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Islam is a minority religion in the Netherlands Antilles. There are about 2,500 Muslims in the Islands, [1] 1000 of which are in the Caribbean Netherlands, [2] [3] or 0.31% of the population. Most Muslims are emigrants from Lebanon, Syria and Suriname. [4]
Muslims began to reach the islands during colonial times as workers, from African countries then from the Indian subcontinent. Then there was a wave of Muslims coming from Lebanon, Syria and Iraq as well as some indigenous people who converted to Islam. [1] In 1982 there were about 2000 Muslims.
The majority of the Islam community is located on Curaçao where is the only mosque: [4] Omar bin Al-Khattab Mosque, with its imam Sheikh Yakubu Mohammed. [3] There are other Islamic centers including:
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. The Antilles were 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. People from this former territory continue to be called Antilleans in the Netherlands.
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 hexagon pattern in the center of the blue band, their points up. It was adopted on 19 November 1959.
Sint Eustatius, known locally as Statia, is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality of the Netherlands.
The SSS islands, locally also known as the Windward Islands, is a collective term for the three territories of the Dutch Caribbean that are located within the Leeward Islands group of the Lesser Antilles. In order of population size, they are: Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius and Saba. In some contexts, the term is also used to refer to the entire island of Saint Martin, alongside Sint Eustatius and Saba.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Willemstad is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in the Caribbean. The diocese encompasses the territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean: the countries Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius, Saba. The cathedra is in the city of Curaçao. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, and a member of the Antilles Episcopal Conference.
The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010.
The Catholic Church in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Netherlands Antilles:
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 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 Western Europe and with several smaller island territories located in the Caribbean.
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the former nation of the Netherlands Antilles.
The Curaçao national football team represents Curaçao in international football, and is controlled by the Curaçao Football Federation.
The Caribbean Netherlands is a part of the Netherlands located outside of Europe, in the Caribbean, consisting of three so-called 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.
A common visa exists since the end of 2010 for the territories of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Caribbean Netherlands which form together the territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. The visa is not valid for the European part of the Netherlands, which is part of the Schengen Area.
The Caribbean guilder is a planned currency of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, two constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, officially slated for introduction in 2024. The Caribbean guilder is set to replace the Netherlands Antillean guilder (ANG) at par and be pegged to the U.S. dollar. The currency has an official launch scheduled for the second half of 2024; however, the launch has reportedly been pushed to 31 March 2025, pending confirmation from the ministry of finance. It is divided into 100 cents.
The Dutch Caribbean are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-west of the Lesser Antilles archipelago.
An island council was the governing body of an island territory, an administrative level of the Netherlands Antilles until its dissolution.
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.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles on 29 April and 6 May 1983 to elect the members of the island councils of its six island territories. The election was won by the People's Electoral Movement in Aruba, the Bonaire Democratic Party in Bonaire, the New Antilles Movement in Curaçao, the Windward Islands People's Movement in Saba, the Democratic Party Statia in Sint Eustatius, and the Democratic Party in Sint Maarten.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles on 7 April and 12 May 1995 to elect the members of the island councils of its five island territories. The election was won by the Bonaire Democratic Party in Bonaire, the Party for the Restructured Antilles in Curaçao, the Saba Democratic Labour Movement in Saba, the Democratic Party Statia in Sint Eustatius, and the Democratic Party in Sint Maarten.