizontal stripes have ratios 5:1:2. The stars have diameters 1/6 and 2/9 of the flag height. The centre of the smaller one is 1/6 the flag height from the left and top edges, and the centre of the larger is 1/3 from the left and top edges. The blue is Pantone 280, and the yellow, Pantone 102.
Politics
Curaçao gained limited self-government on January 1, 1954. In the 2000s the political status of the island has been under discussion, as for the other islands of the Netherlands Antilles, regarding the relationship with the Netherlands and between the islands of the Antilles. In a referendum held on April 8, 2005, together with Sint Eustatius, the residents voted for a separate status outside the Netherlands Antilles, like Aruba, rejecting the options for full independence, becoming part of the Netherlands, or retaining the status quo.
Economy
The main industries of the island are tourism and oil refining. Off-shore banking activities also contribute to the local economy.
Food
Local food is called Krioyo and is a mixture of regional cooking styles best compared to Creole, Cajun and South American (note that 'Krioyo' sounds the same as 'criollo', the Spanish word for 'Creole'). Some dishes are: Stoba (a meat stew) from 'karni' (beef) or 'kabritu' (goat), Jambo (cactus soup), Sopi Mondongo (pigs intestine soup), Funchi (cornmeal prepared) and a lot of fish and other seafood. The island also has a lot of Chinese restaurants and so called "snacks" which serve local dishes. The Dutch kitchen is mainly served at home and not in restaurants.
Sweet dishes are often very sweet. At weddings a variety of Kos Dushi (literally 'sweet things') are served: coconut sweets, Koi Lechi (condensed milk and sugar sweet) and Tintelaria (peanut sweets).
Celebrities from Curaçao
Famous people from Curaçao include:
- Andruw Jones, a Major League Baseball player
Literature from Curaçao
Novelists from Curaçao have made an impressive contribution to Caribbean and Dutch literature. Best known are Cola Debrot, Frank Martinus Arion, Boeli van Leeuwen and Tip Marugg.
External links
- www.gov.an - official governmental portal of the Netherlands Antilles
- Curacao-gov.an - official website of the government of Curaçao
- Curacao-Tourism.com - Tourism Board of Curaçao
- curacao.rinkes.nl | Curaçao
- Map
- Curacao-Photos.com View and send nice photos of Curaçao.
Maps of Netherlands Antilles 12.10° N -68.93° E
- MapQuest: out 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 in
- Multimap: out 4M 2M 1M 500k 200k in
- MSN World Atlas: out 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 in
- Google satellite image
Mapquest zoom level 7 only has the Willemstad region; this region is also available in zoom level 8, 9, and 10.
