About Curaçao

There is a lot to tell about Curacao and on these pages we go deeper into a number of things. The island has been an independent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands since October 10, 2010, when a majority of the population voted in favor of this independence in a referendum. Until then, the administrative center of the Netherlands Antilles was located there.

In addition to Curacao, the Netherlands Antilles consisted of one of the other two ABC islands and Bonaire and the Windward Antilles, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten. The other ABC island, Aruba, already had the status of a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1986. The fact that according to known information Curacao was the largest island and also had the largest city, Willemstad, meant that it was the administrative center of the Netherlands Antilles. The fact that Curacao cannot be mentioned in the general information without also mentioning the other Antillean islands has to do with the fact that the collective has had a great influence on the island and has been an important central point in Curacao’s history for a long time. There is much more to say about Curacao in combination with the other Antillean islands and the Caribbean and the other pages are therefore also devoted to that. The fact that the island has always been a central point does mean that the island has the largest and best developed infrastructure. We will also mention this when we provide you with further Curacao information on these pages.

The rich colonial past of Curacao has brought a lot of prosperity, but this was not always distributed fairly. That has changed over time, although this only happened after a revolt, today Curacao reaps the fruits of the past, there is much to mention about the island of Curacao in the context of tourist attractions. This is an important point because tourism is still an important source of income. The colonial past, for example, has ensured the very beautiful places in the capital Willemstad, parts of which are now on the UNESCO world heritage list. It can also be said about Curacao that the industry has provided a large refuge from the other Antillean islands. Especially when slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century, the many ex-slaves no longer had a source of income to support themselves. These slaves often went to Curacao to ask if there was work to be found and then ended up in situations that did not fare much better than the slavery they came out of. Because Curacao had no natural raw materials such as oil or precious metals, Curacao will give facts and figures regarding the ruling European powers such as Spain as the first discoverers and later mainly the Dutch, mainly about industries introduced by the Europeans. An important of these were the plantations in the past about which much information can still be found on Curacao and the oil refinery that Shell therefore built in the early twentieth century to process the oil from Venezuela.

The refinery also proved to be important in the Second World War because it provided sufficient fuel for Allied ships and aircraft. However, for most people, finding information regarding Curacao will be of a touristic nature. It will then be about the many sights on Curacao such as museums or events. Others may be more interested in being active on Curacao and want to know where to dive or surf. Of course we will also provide this information about Curacao in another part of this website. We will discuss all possible activities that you can undertake and especially where this can best be done. For a detailed explanation about the specific accommodation, it is always wise to ask for further information once you have arrived on Curacao. Based on general information and descriptions is important when planning your vacation Curacao. After all, you can determine whether it is a holiday destination for you or rather not. However, giving facts and figures about the island of Curacao will not tell you everything because most of it must be experienced personally.

Source: About Curaçao