Aruba
Island in the Caribbean, the westernmost of the Lesser Antilles, 30 km/19 mi north of the Paraguana Peninsula in Venezuela; area 193 sq km/75 sq mi; population (2001 est) 70,000 (half of Indian descent). The capital and chief town and port is Oranjestad. Aruba is a self-governing overseas territory of the Netherlands. Languages spoken are Dutch (official) and Papiamento (a Creole language). Tourism is a mainstay of the economy.
History
First inhabited by Arawak peoples, Aruba came under the control of a number of colonial powers. In 1494, the Spanish arrived on the island, claiming it as Spanish territory in 1499. The Dutch gained control in 1636 and the British occupied the island 1805–16 during the Napoleonic Wars. Part of the Dutch West Indies from 1828, and part of the Netherlands Antilles from 1845, Aruba obtained separate status from the other Netherlands Antilles in 1986, gaining full internal autonomy under a political arrangement called ‘status aparte’. It was due to become fully independent in 1996, but a 1990 agreement deleted references to eventual independence.
| The economy is based largely on tourism (attracted by duty-free shopping and legalized gambling) and oil refining. A chemical industry has also been developed, including an ammonia plant, nitric acid and urea production, and fertilizer manufacture. There is cigarette and beverage production, in addition to some rum distilling. |
