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Sint Eustatius

After the other islands decided to leave, ending the Netherlands Antilles, the island council opted to become a special municipality of the Netherlands, like Saba and Bonaire. This process was completed in 2010. In 2011 the island officially adopted the US dollar as its currency.

Geography:

Sint Eustatius is 6 miles (10 km) long and up to 3 miles (5 km) wide. Topographically, the island is saddle-shaped, with the 602-meter-high dormant volcano Quill (Mount Mazinga), to the southeast and the smaller summits of Signal Hill/Little Mountain (or Bergje) and Boven Mountain to the northwest.

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The Quill Volcano

The Quill crater is a popular tourist attraction on the island. The bulk of the island’s population lives in the flat saddle between the two elevated areas, which forms the center of the island.

Economy:

In the 18th century, “Statia” was the most important Dutch island in the Caribbean and was a center of great wealth from trading. At this time it was known as the “Golden Rock” because of its immense wealth. A very large number of warehouses lined the road that runs along Oranje Bay; most (but not all) of these warehouses are now ruined and some of the ruins are partially underwater.

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Sint Eustatius Warehouse Ruins

According to the Sint Eustatius government website, “Statia’s economy is stable and well placed to grow in the near future. With practically no unemployment and a skilled workforce, we have a infrastructure in place to ensure sustained growth.” The government itself is the largest employer on the island, and the oil terminal owned by NuStar Energy is the largest private employer on the island.

Transportation:

Access to Saint Eustatius is by air only from Sint Marteen (Saint Martin) primarily with services provided by Winair. The flight from Sint Marteen is a short 20 minutes.

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Sint Eustatius Airport

There is no public transportation on the island but taxis are available and rental cars are plentiful.

Flag of Sint Eustatius:

The flag is rectangular with the colors blue, red, white, gold and green, and divided in four five-sided blue polygons, each fimbriated red.

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Flag of Sint Eustatius

In its center is a diamond-form white field; in the diamond is the silhouette of the island in green. In the center in the top of the diamond is a five-pointed golden star.

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