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NETHERLANDS ANTILLES

 (part of the Dutch realm) 

@Netherlands Antilles:Geography

 Location: Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - one
 includes Curacao and Bonaire north of Venezuela and the other is east
 of the Virgin Islands

 Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES - MAJOR CITIES 
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                                        Latitude,      Internat'l     Time   
                        Population      Longitude      Phone Code     Zone   
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
WILLEMSTAD                 125,000    12.06N, 68.56W     599-9       GMT-4   
Philipsburg                  6,000    17.59N, 63.10W     599-        GMT-4   
Kralendijk                   1,000    12.10N, 68.17W     599-        GMT-4   
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Area:
 total area: 960 sq km
 land area: 960 sq km
 comparative area: slightly less than 5.5 times the size of Washington,
 DC
 note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint
 Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)

 Land boundaries: 0 km

 Coastline: 364 km

 Maritime claims:
 exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm
 territorial sea: 12 nm

 International disputes: none

 Climate: tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds

 Terrain: generally hilly, volcanic interiors

 Natural resources: phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only)

 Land use:
 arable land: 8%
 permanent crops: 0%
 meadows and pastures: 0%
 forest and woodland: 0%
 other: 92%

 Irrigated land: NA sq km

 Environment:
 current issues: NA
 natural hazards: Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane
 belt, so rarely threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are
 subject to hurricanes from July to October
 international agreements: party to - Whaling (extended from
 Netherlands)

@Netherlands Antilles:People

 Population: 203,505 (July 1995 est.)

 Age structure:
 0-14 years: 26% (female 25,349; male 26,577)
 15-64 years: 67% (female 69,273; male 67,485)
 65 years and over: 7% (female 8,599; male 6,222) (July 1995 est.)

 Population growth rate: 1.06% (1995 est.)

 Birth rate: 16.23 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Death rate: 5.26 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Net migration rate: -0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Infant mortality rate: 9 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

 Life expectancy at birth:
 total population: 76.94 years
 male: 74.67 years
 female: 79.33 years (1995 est.)

 Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1995 est.)

 Nationality:
 noun: Netherlands Antillean(s)
 adjective: Netherlands Antillean

 Ethnic divisions: mixed African 85%, Carib Indian, European, Latin,
 Oriental

 Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Seventh-Day Adventist

 Languages: Dutch (official), Papiamento a
 Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect predominates, English widely
 spoken, Spanish

 Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1981)
 total population: 98%
 male: 98%
 female: 99%

 Labor force: 89,000
 by occupation: government 65%, industry and commerce 28% (1983)

@Netherlands Antilles:Government

 Names:
 conventional long form: none
 conventional short form: Netherlands Antilles
 local long form: none
 local short form: Nederlandse Antillen

 Digraph: NT

 Type: part of the Dutch realm; full autonomy in internal affairs
 granted in 1954

 Capital: Willemstad

 Administrative divisions: none (part of the Dutch realm)

 Independence: none (part of the Dutch realm)

 National holiday: Queen's Day, 30 April (1938)

 Constitution: 29 December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the
 Netherlands, as amended

 Legal system: based on Dutch civil law system, with some English
 common law influence

 Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

 Executive branch:
 chief of state: Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April
 1980), represented by Governor General Jaime SALEH (since NA October
 1989)
 head of government: Prime Minister Miguel POURIER (since 25 February
 1994)
 cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed with the advice and approval
 of the unicameral legislature

 Legislative branch: unicameral
 Staten: elections last held on 25 February 1994 (next to be held March
 1998); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (23 total) PAR
 8, PNP 3, SPA 2, PDB 2, UPB 1, MAN 2, DP 1, WIPM 1, DP-St.E 1, DP-St.M
 1, Nos Patria 1
 note: the government of Prime Minister Miguel POURIER is a coalition
 of several parties

 Judicial branch: Joint High Court of Justice

 Political parties and leaders: political parties are indigenous to
 each island
 Bonaire: Patriotic Union of Bonaire (UPB), Rudy ELLIS; Democratic
 Party of Bonaire (PDB), Franklin CRESTIAN
 Curacao: Antillean Restructuring Party (PAR), Miguel POURIER; National
 People's Party (PNP), Maria LIBERIA-PETERS; New Antilles Movement
 (MAN), Domenico Felip Don MARTINA; Workers' Liberation Front (FOL),
 Wilson (Papa) GODETT; Socialist Independent (SI), George HUECK and
 Nelson MONTE; Democratic Party of Curacao (DP), Augustin DIAZ; Nos
 Patria, Chin BEHILIA
 Saba: Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM Saba), Will JOHNSON;
 Saba Democratic Labor Movement, Vernon HASSELL; Saba Unity Party,
 Carmen SIMMONDS
 Sint Eustatius: Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius (DP-St.E), K. Van
 PUTTEN; Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM); St. Eustatius
 Alliance (SEA), Ralph BERKEL
 Sint Maarten: Democratic Party of Sint Maarten (DP-St.M), Claude
 WATHEY; Patriotic Movement of Sint Maarten (SPA), Vance JAMES

 Member of: CARICOM (observer), ECLAC (associate), ICFTU, INTERPOL,
 IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WMO, WTO (associate)

 Diplomatic representation in US: none (self-governing part of the
 Netherlands)

 US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission: Consul General Bernard J. WOERZ
 consulate(s) general: Saint Anna Boulevard 19, Willemstad, Curacao
 mailing address: P. O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao
 telephone: [599] (9) 61-3066
 FAX: [599] (9) 61-6489

 Flag: white with a horizontal blue stripe in the center superimposed
 on a vertical red band also centered; five white five-pointed stars
 are arranged in an oval pattern in the center of the blue band; the
 five stars represent the five main islands of Bonaire, Curacao, Saba,
 Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten

Economy

 Overview: Tourism and offshore finance are the mainstays of the
 economy. The islands enjoy a high per capita income and a
 well-developed infrastructure as compared with other countries in the
 region. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, with
 Venezuela and the US being the major suppliers. Poor soils and
 inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture.

 National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $1.85 billion (1993
 est.)

 National product real growth rate: 1.8% (1994 est.)

 National product per capita: $10,000 (1993 est.)

 Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.5% (1994 est.)

 Unemployment rate: 13.4% (1993 est.)

 Budget:
 revenues: $209 million
 expenditures: $232 million, including capital expenditures of $8
 million (1992 est.)

 Exports: $240 million (f.o.b., 1993)
 commodities: petroleum products 98%
 partners: US 39%, Brazil 9%, Colombia 6%

 Imports: $1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
 commodities: crude petroleum 64%, food, manufactures
 partners: Venezuela 26%, US 18%, Colombia 6%, Netherlands 6%, Japan 5%

 External debt: $672 million (December 1991)

 Industrial production: growth rate NA%

 Electricity:
 capacity: 200,000 kW
 production: 810 million kWh
 consumption per capita: 4,054 kWh (1993)

 Industries: tourism (Curacao and Sint Maarten), petroleum refining
 (Curacao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curacao and Bonaire),
 light manufacturing (Curacao)

 Agriculture: chief products - aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables,
 tropical fruit

 Illicit drugs: money-laundering center; transshipment point for South
 American cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and Europe

 Economic aid:
 recipient: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
 commitments (1970-89), $513 million

 Currency: 1 Netherlands Antillean guilder, gulden, or florin (NAf.) =
 100 cents

 Exchange rates: Netherlands Antillean guilders, gulden, or florins
 (NAf.) per US$1 - 1.79 (fixed rate since 1989; 1.80 fixed rate
 1971-88)

 Fiscal year: calendar year

@Netherlands Antilles:Transportation

 Railroads: 0 km

 Highways:
 total: 950 km
 paved: 300 km
 unpaved: gravel, earth 650 km

 Ports: Kralendijk, Philipsburg, Willemstad

 Merchant marine:
 total: 110 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,044,553 GRT/1,343,842
 DWT
 ships by type: barge carrier 1, bulk 2, cargo 36, chemical tanker 6,
 combination ore/oil 1, liquefied gas tanker 4, multifunction
 large-load carrier 20, oil tanker 2, passenger 4, refrigerated cargo
 27, roll-on/roll-off cargo 7

 Airports:
 total: 5
 with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
 with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
 with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1
 with paved runways under 914 m: 1

@Netherlands Antilles:Communications

 Telephone system: NA telephones; generally adequate facilities
 local: NA
 intercity: extensive interisland microwave radio relay links
 international: 2 submarine cables; 2 INTELSAT (Atlantic Ocean) earth
 stations

 Radio:
 broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 4, shortwave 0
 radios: NA

 Television:
 broadcast stations: 1
 televisions: NA

@Netherlands Antilles:Defense Forces

 Branches: Royal Netherlands Navy, Marine Corps, Royal Netherlands Air
 Force, National Guard, Police Force

 Manpower availability: males age 15-49 56,058; males fit for military
 service 31,558; males reach military age (20) annually 1,734 (1995
 est.)

 Note: defense is responsibility of the Netherlands


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