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| Country
Fact Sheet |
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Location
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In the Caribbean Sea, north of Venezuela
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Capital
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Oranjestad
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Surface
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193 sq km
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Population
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70,441 (2002 est.)
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Currency
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Aruban guilder/florin (AWG)
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GDP
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Purchasing
power parity - $1.94 billion (2000 est.)
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GDP/capita
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Purchasing
power parity - $28,000 (2000 est.)
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Language
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Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish,
Portuguese, Dutch, English dialect), English
(widely spoken), Spanish
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Religion
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Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Confucian, And
Jewish
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Government
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Head
of State Her Majesty the Queen Beatrix of
the Netherlands, Head of government from
Sep 2001 Prime Minister Nelson Oduber
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Time
Zone
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Eastern Standard Time +1 hour: GMT -4 hours
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Telecom
Code
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+297 and six digit number
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Airport
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Aruba-Queen Beatrix Airport (AUA/TNCA) Domestic
Only, Oranjestad 5km (3miles)
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Driving
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On right hand side of the road, license
required
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Electrical
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110/120/220V AC use of standard European
non-grounded socket
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Political
climate
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Stable country
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| Local
Business & Service Providers |
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Financial
services
Legal and fiduciary
Financial
Technology
Business travel
Image identity Consultancy
Corporate incentives
Automotive services
Accommodations
Lifestyle |
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| History |
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FAruba
was acquired by the Dutch in 1636 from the Spanish
who discovered the island in 1499, which was the
home of the Arubaes, an Arawak tribe from the
South American mainland. The Spanish took little
interest in Aruba, apart from shipping some of
the Arawaks to work in mines on Hispaniola. Conflict
in Europe between Spain and Holland resulted in
the Dutch seizing the island in 1636, and the
Dutch began to colonize Aruba at the end of the
17th century. Poor soil and aridity saved the
island from plantation economics and the slave
trade. Instead the Dutch left the Arawaks to graze
livestock on the parched landscape, using the
island as a source of meat for other Dutch possessions
in the Caribbean.
The British arrived in 1805 during the Napoleonic
Wars but sailed into the sunset in 1816. The island's
economy has been dominated by three main industries.
A 19th century gold rush giving way a flood of
gold-hungry immigrants who arrived from Europe
and Venezuela, and mining continued right up until
1916. When the mines became unproductive, Aruba
turned to oil refining in a big way. In 1929 the
world's largest refinery was built on the south-eastern
tip of the island. In1940s, Aruba began to resent
its secondary role to Curaçao in the federation
known as the Netherlands Antilles (then composed
of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao and Suriname).
Calls for autonomy increased over the next 40
years, and in 1986 Aruba finally became an autonomous
state within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
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