Aruba

General Island Info

Aruba is a 33-kilometre (21 mi)-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, 27 km (17 mi) north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela. Together with Curaçao and Bonaire it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles.

An autonomous region within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba has no administrative subdivisions. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. It has a land area of 193 km2 (75 sq mi) and lies outside the hurricane belt.

Aruba is a generally flat, riverless island in the Leeward Antilles island arc of the Lesser Antilles. Aruba is renowned for its white, sandy beaches on the western and southern coasts of the island, relatively sheltered from fierce ocean currents, and this is where most tourist development has taken place. The northern and eastern coasts, lacking this protection, are considerably more battered by the sea and have been left largely untouched by humans. The hinterland of the island features some rolling hills, the best known of which are called Hooiberg at 165 meters (541 ft) and Mount Jamanota, the highest on the island at 188 metres (617 ft) above sea level. Oranjestad, the capital, is located at [show location on an interactive map] 12°19'N 70°1'W? / ?12.317, -70.017.

Aruba Geography

To the east of Aruba are Bonaire and Curaçao, two island territories which form the southwest part of the Netherlands Antilles; Aruba and these two Netherlands Antilles islands are sometimes called the ABC islands.

The isothermal temperature of Aruba's pleasantly tropical marine climate attracts tourists to the island all year round. Temperature varies little from 28 °C (82 °F), moderated by constant trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean. Yearly precipitation barely reaches 500 mm (19.7 in), most of it falling in late autumn.

Aruba Economy

Aruba enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean region; the low unemployment rate is also positive for Aruba. About three-quarter of the Aruban gross national product is earned through tourism or related activities. Most of the tourists are from Venezuela and the United States (predominately from eastern and southern states), Aruba's largest trading partner. Before the "Status Aparte", (a separate completely autonomous country/state within the Kingdom), oil processing was the dominant industry in Aruba despite expansion of the tourism sector. Today, the influence of the oil processing business is minimal. The size of the agriculture and manufacturing sectors also remains minimal.

The G.D.P. per capita for Aruba is calculated to be $23,831 in 2007; among the highest in the Caribbean and the Americas.

Deficit spending has been a staple in Aruba's history, and modestly high inflation has been present as well. Recent efforts at tightening monetary policy are correcting this and will have its first balanced budget in 2009. Aruba receives some development aid from the Dutch government each year, which will cease in 2009 as part of a deal (signed as "Aruba's Financial Independence") in which the Netherlands gradually reduces its financial help to the island each successive year. The Aruban florin is pegged to the United States dollar, with a fixed exchange rate where 1.79 Florin equals 1 U.S. dollar. In most stores near Oranjestad, the exchange rate is 1.75 florin equals U.S 1 dollar

In 2006 the Aruban government has also changed several tax laws in order to further reduce the deficit. Direct taxes have been converted to indirect taxes as proposed by the IMF. A 3% tax has been introduced on sales and services, while income taxes have been lowered and revenue taxes for business reduced with 20%. The government compensated workers with 3.1% for the effect that the B.B.O. would have on the inflation for 2007. The inflation on Aruba in 2007 was 8,7%.

Aruba has the third largest seawater desalinization plant in the world after Saudi Arabia and Curaçao.

Aruba Culture

On March 18 Aruba celebrates its National Day. In 1976, Aruba presented its National Anthem (Aruba Dushi Tera) and Flag.

The origins of the population and location of the island give Aruba a mixed culture. Dutch influence can still be seen, as in the celebration of "Sinterklaas" on December 5 and 6 and other national holidays like April 30, when in Aruba and the rest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands the Queen's birthday or "Dia di La Reina" (Koninginnedag) is celebrated.

Christmas and New Year are celebrated with the typical music and songs of gaitas for Christmas and the Dande for New Year, and the "ayaca", the "ponchi crema" and "ham", and other typical foods and drinks. Millions of dollars worth of fireworks are burnt at midnight on New Year's.

On January 25, Betico's Croes birthday is celebrated.

The holiday of Carnival is also an important one in Aruba, as it is in many Caribbean and Latin American countries, and, like Mardi Gras, that goes on for weeks. Its celebration in Aruba started, around the 1950s, influenced by the inhabitants from the nearby islands (Venezuela, St Vincent, Trinidad, Barbados and Amquilla) who came to work for the Oil refinery. Over the years the Carnival Celebration has changed and now starts from the beginning of January till the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday with a large parade on the last Sunday of the festivities (Sunday before Ash Wednesday).

In June there is the celebration of the "Dia di San Juan", with the song of "Dera Gai".

Tourism from the United States has recently also increased the visibility of American culture on the island, with such celebrations as Halloween and Thanksgiving Day in November.

Religion also has its influences; the days of Ascension and Good Friday are also two holidays on the island.

According to the Bureau Burgelijke Stand en Bevolkingsregister (BBSB), as of 2005 there are ninety-two different nationalities living on the island.

 Language
 
Language can be seen as an important part of island culture in Aruba. The cultural mixture has given rise to a linguistic mixture known as Papiamento, the predominant language on Aruba. The two official languages are the Dutch language and Papiamento. Papiamento is a language that has been evolving through the centuries and absorbed many words from other languages like Dutch, English, diverse African dialects, and most importantly, from Portuguese and Spanish. However, like many islands in the region, Spanish is also often spoken. English has historical connections (with the British Empire) and is known by many; English usage has also grown due to tourism. Other common languages spoken based on the size of their community are Portuguese, Chinese, German and French. The latter is offered in high school and college, since a high percentage of Aruban students continue their studies in Europe.

In recent years, the government of Aruba has shown an increased interest in acknowledging the cultural and historical importance of its native language. Although spoken Papiamento is fairly similar among the several Papiamento-speaking islands, there is a big difference in written Papiamento. The orthography differs per island and even per group of people. Some are more oriented towards the Portuguese roots and use the equivalent spelling (e.g. "y" instead of "j"), where others are more oriented towards the Dutch roots.

In a book The Buccaneers of America first published in 1678, it is stated by eyewitness account that the Indians on Aruba spoke "Spanish". The oldest government official statement written in Papiamento dates from 1803.

Aruba has four newspapers published in Papiamento: Diario, Bon Dia, Solo di Pueblo and Awe Mainta and two in English : Aruba Today and The News. Amigoe is the newspaper published in Dutch. Aruba also has 18 Radio Stations (2 AM and 16 FM) and three local Television stations (Tele-Aruba, Aruba Broadcast Company and Star Television).

Infrastructure

Aruba's Queen Beatrix International Airport is located near Oranjestad. This airport has daily flights to various cities across the United States, to San Juan, Puerto Rico; Miami, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania; Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Washington DC; New York, and Boston, Massachusetts. It also connects Aruba with Canada and South America, with daily flights to the international airports of Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Germany, France, Spain, U.K and most of Europe through the Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. Direct flight from Italy will start in November 2008.

According to the Aruba Airport Authority, in 2005 almost 1.7 million travelers used the airport, of which 61% were Americans.

U.S. Immigration and Nat. Services (INS) full pre-clearance in Aruba has been in effect since February 1, 2001 at the Queen Beatrix Airport and since 2008, the only island to have this service for private flights. Since 1999, the US defense department established a Forward Operating Location at the airport.

Utilities on the island

Electricity is produced by the Water- en Energiebedrijf Aruba (WEB) N.V. The total power generating capacity of the steam turbines amounts to 149 megawatts. There is also a 22 megawatt gas turbine as a backup unit, while a 6.5 MW diesel generator serves as an emergency unit. WEB N.V. produces an average of 60 MW, which together with a contracted supply from the refining company, is sufficient to comply with the average demand of 77 MW.

WEB N.V. delivers electricity to the distribution company N.V. Electriciteit-Maatschappij Aruba (Elmar). Electricity is supplied at a 60-hertz frequency, and at 127 and 220 volts. Consumption of electricity has increased steadily since 1986 from 219,000 MW·h to 759,336 MW·h in 2005.

Water: Potable industrial water is produced from seawater by the Water- en Energiebedrijf Aruba (WEB) N.V., the world's second largest desalination plant. The total installed desalination capacity of the water plant (Multi Stage Flash) units is 42,000 metric tons per day[5] . Average daily consumption in 2005 was about 37,043 metric tons.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Aruba"