{"id":7707,"date":"2021-04-08T04:00:08","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T04:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=7707"},"modified":"2021-04-08T22:00:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T22:00:55","slug":"curacao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/curacao\/","title":{"rendered":"Cura\u00e7ao"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

Cura\u00e7ao is a Lesser Antilles<\/a> island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about 65 km (40 mi) north of the Venezuelan coast. It is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Together with Aruba and Bonaire it forms the ABC islands. Collectively, Cura\u00e7ao, Aruba and other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Curacao on the Globe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The country was formerly part of the Cura\u00e7ao and Dependencies colony from 1815 to 1954 and later the Netherlands Antilles from 1954 to 2010, as “Island Territory of Cura\u00e7ao” and is now formally called the Country of Cura\u00e7ao. It includes the main island of Cura\u00e7ao and the much smaller, uninhabited island of Klein Cura\u00e7ao (“Little Cura\u00e7ao”). Cura\u00e7ao has a population of 158,665 and an area of 444 km2 (171 sq mi); its capital is Willemstad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

History:<\/h2>\n

Pre-Colonial:<\/h3>\n

The original inhabitants of Cura\u00e7ao were the Arawak<\/a> and Caquetio<\/a> Amerindians. Their ancestors had migrated to the island from the mainland of South America, likely hundreds of years before Europeans arrived. They were believed to have migrated from the Amazon Basin.<\/p>\n

Spanish Colonization:<\/h3>\n

The first Europeans recorded as seeing the island were members of a Spanish expedition under the leadership of Alonso de Ojeda<\/a> in 1499. The Spaniards enslaved most of the Arawak for forced labor but paid little attention to the island itself.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Alonso de Ojeda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spanish rule lasted throughout the 16th century, during which time its original inhabitants were transferred to the colony on the island of Hispaniola. It served as a bridge for the Spanish exploration and conquest of territories in northern South America.<\/p>\n

Over time, the Spanish had little interest in the island or its remaining inhabitants and the land was used primarily for cattle grazing.<\/p>\n

Dutch Colonial Rule:<\/h3>\n

In 1634, after the Netherlands achieved independence from Spain following the Eighty Years’ War<\/a>, the Dutch West India Company<\/a> under Admiral Johann van Walbeeck<\/a> invaded the island and the Spaniards there surrendered in San Juan in August. Dutch colonists started to occupy it. The WIC founded the capital of Willemstad on the banks of an inlet called the Schottegat; this natural harbour proved an ideal place for trade. Commerce and shipping\u2014and piracy\u2014became Cura\u00e7ao’s most important economic activities. Later, salt mining became a major industry, the mineral being a lucrative export at the time. From 1662 the Dutch West India Company made Cura\u00e7ao a centre for the Atlantic slave trade, often bringing slaves from West Africa there for sale elsewhere in the Caribbean and on Spanish Main<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the Franco-Dutch War of 1672\u201378<\/a>, Count Jean II d’Estr\u00e9es<\/a> planned to attack Cura\u00e7ao. His fleet\u201412 men of war, three fireships, two transports, a hospital ship, and 12 privateers\u2014met with disaster, losing seven men-of-war and two other ships when they struck reefs off the Las Aves archipelago<\/a>. They had made a serious navigational error, hitting the reefs on 11 May 1678, a week after setting sail from Saint Kitts.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Jean II d’Estr\u00e9es<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many Dutch colonists grew affluent from the slave trade, building impressive colonial buildings in the capital of Willemstad; the city is now designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Landhouses (former plantation estates) and West African style kas di pal’i maishi (former slave dwellings) are scattered all over the island.<\/p>\n

In 1795, a major slave revolt took place under the leaders Tula Rigaud<\/a>, Louis Mercier, Bastian Karpata, and Pedro Wakao. Up to 4,000 slaves in northwest Cura\u00e7ao revolted, with more than 1,000 taking part in extended gunfights. After a month, the slave owners suppressed the revolt.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tula<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the British attacked the island several times, most notably in 1800, 1804, and from 1807 to 1815.<\/p>\n

Stable Dutch rule returned in 1815 at the end of the Napoleonic wars<\/a>, when the island was incorporated into the colony of Cura\u00e7ao and Dependencies.<\/p>\n

In the early 19th century, many Portuguese and Lebanese people migrated to Cura\u00e7ao, attracted by the business opportunities.[citation needed]<\/p>\n

The Dutch abolished slavery in 1863, bringing a change in the economy with the shift to wage labor.<\/p>\n

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Former Slave Hut Curacao<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some inhabitants of Cura\u00e7ao emigrated to other islands, such as Cuba, to work in sugarcane plantations. Other former slaves had nowhere to go and remained working for the plantation owner in the tenant farmer system. This was an instituted order in which a former slave leased land from his former master in exchange for promising to give up for rent most of his harvest. This system lasted until the beginning of the 20th century.<\/p>\n

20th and 21st Centuries:<\/h3>\n

When oil was discovered in the Venezuelan Maracaibo Basin<\/a> town of Mene Grande in 1914, Cura\u00e7ao’s economy dramatically altered. In the early years, both Shell<\/a> and Exxon<\/a> held drilling concessions in Venezuela, which ensured a constant supply of crude oil to the refineries in Aruba and Cura\u00e7ao.<\/p>\n

In 1954 Cura\u00e7ao was joined with the other Dutch colonies in the Caribbean into the Netherlands Antilles. Discontent with Cura\u00e7ao’s seemingly subordinate relationship to the Netherlands and ongoing racial discrimination and a rise in unemployment owing to layoffs in the oil industry led to an outbreak of rioting in 1969<\/a>. The riots resulted in two deaths, many injuries and severe damage to Willemstad. In response, the Dutch government introduced far-reaching reforms, allowing Afro-Cura\u00e7aoans greater influence in the islands’s political and economic life, and raising the prestige of the local language Papiamento.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dutch Soldier on Patrol After Riots<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cura\u00e7ao experienced an economic downturn in the early 1980s. Shell’s refinery there operated with significant losses from 1975 to 1979, and again from 1982 to 1985. Persistent losses, global overproduction, stronger competition, and low market expectations threatened the refinery’s future. In 1985, after 70 years, Royal Dutch Shell decided to end its activities on Cura\u00e7ao.<\/p>\n

In the mid-1980s, Shell sold the refinery for the symbolic amount of one Antillean guilder to a local government consortium. The aging refinery has been the subject of lawsuits in recent years, which charge that its emissions, including sulfur dioxide and particulate matter, far exceed safety standards. The government consortium leases the refinery to the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.<\/p>\n

Continuing economic hardship in the late 1990s and early 2000s resulted in much emigration to the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

On 1 July 2007, Cura\u00e7ao was due to become a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. On 28 November 2006, this was delayed when the island council rejected a clarification memorandum on the process. A new island council ratified this agreement on 9 July 2007.[35] On 15 December 2008, Cura\u00e7ao was scheduled to become a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (as Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles were). A non-binding referendum on this plan took place in Cura\u00e7ao on 15 May 2009, in which 52% of the voters supported it.<\/p>\n

The dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles came into effect on 10 October 2010. Cura\u00e7ao became a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the Kingdom retaining responsibility for defence and foreign policy. The kingdom is also to oversee the island’s finances under a debt-relief arrangement agreed between the two.<\/p>\n

Geography:<\/h2>\n

Cura\u00e7ao, as well as the rest of the ABC islands and Trinidad and Tobago<\/a>, lies on the continental shelf of South America.<\/p>\n

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Map of Curacao<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is a thin island with a generally hilly topography; the highest point is Mount Christoffelberg<\/a> 372 m (1,220 ft) in the northwest. Off the southeast coast lies the small, flat island of Klein Cura\u00e7ao.<\/a><\/p>\n

Economy:<\/h2>\n

Cura\u00e7ao has an open economy, with tourism, international trade, shipping services, oil refining, storage (oil and bunkering) and international financial services being the most important sectors. The Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has a lease on the island’s oil refinery expiring in 2019; the facility employs 1,000 people, refining oil from Venezuela for export to the US and Asia.<\/p>\n

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Offshore Oil Platform in Cura\u00e7ao<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cura\u00e7ao’s economy is well developed, supporting a high standard of living. Cura\u00e7ao possesses a high income economy, as defined by the World Bank. Activities related to the port of Willemstad (like the Free Trade Zone) make a significant contribution to the economy.<\/p>\n

Reduced foreign demand due to ongoing unrest and political uncertainty in Venezuela has led to decreased exports along with increased public demands for services and goods which has resulted in economic stagnation since 2016. Expansion was recorded in the construction, financial intermediation, and utilities sectors while other aspects of the economy contracted.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Historic Area of Willemstad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While tourism plays a major role in Cura\u00e7ao’s economy, it is less reliant on tourism than other Caribbean countries. Most tourists originate from the Netherlands, the eastern United States, South America and other Caribbean Islands. It is a leader in the Caribbean in cruise tourism growth with 610,186 cruise passengers in 2013, a 41.4% increase over the prior year. Hato International Airport received 1,772,501 passengers in 2013 and recently announced capital investments totaling US$48 million aimed at transforming the airport into a regional hub by 2018.<\/p>\n

The island’s insular shelf has a sharp drop-off known as the “Blue Edge” which is often visited by scuba diving tourists. Coral reefs for snorkeling and scuba diving can be reached without a boat. The southern coast has calm waters as well as many small beaches, such as Jan Thiel and Cas Abou. The coastline of Cura\u00e7ao features numerous bays and inlets which serve as popular mooring locations for boats.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Curacao Reef<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In June 2017, the island was named the Top Cruise Destination in the Southern Caribbean by Cruise Critic, a major online forum. The winners of the Destination Awards were selected based on comments from cruise passengers who rated the downtown area of Willemstad as “amazing” and the food and shopping as “excellent”. The historic centre of Willemstad is a World Heritage Site. Another attraction is the towns colorful street art. A sculpture garden with works from known Cura\u00e7ao artists is situated in a nearby resort.<\/p>\n

Transportation:<\/h2>\n

Cura\u00e7ao International Airport<\/a> (also called Hato International Airport) is located on the northern coast of the island and offers connections to the Caribbean region, South America, North America and Europe.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Cura\u00e7ao International Airport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cura\u00e7ao Airport is a fairly large facility, with the third longest commercial runway in the Caribbean region after Rafael Hern\u00e1ndez Airport in Puerto Rico and Pointe-\u00e0-Pitre International Airport in Guadeloupe. The airport served as a main base for Insel Air<\/a>, and for Air ALM<\/a>, the former national airlines of Cura\u00e7ao.<\/p>\n

Flag of Cura\u00e7ao:<\/h2>\n

The national flag of Cura\u00e7ao represents the country of Cura\u00e7ao as well as the island area within the Netherlands Antilles<\/a> from 1984 until its dissolution in 2010. The flag was flown for Cura\u00e7ao and Dependencies<\/a> for which the flag of the Netherlands was never used.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Flag of Curacao<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The flag is a blue field with a horizontal yellow stripe slightly below the midline and two white, five-pointed stars in the canton. The blue symbolizes the sea and sky (the bottom and top blue sections, respectively), divided by a yellow stroke representing the bright sun which bathes the island. The two stars represent Cura\u00e7ao and Klein Cura\u00e7ao, with the five points on each star symbolize the five continents from which Cura\u00e7ao’s people descend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The national flag of Cura\u00e7ao represents the country of Cura\u00e7ao as well as the island area within the Netherlands Antilles from 1984 until its dissolution in 2010. The flag was flown for Cura\u00e7ao and Dependencies for which the flag of the Netherlands was never used.<\/p>\n

The flag is a blue field with a horizontal yellow stripe slightly below the midline and two white, five-pointed stars in the canton. The blue symbolises the sea and sky (the bottom and top blue sections, respectively), divided by a yellow stroke representing the bright sun which bathes the island. The two stars represent Cura\u00e7ao and Klein Cura\u00e7ao, with the five points on each star symbolise the five continents from which Cura\u00e7ao’s people descend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32,12,59,5,6,7,29,41,18,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}