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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
Geographic coordinates: 12 15 N, 68 45 W
Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
total: 960 sq km
land: 960 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and
Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)
Area - comparative: more than five times the size of Washington,
DC
Land boundaries:
total: 10.2 km
border countries: Guadeloupe (Saint Martin) 10.2 km
Coastline: 364 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds
Terrain: generally hilly, volcanic interiors
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Scenery 862 m
Natural resources: phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire
only)
Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 90% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean
hurricane belt and are rarely threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and
Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October
Environment - current issues: NA
Background: Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade,
the island of Curacao was hard hit by the abolition of slavery in
1863. Its prosperity (and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored
in the early 20th century with the construction of oil refineries
to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields. The island
of Sint Maarten is shared with France (whose northern portion is
named Saint Martin and is part of Guadeloupe).
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