Dutch Caribbean

Dutch Caribbean
	Flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
	Location of the Dutch Caribbean islands Aruba Curaçao Sint Maarten Caribbean Netherlands (from left to right): Bonaire; Saba; Sint Eustatius;
Area	999 km2 (386 sq mi)
Population (2010)	304,759
Density	305/km2 (790/sq mi)
Languages	Dutch, English, Papiamento
Government	3 constituent countries; 3 special municipalities
GDP (Nominal)	$6.120 billion USD

The term Dutch Caribbean refers to the islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that are located in the Caribbean and their inhabitants.^[1] It is also a term sometimes used to refer to the Caribbean Netherlands,^[2] which consists of some of the Dutch Caribbean islands but not all.

Three of the six main islands under Dutch sovereignty are constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten (which actually comprises only the southern half of the island of Saint Martin). The three remaining islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba are special municipalities of the Netherlands, which is the fourth constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (and mainly located in Europe). These are collectively known as the Caribbean Netherlands or the "BES Islands". There are also several smaller islands, like Klein Curaçao and Klein Bonaire, that belong to one of the island countries or special municipalities.

All the islands in the Dutch Caribbean were formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles. Aruba gained autonomy decades earlier than the other island countries, seceding as a separate country in 1986. Curaçao and Sint Maarten followed upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, while Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba chose instead to integrate into the Netherlands.

Islands

There are several acronyms that indicate groups of islands of the Dutch Caribbean:

ABC islands, for Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao;
BES islands, for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba;
SSS islands, for Saba, Saint Martin, and Sint Eustatius.

Dutch Caribbean islands
(within the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
	Name	Population (1 Jan 2010)	Area (km²)	Population density (inh. per km²)	Source
Countries	Aruba	107,138	193	555	^[i]
	Curaçao	142,180	444	320	^[ii]
	Sint Maarten	37,429	34	1,101	^[ii]
Special municipalities (part of the Netherlands)	Bonaire	13,389	294	46	^[ii]
	Sint Eustatius	2,886	21	137	^[ii]
	Saba	1,737	13	134	^[ii]
Total:		304,759	999	305
^ Central Bureau of Statistics (Aruba) ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Central Bureau of Statistics - population and area (former Netherlands Antilles)^{[dead link‍]}