Places / Europe / Netherlands
Curacao
Visited
At a glance
- Region
- Caribbean
- Capital
- Willemstad
- Population
- 156,000 (2024)
- Area
- 444 km²
- Languages
- English, Dutch, Papiamento
- Currency
- Netherlands Antillean guilder (ANG)
- Drives on the
- right
- Calling code
- +599
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Before you go
Overview
Curaçao is a tiny island in the Caribbean Sea and a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is situated some 37 miles (60 km) north of the coast of Venezuela.
The capital is Willemstad.
Curaçao was settled by Arawak people from the South American mainland. It was first visited by Europeans in 1499 and was settled by the Spanish and, later, by the Dutch, who established it as a major centre of trade for the Dutch West India Company.
The Spanish deported the entire indigenous population as slaves to Hispaniola in 1515.
Curaçao is the home of the oldest continuously inhabited Jewish community in the Western Hemisphere, originally formed by Sephardic Jews who emigrated from Portugal in the 1500s.
The island provided one special advantage for the Dutch—one of the finest natural harbours in the West Indies. At the southeastern end of the island, a channel, Sint Anna Bay, passes through reefs to a large, deep, virtually enclosed bay called Schottegat, the site of the capital town, Willemstad.
The need for salt to preserve herring initially drove the Dutch to the Caribbean. During the period 1660 to 1700, the Dutch West India Company flourished; the slave trade boomed, and the port was opened to all countries both to receive the incoming food supplies and to dispose of products from the plantations of South America.
The island was subjected to frequent invasions from competing privateers and suffered during the wars between the English and Dutch. It has remained continuously in Dutch hands since 1816.
In 1845 Curaçao was one of the six Dutch dependencies in the West Indies that were brought under collective administration. Those dependencies were reorganised as the Netherlands Antilles in 1954 and granted autonomy in internal affairs.
In 2006 the people of Curaçao, along with those of the other islands and the Dutch government, agreed to dissolve the Netherlands Antilles. On October 10, 2010, Curaçao and Sint Maarten became—like Aruba, which had separated from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986—countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
History
The Dutch took Curaçao from Spain in 1634, and it became a centre of trade, including the slave trade. It became a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2010.
Food & culture
Keshi yena, stobá (stew) and Curaçao liqueur, made from the peel of local laraha oranges, are local specialities.
Wildlife
The reefs around the island are among the best in the Caribbean for diving, and Christoffel National Park has deer and orchids.
Festivals & events
Carnival and the Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival are the biggest events.
Things to see
The colourful Handelskade in Willemstad, Christoffel National Park, Playa Kenepa and Shete Boka.
Interesting facts
Willemstad's historic area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Cities & towns I’ve visited
Neighbours
No land borders with other countries.
My Bucket List goals in Curacao
None on the list yet. Got a suggestion? Email Dan.