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 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.
Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a Lesser Antilles island in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about 65 km (40 mi) north of the Venezuela coast. It is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Together with Aruba and Bonaire, it forms the ABC islands. Collectively, Curaçao, Aruba, and other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean. It is the largest of the ABC islands in both area and population as well as the largest of the Dutch Caribbean.
Willemstad is the capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its dissolution in 2010. The historic centre of the city consists of four quarters: the Punda and Otrobanda, which are separated by the Sint Anna Bay, an inlet that leads into the large natural harbour called the Schottegat, as well as the Scharloo and Pietermaai Smal quarters, which are across from each other on the smaller Waaigat harbour. Willemstad is home to the Curaçao synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas. The city centre, with its unique architecture and harbour entry, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Papiamento or Papiamentu is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands, with official status in Aruba and Curaçao.
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 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.
Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church located at 2535 Collingwood Boulevard in the Old West End of Toledo, Ohio. The cathedral is the mother church of the 122 parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo. This cathedral is unique architecturally in that it was designed in the Spanish Plateresque style. It was designed with Toledo's Sister City, Toledo, Spain in mind. Finished in 1931, it was built in the spirit of the great European cathedrals of the Middle Ages.
The economy of Curaçao is a high income economy, as defined by the World Bank. The island has a well-developed infrastructure with strong tourism and financial services sectors. Shipping, international trade, oil refining, and other activities related to the port of Willemstad also make a significant contribution to the economy.
The history of the Jews in Curaçao can be traced back to the mid-17th century, when the first Jewish immigrants began to arrive. The first Jews in Curaçao were Sephardi Jewish immigrants from the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. These immigrants founded Congregation Mikvé Israel-Emanuel, the oldest continuously used synagogue in the Americas. The first Jew to settle in Curaçao was a Dutch-Jewish interpreter named Samuel Cohen, who arrived on board a Dutch fleet in 1634. By the mid-1700s, the community was the most prosperous in the Americas and many of the Jewish communities in Latin America, primarily in Colombia and Venezuela, resulted from the influx of Curaçaoan Jews.
The Basilica of St. Anne It is a religious building that functions as Catholic Minor Basilica and at the same time as co-cathedral of the Diocese of Willemstad on the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela. The other being the main cathedral dedicated to Our Lady the Queen of the Holy Rosary of the same city.
The St. Francis of Assisi Church also alternatively called Pro Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi is a religious building belonging to the Catholic Church and serves as the pro-cathedral or temporary cathedral in the city of Oranjestad, on the Caribbean island of Aruba, an autonomous country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Lesser Antilles.
The St. Philomena's Church is a religious building belonging to the Catholic Church located in the town of Paradera, on the Caribbean island of Aruba, an autonomous country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Lesser Antilles.
The St. Louis Bertrand Church is a religious building affiliated with the Catholic Church and is located in the town of Rincon on the Caribbean island of Bonaire, organized within the Dutch Caribbean as a special municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The St. Bernard Church is a religious building belonging to the Catholic Church and is located in the city of Kralendijk the capital of the Caribbean island of Bonaire, a territory in the Caribbean Dutch organized as a special municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Antilles.
The Our Lady of Coromoto Church also known as the Parish of Our Lady of Coromoto is a religious building belonging to the Catholic Church and is located in the town of Antriol on the island of Bonaire, a dependent territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea.
The Sacred Heart Church is a religious building belonging to the Catholic Church and is located in the town of The Bottom capital of the Caribbean island of Saba a dependent territory that has the status of special municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean sea or sea of the Antilles.
The Holy Rosary Church, also known as the Queen of the Holy Rosary Church, is a religious building affiliated with the Catholic church in the small town of Hell's Gate on the island of Saba, a dependent territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Lesser Antilles, Caribbean Sea.
Pietermaai is a neighbourhood and former suburb of Willemstad, Curaçao. Pietermaai was founded in 1675, and has been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site.
