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. People from this former territory continue to be called Antilleans in the Netherlands.
Bonaire is an island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is Kralendijk, near the ocean on the lee side of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC islands, 80 km off the coast of Venezuela. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, the ABC islands lie outside Hurricane Alley. The islands have an arid climate that attracts visitors seeking warm, sunny weather all year round. Bonaire is a popular snorkeling and scuba diving destination because of its multiple shore diving sites and easy access to the island's fringing reefs.
Saba is a Caribbean island which is the smallest special municipality of the Netherlands. It consists largely of the potentially active volcano Mount Scenery, which at 887 metres (2,910 ft) is the highest point of the entire Kingdom of the Netherlands. The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, southeast of the Virgin Islands. Together with Bonaire and Sint Eustatius it forms the BES islands.
Sint Eustatius, also known locally as Statia, is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality of the Netherlands.
Isla de Aves, or Aves Island, is a Federal Dependency of Venezuela. It has been the subject of numerous territorial disputes between the neighboring independent islands, such as Dominica, and European mother countries of surrounding dependent islands, such as the Netherlands. It is a part of the Aves Ridge and lies to the west of the Windward Islands chain at 15°40′18″N63°36′59″W. It is 375 metres (1,230 ft) in length and never more than 50 metres (160 ft) in width, and rises 4 metres (13 ft) above the sea on a calm day. Under a particular interpretation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea it could be classified as a rock, which would only give Venezuela a twelve nautical mile economic zone. However, Venezuela claims it is an island, which grants it a 200-mile (320 km) exclusive economic zone. Mostly sand, a small portion has some scrubby vegetation. It is sometimes completely submerged during hurricanes. It is 185 kilometres (115 mi) southwest of the closest land, Montserrat, 225 kilometres (140 mi) west of Dominica and 547 kilometres (340 mi) north of the Venezuelan mainland.
The Bottom is the capital and largest town of the island of Saba, the Caribbean Netherlands, and is the first stop on the way from Saba's Port in Fort Bay towards the rest of the island. In 2001, it had 462 inhabitants of the total 1,349 islanders.
Windwardside is the second largest town on the island of Saba, aptly named for being on the windward side of the island.
The Diocese of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church on the Caribbean, comprising the United States overseas dependency of the U.S. Virgin Islands, specifically the islands Saint Thomas, Saint Croix and Saint John. The Diocese of Saint Thomas is the sole suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Washington. Bishops of Saint Thomas are members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and also hold observer status with the Antilles Episcopal Conference.
Saba Bank in the Caribbean Netherlands is the largest submarine atoll in the Atlantic Ocean and has some of the richest diversity of marine life in the Caribbean Sea. In 2010 it was designated as "Saba Bank National Park", one of the National Parks of the Netherlands and was officially recognized as such in 2012.
Saba University School of Medicine is a private for-profit offshore medical school located on Saba, a special municipality of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. Saba University confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. It is owned by R3 Education, Inc. which also owns St. Matthew's University and the Medical University of the Americas
Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of 34 km2 (13 sq mi), it encompasses the southern 40% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the northern 60% of the island constitutes the French overseas collectivity of Saint Martin. Sint Maarten's capital is Philipsburg. Collectively, Sint Maarten and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Willemstad is a diocese of the Latin Rite 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 Roman 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 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 Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba or 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.
Fort Bay is the official and only port on the island of Saba and sits on the south side of the island, about 1 mile (1.6 km) by road from The Bottom. The port is very important for the island as most of its supplies arrive here by boat. The port currently has two piers.
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.
The St. Theresa Church and alternatively St. Theresa Parish, is a religious building of the Catholic church that is located in Main Road in the town of Charlestown, capital of Nevis Island and Saint Paul Charlestown Parish one of the 14 in the Caribbean and island federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Lesser Antilles.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Saba is part of the ongoing global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba on April 12, 2020. The island has a population of 1,905 people. As of 12 May, all cases were reported to have recovered. On 1 August, two new cases were imported which resolved on 9 September.
