 | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Geography of the Netherlands Antilles" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The Netherlands Antilles was a constituent country in the Caribbean Sea. It consisted of two island groups, the ABC islands Curaçao, Bonaire and (until 1986) Aruba just north of Venezuela, and the SSS islands east of the Virgin Islands.
The Netherlands Antilles had 960 km (1153 km before 1986) of land, which included no major lakes or other bodies of water.
Territory included the islands of Aruba until 1986 and Curaçao, Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten (which is the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin) until 2010 when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved. Its only land boundary was with France on the island of Saint Martin, which was 10.2 kilometers in length. The Netherlands Antilles had 364 kilometers (432 km before 1986) of coastline.
Climate
Tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds.
Statistics
Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone:
12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)
territorial sea:
12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)
Terrain: generally hilly, volcanic interiors
Elevation extremes:
lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point:
Mount Scenery 887 m (2,910 ft)
Natural resources: phosphates (Curaçao 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 km
Natural hazards: Curaçao 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
References
- ^ Freeman, Kathleen Trayte. "Netherlands Antilles". American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
| Geography of the Caribbean | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Indies | |||||
| Caribbean Sea | |||||
| Caribbean continental zone |
| ||||
| Wider groupings may include: |
| ||||
| N.B.: Territories in italics are parts of transregional sovereign states or non-sovereign dependencies.
These three form the SSS islands that with the ABC islands comprise the Dutch Caribbean, of which the BES islands are not direct Kingdom constituents but subsumed with the country of the Netherlands. Physiographically, these continental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically. Disputed territories administered by Guyana. Disputed territories administered by Colombia. Bermuda is an isolated North Atlantic oceanic island, physiographically not part of the Lucayan Archipelago, Antilles, Caribbean Sea nor North American continental nor South American continental islands. It is grouped with the Northern American region, but occasionally also with the Caribbean region culturally. | |||||
| Geography of South America | |
|---|---|
| Sovereign states | |
| Dependencies and other territories | |