Netherlands Antilles | |||||||||||||||||||
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1954–2010 | |||||||||||||||||||
Motto: Latin: Libertate unanimus Dutch: In vrijheid verenigd "Unified in freedom" | |||||||||||||||||||
Anthem: "Wilhelmus" (1954–1964) "Tera di solo y suave biento" (1964–2000) "Anthem without a title" (2000–2010) | |||||||||||||||||||
Status | Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||||
Capital | Willemstad | ||||||||||||||||||
Common languages | Dutch English Papiamento[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
Demonym(s) | Netherlands Antillean Dutch Antillean | ||||||||||||||||||
Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy | ||||||||||||||||||
Monarchs | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1954–1980 | Juliana | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1980–2010 | Beatrix | ||||||||||||||||||
Governor | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1951–1956 (first) | Teun Struycken | ||||||||||||||||||
• 2002–2010 (last) | Frits Goedgedrag | ||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1951–1954 (first) | Moises Frumencio da Costa Gomez | ||||||||||||||||||
• 2006–2010 (last) | Emily de Jongh-Elhage | ||||||||||||||||||
Legislature | Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles | ||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||
15 December 1954 | |||||||||||||||||||
• Secession of Aruba | 1 January 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||
10 October 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||
Currency | Netherlands Antillean guilder | ||||||||||||||||||
Calling code | 599 | ||||||||||||||||||
ISO 3166 code | AN | ||||||||||||||||||
Internet TLD | .an | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Netherlands Antilles (Dutch: Nederlandse Antillen, pronounced [ˈneːdərlɑntsə ʔɑnˈtɪlə(n)] ; Papiamento: Antia Hulandes),[2] also known as the Dutch Antilles,[3] was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, and Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire in the Leeward Antilles. The country came into being in 1954 as the autonomous successor of the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies, and it was dissolved in 2010, when like Aruba in 1986, Sint Maarten and Curaçao gained status of constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Bonaire gained status of special municipality of Netherlands as the Caribbean Netherlands. The neighboring Dutch colony of Surinam in continental South America, did not become part of the Netherlands Antilles but became a separate autonomous country in 1954. All the territories that belonged to the Netherlands Antilles remain part of the kingdom today, although the legal status of each differs. As a group they are still commonly called the Dutch Caribbean, regardless of their legal status.[4] People from this former territory continue to be called Antilleans (Antillianen) in the Netherlands.[5]