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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Saba |
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A status referendum was held on the island of Saba on 14 October 1994, alongside simultaneous referendums on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten. [1] A majority voted for maintaining the status quo.
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Status quo | 86.3 | |
| Autonomy | 9.6 | |
| Integration with the Netherlands | 3.6 | |
| Independence | 0.5 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | – | |
| Total | 100 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | ||
| Source: Direct Democracy | ||
The Netherlands Antilles was a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The country consisted of several island territories located in the Caribbean Sea. The islands were also informally known as the Dutch Antilles. The country came into being in 1954 as the autonomous successor of the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies, and was dissolved in 2010. The Dutch colony of Surinam, although it was relatively close by on the continent of South America, did not become part of the Netherlands Antilles but became a separate autonomous country in 1954. All the island territories that belonged to the Netherlands Antilles remain part of the kingdom today, although the legal status of each differs. As a group they are still commonly called the Dutch Caribbean, regardless of their legal status.
The flag of the Netherlands Antilles was white, with a horizontal blue stripe in the center, one-third of the flag's hoist, superimposed on a vertical red stripe of the same width, also centered; six white, five-pointed stars are arranged in a pentagon pattern in the center of the blue band, their points up. It was adopted on 19 November 1959.
The SSS islands is an acronym which refers to three islands in the Lesser Antilles that are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands:
The Netherlands Antilles national football team was the national team of the former Netherlands Antilles and was controlled by the Nederlands Antilliaanse Voetbal Unie. The NAVU consisted of Curaçao and Bonaire. Aruba split in 1986 and has its own team.
The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010.
The Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba serves the three Caribbean countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the three Caribbean special municipalities of the Netherlands. The court primarily hears disputes in first instance and on appeal of these six islands, and is on the same level as similar courts in the Netherlands. Since 2012, the court has also been authorized to hear inquiry procedures originated on Curaçao, of a type that would be heard in the Netherlands by the Enterprise Chamber in Amsterdam.
The Caribbean Netherlands are the three special municipalities of the Netherlands that are located in the Caribbean Sea. They consist of the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, although the term "Caribbean Netherlands" is sometimes used to refer to all of the islands in the Dutch Caribbean. In legislation, the three islands are also known as the BES islands. The islands are currently classified as public bodies in the Netherlands and as overseas countries and territories of the European Union; thus, EU law does not automatically apply.
A status referendum was held on the island of Sint Maarten on 22 June 2000.
A status referendum was held on the island of Curaçao on 8 April 2005. The option of becoming an autonomous area within the Kingdom of the Netherlands was approved by 68% of voters.
A status referendum was held on the island of Bonaire on 10 September 2004. A majority voted for integration into the Netherlands.
A status referendum was held on the island of Saba on 5 November 2004.
A status referendum was held on the island of Sint Eustatius on 8 April 2005.
The Identity card BES is a uniform identity card for residents in the Caribbean Netherlands introduced upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. The cards are machine-readable and have the size of a credit card. The front contains the words Identiteitskaart followed by the island names Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. The card also contains the coat of arms of the island of issue.
ISO 3166-2:BQ is the entry for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.
.bq is designated—but not in use—as the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba following the assignment on December 15, 2010, by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency of BQ as the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 to the area. This decision followed the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles and new status of the Caribbean Netherlands as public bodies of the Netherlands on October 10, 2010.
.cw is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Curaçao. It was created following the decision on December 15, 2010 by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency to allocate CW as the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for Curaçao. This decision followed Curaçao's new status as an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on October 10, 2010. The University of Curaçao, which already was the sponsor for .an was designated as the sponsoring organization. Registration of .cw domains is available from 1 February 2012.
The Dutch Caribbean are the territories, colonies, and countries, both former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands that are located in the Lesser Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea.
An island council was the governing body of an island territory, an administrative level of the Netherlands Antilles until its dissolution.
A status referendum was held on the island of Sint Eustatius on 14 October 1994, alongside simultaneous referendums on Bonaire, Saba and Sint Maarten. A majority voted for maintaining the status quo.
Same-sex marriage in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba is legal, following the entry into force of a law enabling same-sex couples to marry on 10 October 2012. The change to the Civil Code of the Caribbean Netherlands was proposed by the Dutch House of Representatives rather than the Government itself. The issue was very controversial on the island of Sint Eustatius, with many Christian islanders opposing the principle of the law and because of the perceived "neocolonialism" of the Netherlands imposing such a law on its overseas municipalities.
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