Caribbean Netherlands

The Caribbean Netherlands (Dutch: Caribisch Nederland) is the part of the Netherlands that is in the Caribbean. The rest of the country is in Europe. The Caribbean Netherlands is made up of three special municipalities (bijzondere gemeenten): the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. They are also called the BES islands.

Caribbean Netherlands Caribisch Nederland  (Dutch)
Overseas region of the Netherlands
Flag Coat of arms
Location of the Caribbean Netherlands (green and circled) in the Caribbean. From left to right: Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius.
Coordinates: 12°11′N 68°14′W
Country	Netherlands
Municipalities	Bonaire Sint Eustatius Saba
Made a part of the Netherlands	10 October 2010
Government
• National Rep.	Wilbert Stolte
• Lt. Governors	Lydia Emerencia (Bonaire) Gerald Berkel (Sint Eustatius) Jonathan Johnson (Saba)
Area
• Total	328 km2 (127 sq mi)
	(0.8% of the Netherlands)
Highest elevation (Mount Scenery)	887 m (2,910 ft)
Population  (2010)
• Total	21,133
• Density	64/km2 (170/sq mi)
	(0.1% of the Netherlands)
Languages
• Official	Dutch
• Recognised regional	English (Saba, St. Eustatius) Papiamentu (Bonaire)[1]
Time zone	UTC−4 (AST)
Calling code	+599
Currency	US dollar (USD)[2]
Internet TLD	.nl, .an,a .bq b
a. Probably to be discontinued. b. Assigned but not used.[3]

The Caribbean Netherlands does not include the other Dutch countries in the Caribbean (Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten). Those are three of the four countries that make up the Kingdom of the Netherlands.^[4] The fourth country is the Netherlands proper. The islands of the Caribbean Netherlands are fully part of the Netherlands proper. They were made a part of the Netherlands when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved (broken apart) on 10 October 2010.^[5]

Although the islands are now part of the Netherlands, they are not yet part of the European Union. They will instead remain overseas territories^[6] until at least 2015.^[7] They are different to other municipalities in the Netherlands. Unlike normal municipalities, they do not form part of a Dutch province.^[8]

Bonaire is located east of Aruba and Curaçao, close to the coast of Venezuela. Sint Eustatius and Saba are located south of Sint Maarten and northwest of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The BES islands have a total population of 21,000 and a total area of 328 square kilometres (127 sq mi).

Special municipalities of the Netherlands Flag Name Capital (and largest city) Area[9] (km²) Population[10] (31-12-2010) Density (per km²) Bonaire Kralendijk 294 15,666 53 Sint Eustatius Oranjestad 21 3,543 169 Saba The Bottom 13 1,824 140 Total 328 21,133 64

References

1. "Invoeringswet openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba" (in Dutch). wetten.nl. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
2. "Wet geldstelsel BES". Dutch government. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
3. "Delegation Record for .BQ". IANA. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
4. "Constitutional reform of Netherlands Antilles completed". Government.nl. 10 September 2010. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
5. "Besluit van 23 september 2010 tot vaststelling van het tijdstip van inwerkingtreding van de artikelen I en II van de Rijkswet wijziging Statuut in verband met de opheffing van de Nederlandse Antillen" (in Dutch). Overheid.nl. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
6. "Official Journal of the European Union – C 83". EUR-Lex. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
7. "Regels met betrekking tot de openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba (Wet openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba); Verslag" (in Dutch). Ikregeer.nl. 12 October 2009. Archived from the original on 15 May 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
8. "31.954, Wet openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba" (in Dutch). Eerste kamer der Staten-Generaal. Retrieved 2010-10-15. De openbare lichamen vallen rechtstreeks onder het Rijk omdat zij geen deel uitmaken van een provincie. (The public bodies (...), because they are not part of a Province).
9. "Statistical Info: Area and Climate". Central Bureau of Statistics (Netherlands Antilles). 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
10. "Bevolkingsontwikkeling Caribisch Nederland; geboorte, sterfte, migratie" (in Dutch). Central Bureau of Statistics. 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-13.

Other websites

• Media related to Caribbean Netherlands at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website of the National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands