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 former Dutch colony of Surinam, although it was relatively close by on the continent of South America, did not become part of 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 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 Constitution of the Netherlands Antilles was proclaimed on 29 March 1955 by Order-in-Council for the Kingdom. Its proclamation was specifically mandated by article 59(4) of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had been enacted on 15 December 1954. Together with the Island Regulation of the Netherlands Antilles, the Constitution describes the foundation of the government of the Netherlands Antilles.
The Party for the Restructured Antilles is a political party in Curaçao. Since 2016 it has participated in elections as the Partido Alternativa Real. With six seats the party is the largest party in the Estates of Curaçao, following the 2017 elections. With eight seats, PAR was the largest party in the first Estates of Curaçao, established in 2010 upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles.
Same-sex marriages are not performed in Aruba, Curaçao, or Sint Maarten, which are constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The islands were, however, obliged after several court rulings to register any marriage registered in the Kingdom, but they don't have to give same-sex marriages the same legal effect as opposite-sex marriages. As marriage in the European territory of the Netherlands, as well as in the Caribbean Netherlands is open to any two people, marriages performed there have to be registered in the islands.
The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands describes the political relationship between the four countries that constitute the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten in the Caribbean and the Netherlands in Europe. It is the leading legal document of the Kingdom. The Constitution of the Netherlands and the Basic Laws of the three other countries are legally subordinate to the Charter.
The Curaçao national football team represents Curaçao in International association football and is controlled by the Curaçao Football Federation.
Curaçao elects a legislature called the Estates of Curaçao. It consists of 21 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. The first Estates of Curaçao were the succession of the Island council of Curaçao, upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. In October 2012, elections were held for the Estates.
A status referendum was held on the island of Curaçao on 19 November 1993. The referendum was the result of a discussion about the future of the Netherlands Antilles, following the secession of Aruba in 1986. While most politicians, including the government of the Netherlands Antilles and the island government campaigned in favour of secession to make it form a country of its own within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the option of retaining and restructuring the Netherlands Antilles received the most votes. This resulted in the rise of the Party for the Restructured Antilles, which won the 1994 general elections in the Netherlands Antilles.
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.
.sx is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet for Sint Maarten.
.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.
The Territory of Curaçao national football team was the official football team for the Territory of Curaçao, under the control of the Curaçaose Voetbal Bond.
The politics of Curaçao reflect a nation that has experienced conflict between its two major immigrant groups. One represents immigrants from the Netherlands, now a small minority, the other descendants of African slaves, well into the majority. In 2010 Curaçao became an autonomous country as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Until that election the island country in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela was part of the Netherlands Antilles. Sint Maarten island also became autonomous, while the less-populated islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are cities governed by the Netherlands.
