The Netherlands Antilles, also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, and Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire in the Leeward Antilles. The country came into being in 1954 as the autonomous successor of the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies, and it was dissolved in 2010, when like Aruba in 1986, Sint Maarten and Curaçao gained status of constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Bonaire gained status of special municipality of Netherlands as the Caribbean Netherlands. The neighboring Dutch colony of Surinam in continental South America, did not become part of the Netherlands Antilles but became a separate autonomous country in 1954. All the 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. People from this former territory continue to be called Antilleans in the Netherlands.
Beatrix is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Bonaire is a Caribbean island in the Leeward Antilles, and is a special municipality of the Netherlands. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west (leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC islands, 80 km off the coast of Venezuela. The islands have an arid climate that attracts visitors seeking warm, sunny weather all year round, and they lie outside the Main Development Region for tropical cyclones. Bonaire is a popular snorkeling and scuba diving destination because of its multiple shore diving sites, shipwrecks and easy access to the island's fringing reefs.
.an was the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the former Netherlands Antilles. It was administered by the University of the Netherlands Antilles. The domain was phased out after the Netherlands Antilles were dissolved in 2010. As of November 2010 the .an domain remained live with over 800 domains registered under .an, including secondary levels. On 31 July 2015, use of the domain was discontinued.
The Netherlands Antilles national football team was the national team of the former Netherlands Antilles from 1958 to 2010. It was controlled by the Nederlands Antilliaanse Voetbal Unie. The NAVU consisted of Curaçao and Bonaire. Aruba split in 1986 and has its own team.
Hendrik "Henk" Timmer was a Dutch sportsman, who primarily played tennis. Born in Utrecht, Timmer also won golf tournaments, became Dutch squash champion, played badminton and hockey. He died aged 94 in Bilthoven, four days before his former doubles partner Kea Bouman. Apart from being a Dutch tennis champion, he was Swiss, Welsh and Scottish indoors champion as well.
The Netherlands Antillean Football Union was the governing body of football in the former Netherlands Antilles between September 1958 and February 2011. Its jurisdiction consisted of the islands of Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba.
The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands, commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The realm is not a federation; it is a unitary monarchy with its largest subdivision, the eponymous Netherlands, predominantly located in Northwestern Europe and with several smaller island territories located in the Caribbean.
A constitutional referendum was held in Bonaire on 17 December 2010. The new constitution would make the island a municipality within the Netherlands. Although the results showed 88% had voted against the new status, the referendum had required a 51% turnout and was subsequently declared invalid as the actual turnout was only 35%.
The Curaçao national football team represents Curaçao in international football, and is controlled by the Curaçao Football Federation.
The Caribbean Netherlands is a geographic region of the Netherlands located outside of Europe, in the Caribbean, consisting of three special municipalities. These are the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, as they are also known in legislation, or the BES islands for short. The islands are officially classified as public bodies in the Netherlands and as overseas territories of the European Union; as such, European Union law does not automatically apply to them.
The Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee, generally abbreviated NAOC was a member of the IOC from 1950 to 2011. It constituted the National Olympic Committee of the dissolved country Netherlands Antilles which consisted of the islands Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. The organization is a federation of 31 sports federations. So far only FINA, FIFA and CONCACAF recognize Curaçao as successor of Netherlands Antilles.
The sport of association football in the island of Bonaire is run by the Bonaire Football Federation. The association administers the men's national team, the women's national team, as well as the Bonaire League.
The Royal Dutch Lawn Tennis Association (KNLTB) is the national governing body of tennis in the Netherlands. It was constituted in 1899 in Amsterdam by 15 Dutch tennis associations as the Dutch Lawn Tennis Association and received the description "royal" upon its 40th birthday.
The Netherlands Antilles Tennis Federation was the governing body of tennis in the Netherlands Antilles. It was responsible for the Netherlands Antilles Davis Cup team. After the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, it represented three newly formed association in 2011:
The year 1930 in tennis was a complex mixture of mainly amateur tournaments composed of international, invitational, national, exhibition, team events and joined by a marginal Pro Tour encompassing only British, German, French and American Pro events.
The Bonaire national football team is the national football team of the Caribbean island of Bonaire, a public body of the Netherlands. It is under the control of the Bonaire Football Federation. It became a member of the CFU and an associate member of CONCACAF on 19 April 2013. after which it became a full CONCACAF member on 10 June 2014 The team can participate in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Caribbean Cup because of their membership in the confederation and sub-confederation. However, Bonaire is not a member of FIFA and therefore can not compete in the FIFA World Cup or other FIFA events.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba since 10 October 2012, the effective date of legislation passed by the States General of the Netherlands enabling same-sex couples to marry. The Caribbean Netherlands was the first jurisdiction in the Caribbean to legalise same-sex marriage, and was followed a few months later by French territories, including Guadeloupe and Martinique, in May 2013.
Association football is a popular sport on the Caribbean island of Saba.
