History of the Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles were
colonized
by the Netherlands in the 17th century. They were once the center of the
Caribbean slave
trade. The island of
Curaçao
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).
The Netherlands Antilles remain part of the
Kingdom
of the Netherlands.
