The Netherlands Antilles were colonized by the Netherlands in the 17th century. The two islands Curaçao and Sint Eustatius were once the centers of the Caribbean slave trade and transit ports for the rest of the Caribbean. From the last quarter of the 17th century, the group consisted of six undisputedly Dutch islands: Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten. Before, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, St. Croix and Tobago had also been Dutch.

In the second half of the 18th century. Sint Eustatius became the commercial hub of the north-eastern Caribbean, earning the nickname "The Golden Rock." This invoked the envy of the French and English who from 1795 made sure the island lost that position by occupying the island and ruining it (the French through their taxes and the English by closing the island off and diverting all trade to their own islands).

The island of Curaçao was hit hard 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 Saint Martin is shared with France (whose northern portion is named Saint-Martin and was a part of Guadeloupe, though there have been movements to become a separate overseas territory). The Netherlands Antilles remain part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

In 1954, the status of the islands was promoted from that of a colonial territory to part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as an associated state within a federacy. The island of Aruba was part of the Netherlands Antilles until 1986, when it was granted status aparte (i.e., it became a self-governing part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands).

Between June 2000 and April 2005, each island of the Netherlands Antilles had referendums on its future status. The four options that could be voted on were:

• closer ties with the Netherlands
• remaining within them Netherlands Antilles
• autonomy as a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (status aparte)
• independence

Of the islands, Sint Maarten and Curaçao voted for status aparte. Saba and Bonaire voted for closer ties to the Netherlands. Sint Eustatius was the only island to vote to stay in the Netherlands Antilles.

The full results were:

Island	Date of referendum	Vote for closer ties with the Netherlands	Vote for remaining within the Netherlands Antilles	Vote for status aparte	Vote for independence	Reference
Sint Maarten	June 22, 2000	11.6%	3.7%	69.9%	14.2%	[1]
Bonaire	September 10, 2004	59.0%	15.9%	24.1%	<1%	[2]
Saba	November 5, 2004	86.05%	13.18%	-	<1%	[3]
Curaçao	April 8, 2005	23%	-	68%	5%	[4]
Sint Eustatius	April 8, 2005	20%	76%	-	1%	[4]

On October 12, 2006, the Netherlands reached an agreement with Saba, Bonaire and Sint Eustatius; this agreement would make these islands special municipalities.^[5] On November 3, 2006, Curaçao and Sint Maarten were granted autonomy in an agreement,^[6] but this agreement was rejected by Curaçao on November 28.^[7] The Curaçao government was not sufficiently convinced that the agreement would provide enough autonomy for Curaçao.^[8] On July 9, 2007, Curaçao approved the agreement it had rejected in November 2006.^[9]

On February 12, 2007, an agreement was signed between the Netherlands and every island, except Curaçao. This agreement would have ended the Netherlands Antilles by December 15, 2008 and make 1 billion guilders available for debt relief, social development and poverty reduction.^[10] The dissolution is postponed, but will preferably take place before January 2010, the end of the parliamentary mandate 2006-2010.

[edit] See also

• History of Curaçao

[edit] References

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v • d • e History of North America Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda · Bahamas · Barbados · Belize · Canada · Costa Rica · Cuba · Dominica · Dominican Republic · El Salvador · Grenada · Guatemala · Haiti · Honduras · Jamaica · Mexico · Nicaragua · Panama1 · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Trinidad and Tobago1 · United States Dependencies and other territories Anguilla · Aruba1 · Bermuda · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Greenland · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Montserrat · Navassa Island · Netherlands Antilles1 · Puerto Rico · Saint Barthélemy · Saint Martin · Saint Pierre and Miquelon · Turks and Caicos Islands · United States Virgin Islands 1 Territories also in or commonly considered to be part of South America.

v • d • e History of South America Sovereign states Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana · Panama1 · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago1 · Uruguay · Venezuela Dependencies Aruba1 / Netherlands Antilles1 (Netherlands) · Falkland Islands / South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK) 2 · French Guiana (France) 1 Territories also in or commonly considered to be part of North America and/or Central America.  2 Territories also in or commonly considered to be part of Antarctica.