Curacao
Curaçao, the largest (180 square miles [466 km2]) of five islands that form the Netherlands Antilles. It lies between the islands of Aruba and Bonaire in the southern Caribbean Sea, 40 miles (64 km) off the Venezuelan coast. The climate is tropical and dry, with temperatures averaging near 80° F. (27° C.) the year round. Because of low rainfall, freshwater is obtained by distillation of seawater.
The island's economy is based largely on oil. Crude petroleum from Venezuela is refined at several large installations in Willemstad, the capital and primary port of the Netherlands Antilles. Tourism, aided by Curaçao's duty-free status, is the second major industry. A modern airport and an excellent deepwater port serve the island.
Curaçao was first sighted by the Spanish navigator Alonzo de Ojeda in 1499 and settled in the 1520's by the Spanish as a cattle-raising colony. The island was acquired by the Dutch in 1634 and flourished as a slave-trade center. It was held by the British for a short time during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15), but was returned to the Dutch in 1816. With the abolition of slavery, Curaçao underwent a long economic depression that lasted until about 1920, when oil was discovered in Venezuela and a refinery built in Willemstad. Since then the island has had almost uninterrupted economic growth and now enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the West Indies.
Population: the island, 130,627, Willemstad, about 125,000.