- published: 17 Mar 2010
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- author: TripFilms
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- Adélie Land
- Aloe
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Adélie Land
Adélie Land is a claimed territory in the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a coastline area along the Great Southern Ocean back to the South Pole. The territory is claimed by France as one of five districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, although not all nations have given it diplomatic recognition.
Adélie Land lies between 136° E (near Pourquoi Pas Point at 66°12′S 136°11′E / 66.2°S 136.183°E / -66.2; 136.183) and 142° E (near Point Alden at 66°48′S 142°02′E / 66.8°S 142.033°E / -66.8; 142.033), with a shore length of 350 kilometres (220 mi) and with its hinterland extending as a sector about 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) toward the South Pole. It borders on the Australian Antarctic Territory both West and East, namely on Clarie Land (part of Wilkes Land) in the West, and George V Land in the East. The total land area, mostly ice covered, is estimated at 432,000 square kilometres (167,000 sq mi).
The coast was discovered in 1840 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville (1790–1842) who named it after his wife, Adélie.
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Anguilla
Anguilla (
/æŋˈɡwɪlə/ ang-GWIL-ə) is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territory consists of the main island of Anguilla itself, approximately 26 km (16 mi) long by 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population. The island's capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is 91 km2 (35 sq mi), with a population of approximately 13,500 (2006 estimate).
Anguilla has become a popular tax haven, having no capital gains, estate, profit or other forms of direct taxation on either individuals or corporations.
Anguilla was first settled by Amerindian tribes who migrated from South America. The earliest Amerindian artifacts found on Anguilla have been dated to around 1300 BC, and remains of settlements date from 600 AD. The date of European discovery is uncertain: some sources claim that Columbus sighted the island in 1493, while others state that the island was first discovered by the French in 1564 or 1565. The name Anguilla derives from the word for "eel" in any of various Romance languages (modern Spanish: anguila; French: anguille; Italian: anguilla; Portuguese: enguia), probably chosen because of the island's eel-like shape.
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Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda (
i/ænˈtiːɡə ænd bɑrˈbjuːdə/; Spanish for "ancient" and "bearded") is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands (including Great Bird, Green, Guinea, Long, Maiden and York Islands and further south, the island of Redonda). The permanent population number approximately 81,800 (at the 2011 Census) and the capital and largest port and city is St. John's, on Antigua.
Separated by a few nautical miles, Antigua and Barbuda are in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles, roughly at 17 degrees north of the Equator. The country is nicknamed "Land of 365 Beaches" due to the many beaches surrounding the islands. Its governance, language, and culture have all been strongly influenced by the British Empire, of which the country was formerly a part.
Antigua was first settled by Archaic Age hunter-gatherer Amerindians, erroneously referred to as Siboney or Ciboney.Carbon-dating has established that the earliest settlements started around 3100 BC. They were succeeded by the Ceramic Age pre-Columbian Arawak-speaking Saladoid people who migrated from the lower Orinoco River.
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Arguin
Arguin (Portuguese: Arguim) is an island off the western coast of Mauritania in the Bay of Arguin, at 20° 36' N., 16° 27' W. It is six km long by two broad. Off the island are extensive and dangerous reefs. It is now part of The Banc d'Arguin National Park.
Arguin has long been coveted by seafaring nations for its strategic location, and control over the island has changed hands numerous times. The first European to visit the island was the Portuguese explorer Nuno Tristão in 1443. In 1445, Prince Henry the Navigator set up a trading post on the island, which acquired gum arabic and slaves for Portugal. By 1455, 800 slaves were shipped from Arguin to Portugal every year.
In 1633, during its war against Spain (which then controlled Portugal), the Netherlands seized control of Arguin. It remained under Dutch rule until 1678, although Dutch governance was interrupted by English rule in 1665. France briefly controlled the island in September 1678, but the island was then abandoned until 1685.
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Arikok National Park
The National Park takes up approximately 18 percent of the island, including three primary geological formations, the Aruba lava formation, a quartz diorite formation, and a limestone formation that extends inward from the coast. These formations have directly influenced Aruba's human settlement, as well as its natural wonders.
Aruba is home to several species which only live on the island, including two unique species of snake and two bird species. Rock outcroppings also create micro-climatic conditions to support these unique plant and animal species, as well as settlements. These are located within the Arikok National Park almost exclusively. Inside the park are some of the island's oldest Arawak paintings, and has since drawn attention from the government.
The two snake species are the cascabel (Crotalus durissus uni-color), and the santanero (Leptodeira bakeri), called the (Aruban) Baker's cat-eyed snake. The shoco (Athene cunicu-laria arubensis), known as the Aruban burrowing owl, and the prikichi (Aratinga pertinax arubensis), the Aruban parakeet. Another indigenous species, the kododo blauw (Cnemido- phorus arubensus) is the Aruban whiptail lizard.
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Aruba
Aruba ( /əˈruːbə/ ə-ROO-bə, Dutch pronunciation: [aˈruba]) is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km (approx.) east of Guajira Peninsula (Colombia). Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles.
Aruba is one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, together with the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten whose citizens share a single nationality: Dutch citizen. Aruba has no administrative subdivisions, but for census purposes is divided into 8 regions. Its capital is Oranjestad. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. It has a land area of 179 square kilometres (69 sq mi) and is densely populated with a total of 101,484 inhabitants at the 2010 Census. It lies outside the hurricane belt. It is also home to the endemic Aruba Island Rattlesnake.
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Baby Beach, Aruba
Coordinates: 12°24′50″N 69°52′47″W / 12.4138°N 69.8796°W / 12.4138; -69.8796
Baby Beach is a shallow, sheltered man-made lagoon located in Seroe Colorado, on the southeast end of the island of Aruba, and is frequented by locals and tourists alike. It is named Baby Beach as the water is so calm it is safe for very small children. The snorkeling at this location is great for children or travelers new to snorkeling.
The beach is popular mostly due to the lack of waves and the shallow water. The Valero oil refinery is within sight of Baby Beach. However, because of the direction of local currents, Baby Beach still has very clean, clear water. In the past, Baby Beach's popularity led it to become somewhat littered. However, clean-up programs have largely restored the beach to a pristine condition.
The water level is generally waist high on the inside, but towards the inlet, it deepens significantly. Marine life in the lagoon include barracuda, squid, parrot fish, blowfish, angelfish, eels, and many other small fish. The range of most of these animals is limited to the inlet.
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Bandar-Abbas
Bandar-Abbas (Persian: بندرعباس) or Bandar-e ‘Abbās (Persian: بندر عباس), also Romanized as Bandar ‘Abbās, Bandar ‘Abbāsī, and Bandar-e ‘Abbās; formerly known as Cambarão and Port Comorão to Portuguese traders, as Gombroon to English traders and as Gamrun or Gumrun to Dutch merchants) is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on the southern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf. The city occupies a strategic position on the narrow Straits of Hormuz, and it is the location of the main base of the Iranian Navy. Bandar Abbas is the capital and also largest city of the province Hormozgān. At the 2006 census, its population was 367,508, in 89,404 families.
Bandar Abbas has always been a port, and as such its various names have all addressed this function. The most common name over time (Gameroon) has traditionally been said to derive from Persian gümrük, customhouse (from Late Greek kommerkion, from Latin commercium, "commerce"), but is now speculated to be from Persian kamrūn, shrimp (which in Portuguese is camarão, similar to the former Portuguese name).
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Banjarmasin
Banjarmasin (aka Bandjermasin or Bandjarmasin) is the capital of South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is located on a delta island near the junction of the Barito and Martapura rivers. As a result, Banjarmasin is sometimes called the "River City". Its population was 625,395 at the 2010 Census.
Banjarmasin is served by the Syamsudin Noor Airport, located about 25 km outside the town. The town is also served by a port, named Trisakti Harbour. A fairly important deepwater port, Pelabuhan Trisakti Banjarmasin is the trade center of the Barito basin; exports include rubber, pepper, timber, petroleum, coal, gold, and diamonds. Passenger ships and ferries to and from Java also carry their operation here.
Main economic sectors in order of their contribution to Banjarmasin’s GDP (2005): transportation and communication (26.1%), processing industries (24.9%) and trade and commerce (16.5%). Main processing industries are: plywood, rattan and rubber manufacturing.
The city is laced with flood-prone waterways, and many houses are built on rafts or stilts over the water. Many of such waterways are also used for travel, using relatively small rowboats (only major rivers are accessible by larger speedboats, tugboats, longboats, and barges).
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Bantam (city)
Coordinates: 6°02′33″S 106°09′39″E / 6.0424495°S 106.1609316°E / -6.0424495; 106.1609316
Bantam (Indonesian: Banten) in Banten province near the western end of Java was a strategically important site and formerly a major trading city, with a secure harbor on the Sunda Strait through which all ocean-going traffic passed, at the mouth of Banten River that provided a navigable passage for light craft into the island's interior which itself provides a good access to the hinterland.
In the 5th century, Banten was part of the Kingdom of Tarumanagara. The Lebak relic inscriptions, found in lowland villages on the edge of Ci Danghiyang, Munjul, Pandeglang, Banten, were discovered in 1947 and contains 2 lines of poetry with Pallawa script and Sanskrit language. The inscriptions mentioned about the courage of king Purnawarman. After the collapse of the kingdom Tarumanagara following attack by Srivijaya, power in the western Java fell to the Kingdom of Sunda. The Chinese source, Chu-fan-chi, written circa 1200, Chou Ju-kua mentioned that in the early 13th Century, Srivijaya still ruled Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, and western Java (Sunda). The source identifies the port of Sunda as strategic and thriving, pepper from Sunda being among the best in quality. The people worked in agriculture and their houses were built on wooden poles (rumah panggung). However, robbers and thieves plagued the country. It was highly possible that the port of Sunda mentioned by Chou Ju-kua was probably refer to the port of Banten.
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Barbados
Coordinates: 13°10′N 59°33′W / 13.167°N 59.55°W / 13.167; -59.55
Barbados (i/bɑrˈbeɪdɒs/ or /bɑrˈbeɪdoʊs/) is a sovereign island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 34 kilometres (21 mi) in length and up to 23 kilometres (14 mi) in width, covering an area of 431 square kilometres (166 sq mi). It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about 168 kilometres (104 mi) east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt.
Barbados was initially visited by the Spanish around the late 1400s to early 1500s and first appears on a Spanish map from 1511. The Spanish explorers may have plundered the island of whatever native peoples resided therein to become slaves. The Portuguese visited in 1536, but they too left it unclaimed, with their only remnants being an introduction of wild hogs for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited. The first English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados in 1624. They took possession of it in the name of the British king James I. Two years later in 1627 the first permanent settlers arrived from England and it became an English and later British colony.
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Belize
Belizei/bəˈliːz/ (formerly British Honduras) is a country located on the north eastern coast of Central America and it is the only country in the area where English is the official language, although Kriol and Spanish are more commonly spoken. Belize is bordered to the north by Mexico, south and west by Guatemala, and to the east by the Caribbean Sea. Its mainland is about 290 kilometres (180 mi) long and 110 kilometres (68 mi) wide.
With 22,960 square kilometres (8,860 sq mi) of land and a population of only 333,200 inhabitants (2010 est.), Belize possesses the lowest population density in Central America. The country's population growth rate of 2.21% (2008 est.), however, is the highest in the region and one of the highest in the western hemisphere. Belize's abundance of terrestrial and marine species, and its diversity of ecosystems give it a key place within the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.
Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages and it is the only nation in the region with a British colonial heritage but as a part of the Western Caribbean Zone, it also shares a common heritage with the Caribbean portions of other Central American countries. In general, Belize is considered to be a Central American nation with strong ties to both the Caribbean and Latin America. Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA).
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Bermuda
Bermuda ( /bɜrˈmjuːdə/), officially the Bermudas or Somers Islands, is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about 1,030 kilometres (640 mi) to the west-northwest. It is about 1,373 kilometres (853 mi) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia and 1,770 kilometres (1,100 mi) northeast of Miami, Florida, USA. Its capital city is Hamilton.
Bermuda was discovered in 1505 by Spanish sea captain Juan de Bermúdez, after whom the islands are named. Apparently uninhabited, he claimed them for the Spanish Empire. Although he paid two visits to the archipelago, Bermúdez was persuaded never to set foot on any of the islands by the dangerous reef surrounding them. Subsequent Spanish or other visitors are believed to have released the feral pigs that were abundant on the island when settlement began. In 1609, the Virginia Company, which had established Virginia and Jamestown on the American continent two years earlier, established a settlement on behalf of the English colonial empire. Initially, it was administered as an extension of Virginia by the Company until 1614, before its successor, the Somers Isles Company, took over until 1684. Bermuda then became a British colony following the 1707 unification of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the unified Kingdom of Great Britain. After Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949, Bermuda became the oldest (and, since the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the most populous) remaining British overseas territory. Its first capital, St George's, was established in 1612 and is the oldest continuously-inhabited English town in the Americas.
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Bonaire
Bonaire ( /bɒˈnɛər/; Dutch: Bonaire, Papiamentu: Boneiru) is a special municipality (officially public body) of the Netherlands, consisting of the Caribbean island of Bonaire and, nestled in its western crescent, the uninhabited islet of Klein Bonaire. Together with Aruba and Curaçao it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles. The name Bonaire is thought to have originally come from the Caiquetio word 'Bonay'. The early Spanish and Dutch modified its spelling to Bojnaj and also Bonaire, which means "Good Air".
Bonaire was part of the Netherlands Antilles until the country's dissolution on 10 October 2010, when the island (including Klein Bonaire) became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands.
Bonaire's earliest known inhabitants were the Caquetio Indians, a branch of the Arawak who came by canoe from Venezuela in about AD 1000. Archeological remains of Caquetio culture have been found at certain sites northeast of Kralendijk and near Lac Bay. Caquetio rock paintings and petroglyphs have been preserved in caves at Spelonk, Onima, Ceru Pungi, and Ceru Crita-Cabai. The Caquetios were apparently a very tall people, for the Spanish name for the ABC Islands was 'las Islas de los Gigantes' or 'the islands of the giants.'
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Bouvet Island
Bouvetøya (English: Bouvet Island), is an uninhabited subantarctic volcanic island and dependency of Norway located in the South Atlantic Ocean. Lying at the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, it is the most remote island in the world. The island has an area of 49 square kilometers (19 sq mi), of which 93 percent is covered by a glacier. The center of the island is an ice-filled crater of an inactive volcano. Along the coast lie some skerries and one island, Larsøya. Nyrøysa, created by a rock slide in the late 1950s, is the only easy place to land and features a weather station.
The island was first spotted on 1 January 1739 by and has since been named for Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier. He recorded inaccurate coordinates and the island was not sighted again until James Lindsay named it Lindsay Island in 1808. The first claim of landing, although disputed, was by Benjamin Morrell. The island was claimed for the British Crown by George Norris in 1825, who named it Liverpool Island. He also spotted a nearby phantom island, Thompson Island. The First Norvegia Expedition landed on the island in 1927 and claimed it for Norway. After a dispute with the UK, it was declared a Norwegian dependency in 1930. It became a nature reserve in 1971.
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British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time, and covered more than 33,700,000 km2 (13,012,000 sq mi), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.
During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia. A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England (and then, following union between England and Scotland in 1707, Great Britain) the dominant colonial power in North America and India. The loss of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after a war of independence deprived Britain of some of its oldest and most populous colonies.
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Burma
Burma
i/ˈbɜrmə/ BUR-mə, also known as Myanmar i/ˌmjɑːnˈmɑr/ MYAHN--MAR, is a country in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is bordered by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. One-third of Burma's total perimeter of 1,930 kilometres (1,200 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. At 676,578 km2 (261,227 sq mi), it is the 40th largest country in the world and the second largest country in Southeast Asia. Burma is also the 24th most populous country in the world with over 60.28 million people.
Burma is home to some of the early civilizations of Southeast Asia including the Pyu and the Mon. In the 9th century, the Burmans of the Kingdom of Nanzhao, entered the upper Irrawaddy valley and, following the establishment of the Pagan Empire in the 1050s, the Burmese language and culture slowly became dominant in the country. During this period, Theravada Buddhism gradually became the predominant religion of the country. The Pagan Empire fell due to the Mongol invasions (1277–1301), and several warring states emerged. In the second half of the 16th century, the country was reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty which for a brief period was the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Burma as well as Manipur and Assam. The country was colonized by Britain following three Anglo-Burmese Wars (1824–1885).
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Canada
Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km2 (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.
The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.
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Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (English /kəˈnɛəri ˈaɪləndz/; Spanish: Islas Canarias [ˈizlas kaˈnaɾjas, ˈihlah kaˈnaɾjas]), also known as the Canaries (Spanish: Canarias), is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union. The islands include (from largest to smallest): Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Este and Roque del Oeste. The Canary Islands are legally recognized as a nationality of Spain. Geographically it is a part of the African Continent.[citation needed]
The archipelago's beaches, climate and important natural attractions, especially Teide National Park and Mount Teide (the third tallest volcano in the world measured from its base on the ocean floor), make it a major tourist destination, with over 12 million visitors per year, especially Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. The islands have a subtropical climate, with long warm summers and moderately warm winters. Due to their location above the temperature inversion layer, these islands are ideal for astronomical observation. For this reason, two professional observatories, Teide Observatory on the island of Tenerife and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, have been built on the islands.
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Caribbean islands
The Caribbean (pronounced /ˌkærɨˈbiːən/ or /kəˈrɪbiən/) is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north. From the peninsula of Florida on the mainland of the United States, the islands stretch 1,200 miles (1,900 km) southeastward, then 500 miles (800 km) south, then west along the north coast of Venezuela on the South American mainland.
Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays. These islands generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea.
The Caribbean islands are part of the somewhat larger West Indies grouping, which consists of the Greater Antilles on the north, the Lesser Antilles on the south and east (including the Leeward Antilles), as well as the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands (the Lucayan Archipelago, which does not border the Caribbean Sea). Due to its proximity to the equator, the sun rises from 3am EST to 5am EST.[citation needed]
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Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles.
The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the numerous islands of the West Indies, and adjacent coasts, are collectively known as the Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest salt water seas and has an area of about 2,754,000 km² (1,063,000 sq. mi.). The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 m (25,220 ft) below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays: the Gulf of Gonâve, Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, Gulf of Paria and Gulf of Honduras.
The name "Caribbean" is derived from the Caribs, one of the dominant American Indian groups in the region at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. After the discovery of the West Indies by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Spanish term Antillas was assigned to the lands; stemming from this, "Sea of the Antilles" is a common alternative name for the Caribbean Sea in various European languages. During the first century of development, the Spanish dominance was undisputed.
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Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands ( /ˈkeɪmən/ or /keɪˈmæn/) is a British Overseas Territory located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica. The Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is a major world offshore financial centre.
The Cayman Islands were first logged as sighted by Christopher Columbus on 10 May 1503 during his fourth and final voyage to the New World. He named the islands Las Tortugas after the large number of sea turtles observed there. The first recorded English visitor to the islands was Sir Francis Drake in 1586. He subsequently named the islands "Cayman" after caiman, a Neo-Taino word for "alligator".
The Cayman Islands remained largely uninhabited until the 17th century. While there is no archaeological evidence for an indigenous people on the islands, a variety of settlers from various backgrounds made their home on the islands, including pirates, refugees from the Spanish Inquisition, shipwrecked sailors, and deserters from Oliver Cromwell's army in Jamaica.
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Cirebon
Cirebon (formerly referred to as Cheribon in English) is a port city on the north coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is located in the province of West Java near the provincial border with Central Java, approximately 297 km east of Jakarta, at 6°43′S 108°34′E / 6.717°S 108.567°E / -6.717; 108.567. The urban core of Cirebon is very small in extent, however, its dense suburbs sprawl into the regency.
The seat of a former Sultanate, the city's West and Central Java border location have seen its history influenced by both Sundanese and Javanese culture and also Chinese.
Being on the border of "Sunda" (i.e., West Java) and "Jawa" (i.e., Central Java), many of Cirebon's residents speak a dialect that is a mix of Sundanese and Javanese, and it is thought that the word "cirebon" derives from the Javanese word, caruban, meaning "mixed", a reference to the city's mix of Sundanese, Javanese, Chinese, and Arabic cultural elements. Alternatively, it could be derived from the Sundanese words of "Ci" (water or river) and "Rebon" ("shrimp"). (Indeed the main production of the city is fishery including shrimps.
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Colombia
Colombia (
/kəˈlʌmbiə/ kə-LUM-biə, or /kəˈlɒmbiə/ kə-LOM-biə), officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: República de Colombia [reˈpuβlika ðe koˈlombja]), is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the northwest by Panama; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Colombia has maritime borders with Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Colombia is the 26th largest country by area and the fourth largest in South America after Brazil, Argentina and Peru. With over 46 million people, Colombia is the 27th largest country in the world by population and has the second largest population of any Spanish-speaking country in the world, after Mexico. Colombia is a middle power, with the fourth largest economy in Latin America, and the third largest in South America. Colombia is famous for the production of coffee, flowers, emeralds, coal, and oil. All of these products make up the primary sector of economy.
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Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east.
Costa Rica, which means "Rich Coast", constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949. It is the only Latin American country included in the list of the world's 22 older democracies. Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in the Human Development Index (HDI), ranked 69th in the world in 2011. Also was cited by the UNDP in 2010 as one of the countries that have attained much higher human development than other countries at the same income levels, and in 2011 was highlighted by UNDP for being a good performer on environmental sustainability, and better record on human development and inequality than the median of their region. It was also the only country to meet all five criteria established to measure environmental sustainability. The country is ranked fifth in the world, and first among the Americas, in terms of the 2012 Environmental Performance Index.
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Crown Dependencies
The Crown Dependencies are self-governing possessions of the British Crown, as opposed to overseas territories of the United Kingdom. They comprise the Channel Island Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.
Being independently administered jurisdictions, none forms part of the United Kingdom nor of the European Union.
"The Crown" is defined differently in each Crown Dependency. In Jersey, statements in the 21st century of the constitutional position by the Law Officers of the Crown define it as the "Crown in right of Jersey", with all Crown land in the Bailiwick of Jersey belonging to the Crown in right of Jersey and not to the Crown Estate of the United Kingdom. Legislation of the Isle of Man defines the "Crown in right of the Isle of Man" as being separate from the "Crown in right of the United Kingdom". In Guernsey, legislation refers to the "Crown in right of the Bailiwick", and the Law Officers of the Crown of Guernsey submitted that "The Crown in this context ordinarily means the Crown in right of the république of the Bailiwick of Guernsey" and that this comprises "the collective governmental and civic institutions, established by and under the authority of the Monarch, for the governance of these Islands, including the States of Guernsey and legislatures in the other Islands, the Royal Court and other courts, the Lieutenant Governor, Parish authorities, and the Crown acting in and through the Privy Council." This constitutional concept is also worded as the "Crown in right of the Bailiwick of Guernsey".
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Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, (i/ˈkjuːbə/; Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] (
listen)) is an island country in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. To the north of Cuba lies the United States (140 km or 90 mi away) and the Bahamas, Mexico is to the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic are to the southeast.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on and claimed the island now occupied by Cuba, for the Kingdom of Spain. Cuba remained a territory of Spain until the Spanish–American War ended in 1898, and gained formal independence from the U.S. in 1902. A fragile democracy, increasingly dominated by radical politics eventually evolved, solidified by the Cuban Constitution of 1940, but was definitely quashed in 1952 by former president Fulgencio Batista, and an authoritarian regime was set up, intensifying and catalyzing already rampant corruption, political repression and crippling economic regulations.Batista was ousted in January 1959 by the July 26 movement, and a new administration under Fidel Castro established, which had by 1965 evolved into a single-party state under the revived Communist Party of Cuba, which holds power to date.
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Curaçao
Curaçao (Dutch: Curaçao;Papiamentu: Kòrsou) is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao (Dutch: Land Curaçao, Papiamentu: Pais Kòrsou), which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao ("Little Curaçao"), is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its capital is Willemstad.
Curaçao is the largest and most populous of the three ABC islands (for Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) of the Lesser Antilles, specifically the Leeward Antilles. It has a land area of 444 square kilometres (171 square miles). As of 1 January 2009, it had a population of 141,766.
Prior to 10 October 2010, when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved, Curaçao was administered as the Island Territory of Curaçao (Dutch: Eilandgebied Curaçao, Papiamentu: Teritorio Insular di Kòrsou), one of five island territories of the former Netherlands Antilles. The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code CUW and the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code CW has been assigned to Curaçao.
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Dejima
Dejima (出島?, literally "exit island"; Portuguese: Dejima or Decima, Dutch: Desjima or Deshima or sometimes latinized as Decima or Dezima) was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634 by local merchants. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to constrain foreign traders as part of sakoku, the self-imposed isolationist policy. Originally built to house Portuguese traders, it was used by the Dutch as a trading post from 1641 until 1853. Covering an area of 120 m x 75 m (9000 square meters, or 0.9 hectares), it later was integrated into the city.
"Dejima Dutch Trading Post" has been designated a Japanese national historic site.
In 1543 Portuguese traders were the first to land in Japan, on Tanegashima. Six years later the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier landed in Kagoshima. At first Portuguese traders were based in Hirado, but they moved in search of a better port. In 1570 daimyo Ōmura Sumitada converted to Catholicism (choosing Bartolomeu as his Christian name) and made a deal with the Portuguese to develop Nagasaki; soon the port was open for trade. In 1580 Sumitada gave the jurisdiction of Nagasaki to the Jesuits, and the Portuguese obtained the de facto monopoly on the silk trade with China through Macau.
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Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark, pronounced [ˈkɔŋəʁiːəð ˈdanmɑɡ̊] ( listen)) is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The kingdom is a unitary state with some power being devolved from Denmark proper to Greenland and the Faroe Islands; this polity is referred to as the Danish Realm. Denmark proper is the hegemonial area, where judicial, executive, and legislative power resides. The Faroe Islands are defined to be a community of people within the kingdom, and the Greenlandic people are defined as a separate people with the right to self-determination.
Denmark is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, located southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland and many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.
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Dominica
Dominica ( /ˌdɒmɪˈniːkə/ DOM-i-NEE-kə;French: Dominique; Kali‘na (Carib): Wai‘tu kubuli), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is 750 square kilometres (290 sq mi) and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of 1,447 metres (4,747 ft). The Commonwealth of Dominica had a population of 71,293 at the 2011 Census. The capital is Roseau.
Dominica has been nicknamed the "Nature Isle of the Caribbean" for its unspoiled natural beauty. It is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles, still being formed by geothermal-volcanic activity, as evidenced by the world's second-largest hot spring, Boiling Lake. The island features lush mountainous rainforests, home of many rare plant, animal, and bird species. There are xeric areas in some of the western coastal regions, but heavy rainfall can be expected inland. The Sisserou Parrot (also known as the Imperial Amazon), the island's national bird, is featured on the national flag. Dominica's economy is heavily dependent on tourism, agriculture and heavy taxation.
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Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic (i/dəˌmɪnɨkən rɨˈpʌblɪk/; Spanish: República Dominicana [reˈpuβlika ðominiˈkana]) is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries. Both by area and population, the Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation (after Cuba), with 48,442 square kilometres (18,704 sq mi) and an estimated 10 million people.
Taínos inhabited what is now the Dominican Republic since the 7th century. Christopher Columbus landed on it in 1492, and it became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, namely Santo Domingo, the country's capital and Spain's first capital in the New World. Santo Domingo can boast of many firsts in the Americas, including the first cathedral, and castle, both in the Ciudad Colonial area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Dutch Coromandel
Coromandel was a governorate of the Dutch East India Company on the Coromandel Coast between 1610 until the company's liquidation in 1802. It then became a colony of the Kingdom of the Netherlands until 1825, when it was relinquished to the British according to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Dutch presence in the region started by the capture of Pulicat from the Portuguese. It is part of what is today called Dutch India.
In 1606, a Dutch ship stopped on the shores of the Karimanal Village near Pulicat, north of the mouth of the lake requesting water. Local Muslims offered food and help to the Dutch. They struck a trade partnership to procure and supply local merchandise to the Dutch for trade in the East Indies.
Queen Eraivi, a wife of King Venkata II, ruled Prelaya Kaveri and during her reign in 1608 the Dutch East India Company was given permission to build a fort and do trading. They built a fort named Geldria at Pulicat as a defense from local kings and the Portuguese, from where they soon monopolized the lucrative textiles trade with the East Indies and other countries in the region. Under pressure from the Dutch, an English trading post was established in 1619, but this post was disbanded in 1622. The Dutch establishment met with stiff resistance from the Portuguese, who conducted several attacks on the harbor. In 1611, Venkatatapati turned against the Portuguese and the Jesuits were ordered to leave Chandragiri and the Dutch were permitted to build a fort at Pulicat.
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Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies (Dutch: Nederlands-Indië; Indonesian: Hindia-Belanda) was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Dutch government in 1800.
During the 19th century, Dutch possessions and hegemony were expanded, reaching their greatest territorial extent in the early 20th century. This colony which later formed modern-day Indonesia was one of the most valuable European colonies under Dutch Empire's rule, and contributed to Dutch global prominence in spice and cash crop trade in 19th to early 20th century. The colonial social order was based on rigid racial and social structures with a Dutch elite living separate but linked to their native subjects.
Japan's World War II occupation dismantled much of the Dutch colonial state and economy. Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Indonesian nationalists declared independence which they fought to secure during the subsequent Indonesian National Revolution. The Netherlands formally recognized Indonesian sovereignty at the 1949 Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference with the exception of the Netherlands New Guinea (Western New Guinea), which was ceded to Indonesia in 1963 under the provisions of the New York Agreement.
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Dutch Malacca
Dutch Malacca (1641–1825) was the longest period that Malacca was under foreign control. The Dutch ruled for almost 183 years with intermittent British occupation during the Napoleonic Wars (1795–1818). This era saw relative peace with little serious interruption from the Malay kingdoms due to the understanding earlier on forged between the Dutch and the Sultanate of Johor in 1606. This time also marked the decline of the importance of Malacca. The Dutch preferred Batavia (present day Jakarta) as their economic and administrative center in the region and their hold in Malacca was to prevent the loss of the city to other European powers and subsequently the competition that would naturally come with it. Thus in the 17th century, with Malacca ceased to be an important port, the Johor Sultanate became the dominant local power in the region, due to the opening of its ports and the alliance with the Dutch.
In the early 17th century, the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) began the campaign to destroy Portuguese power in the East. At that time, the Portuguese had transformed Malacca into an impregnable fortress (the Fortaleza de Malaca, controlling access to the sea lanes of the Straits of Malacca and the spice trade there. The Dutch started by launching small incursions and skirmishes against the Portuguese. The first serious attempt was the siege of Malacca in 1606 by the third VOC fleet from Holland with eleven ships, led by Admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge that lead to the naval battle of Cape Rachado. Although the Dutch were routed, the Portuguese fleet of Martim Afonso de Castro, the Viceroy of Goa; suffered heavier casualties and the battle rallied the forces of the Sultanate of Johor in an alliance with the Dutch and later on with the Acehnese.
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Eagle Beach
Eagle Beach is a beach and neighborhood of Oranjestad, Aruba. The neighborhood is famous for its many low-rise resorts and wide public beach. It has soft white sand and has been rated one of the best beaches in the world.
Eagle Beach, Aruba
Coordinates: 12°32′57″N 70°03′28″W / 12.5492°N 70.0579°W / 12.5492; -70.0579
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El Salvador
El Salvadori/ɛl ˈsælvədɔr/ (Spanish: República de El Salvador, literally 'Republic of The Savior') is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country as well as Central America. El Salvador borders the Pacific Ocean on the west, and the countries of Guatemala to the north and Honduras to the east. Its easternmost region lies on the coast of the Gulf of Fonseca, opposite Nicaragua. As of 2009, El Salvador had a population of approximately 5,744,113 people, composed predominantly of Mestizos.
The colón was the official currency of El Salvador from 1892 to 2001, when it adopted the U.S. Dollar.
In 2010 El Salvador ranked in the top 10 among Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index and in the top 3 in Central America (behind Costa Rica and Panama), due in part to ongoing rapid industrialization. In addition, tropical forests and overall forest cover has expanded by nearly 20 percent from the year 1992 to 2010. Making it one of the few countries experiencing reforestation.
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Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (English pronunciation: /ˈfɒlklənd/ or English pronunciation: /ˈfɔːlklənd/; Spanish: Islas Malvinas) are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located more than 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) east of the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago comprises East Falkland, West Falkland, and 776 lesser islands. Stanley, the capital and only city, is on East Falkland. The islands are a self-governing British Overseas Territory, with the United Kingdom responsible for their defence and foreign affairs.
Controversy exists over the Falklands' original discovery and subsequent colonisation by Europeans. At various times there have been French, British, Spanish, and Argentine settlements. Britain re-established its rule in 1833, yet the islands continue to be claimed by Argentina. In 1982, following Argentina's invasion of the islands, the two-month-long undeclared Falklands War between both countries resulted in the withdrawal of all Argentine forces. Despite its defeat, Argentina still pursues its claim; however, UK policy supports the islanders' self-determination to remain British citizens.
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Faroe Islands
Coordinates: 62°00′N 06°47′W / 62°N 6.783°W / 62; -6.783
The Faroe Islands (Faroese: Føroyar pronounced [ˈfœɹjaɹ], Danish: Færøerne Danish pronunciation: [ˈfæɐ̯øːˀɐnə]) are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Norway and Iceland. The islands form a self-governing country under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark. The total area is approximately 1,400 km² (540 sq mi) with a 2010 population of almost 50,000 people.
The Faroe Islands has been a self-governing dependency of Denmark since 1948. Over the years, the Faroese have taken control of most domestic matters. Areas that remain the responsibility of Denmark include military defence, police, justice, currency and foreign affairs. The Faroe Islands also has representatives in the Nordic Council as members of the Danish delegation.
The Faroe Islands were associated with and taxed by Denmark and Norway up to 1814, when Norway fell under the rule of Sweden. Scandinavia was in political turmoil following the Sixth Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars, when the Treaty of Kiel granted Denmark control over the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland in 1814. The Danish trade monopoly ended in 1856.
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France
France (Englishi/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
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French Polynesia
French Polynesia (i/ˈfrɛntʃ pɒlɨˈniːʒə/; French: Polynésie française, pronounced: [pɔlinezi fʁɑ̃sɛz]; Tahitian: Pōrīnetia Farāni) is an overseas country of the French Republic (pays d'outre-mer). It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory (Papeetē). Although not an integral part of its territory, Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007.
The island groups that make up French Polynesia were not officially united until the establishment of the French protectorate in 1889. The first of these islands to be settled by indigenous Polynesians were the Marquesas Islands in AD 300 and the Society Islands in AD 800. The Polynesians were organized in loose chieftainships.
European communication began in 1521 when the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sighted Pukapuka in the Tuāmotu-Gambier Archipelago. Dutchman Jakob Roggeveen came across Bora Bora in the Society Islands in 1722, and the British explorer Samuel Wallis visited Tahiti in 1767. The French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville visited Tahiti in 1768, while the British explorer James Cook visited in 1769. Christian missions began with Spanish priests who stayed in Tahiti for a year from 1774; Protestants from the London Missionary Society settled permanently in Polynesia in 1797.
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Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( /dʒɨˈbrɒltər/) is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. It has an area of 6.8 square kilometres (2.6 sq mi) and a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is the densely populated city area, home to almost 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.
An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain "in perpetuity" under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It was an important base for the Royal Navy; today its economy is based largely on tourism, financial services, and shipping.
The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum and again in 2002. Under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the UK Government.
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Greenland
Greenland (Kalaallisut: Kalaallit Nunaat, "Land of the Kalaallit";Danish: Grønland) is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and later Denmark) for more than a millennium. Greenland is, by area, the world's largest island. With a population of 56,615 (January 2011 estimate) it is the least densely populated dependency or country in the world.
Greenland has been inhabited, though not continuously, by Arctic peoples via Canada for 4500–5000 years. In the 10th century, Norsemen settled on the uninhabited southern part of Greenland. In the 13th century, the Inuit arrived, and in the late 15th century the Norse colonies were abandoned. In the early 18th century, contact between Scandinavia and Greenland was re-established and Denmark established rule over Greenland.
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Grenada
Grenada (i/ɡrɨˈneɪdə/) is an island country and Commonwealth realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Grenada is also known as the "Island of Spice" because of the production of nutmeg and mace crops of which Grenada is one of the world's largest exporters. Its size is 344 square kilometres (133 sq mi), with an estimated population of 110,000. Its capital is St. George's. The national bird of Grenada is the critically endangered Grenada Dove.
Grenada was first sighted by Europeans in 1498 during the third voyage of Christopher Columbus to the new world. At the time the indigenous Island Caribs (Kalinago) who lived there called it Camahogne. The Spaniards did not permanently settle on Camahogne. The English failed in their attempt at settlement in 1609.
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Guadeloupe
Coordinates: 16°15′N 61°35′W / 16.25°N 61.583°W / 16.25; -61.583
Guadeloupe ( /ɡwɑːdəˈluːp/; French pronunciation: [ɡwadəlup]; Antillean Creole: Gwadloup) is a Caribbean island located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres (629 sq. mi) and a population of 400,000. It is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. Its departmental code is "971". As the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also an integral part of the Republic. Besides Guadeloupe island, the smaller islands of Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the Îles des Saintes are included in Guadeloupe.
As part of France, Guadeloupe is part of the European Union and the Eurozone; hence, as for all Eurozone countries, its currency is the euro. However, Guadeloupe is not part of the Schengen Area. The prefecture and the capital of Guadeloupe is Basse-Terre. Christopher Columbus named the island Santa María de Guadalupe in 1493 after the Virgin Mary, venerated in the Spanish town of Guadalupe, in Extremadura.
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Guajira Peninsula
Guajira Peninsula (Spanish: Peninsula de La Guajira, also spelled Goajira, mainly in colonial period texts), is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of 25,000 km2 (9,700 sq mi) extending from the Manaure Bay (Colombia) to the Calabozo Ensenada in the Gulf of Venezuela (Venezuela), and from the Caribbean Sea to the Serrania del Perija mountains range. It was the subject of a dispute between Venezuela and Colombia in 1891, and on arbitration was awarded to the latter and joined to its Magdalena Department. Nowadays, most of the territory is part of Colombia, making part of La Guajira Department, while the remaining strip pertains to the Venezuelan Zulia State. The northern most part of the peninsula is called Punta Gallinas (12° 28´ N) and is also considered the northernmost part of mainland South America.
The scenery of Guajira is very picturesque; the temperature in the plains is very high, but temperate in the mountains.
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Guangzhou
Guangzhou (Chinese: 广州; Mandarin pronunciation: [kwɑ̀ŋʈʂóʊ̯]), known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port. One of the five National Central Cities, it holds sub-provincial administrative status.
Guangzhou is the third largest city in China and southern China's largest city. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 12.78 million. Some estimates place the population of the entire Pearl River Delta Mega City built up area as high as 40 million including Shenzhen (10.36 million), Dongguan (8.22 million) and most parts of Foshan (7.19 million), Jiangmen (4.45 million), Zhongshan (3.12 million) and a small part of Huizhou adjoining Dongguan and Shenzhen, with an area of about 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) (about the size of US state of New Jersey). In 2008 Guangzhou was identified as a Beta World City by the global city index produced by GaWC.
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Guatemala
Guatemala (i/ˌɡwɑːtəˈmɑːlə/ GWAH-tə-MAH-lə), officially the Republic of Guatemala (Spanish: República de Guatemala [reˈpuβlika ðe ɣwateˈmala]), is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its area is 108,890 km2 (42,043 mi2) with an estimated population of 13,276,517.
A representative democracy, its capital is Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City. Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contributes to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot. The former Mayan civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization, which continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish. The Mayas live in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, the southern part of Mexico and northern parts of El Salvador.
Guatemala became independent from Spain in 1821, joining the Mexican Empire. After it became an independent country in its own right, it was ruled by a series of dictators, assisted by the United Fruit Company. The late 20th century saw Guatemala embroiled in a 36-year-long civil war. Following the war, Guatemala has witnessed both economic growth and successful democratic elections. In the most recent election, held in 2011, Otto Pérez Molina of the Patriotic Party, won the presidency.
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Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey ( /ˈɡɜrnzi/ GURN-zee; French: Bailliage de Guernesey, IPA: [bajaʒ də ɡɛʁnəzɛ]), is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, and Lihou. Furthermore, the Bailiwick includes Alderney and Sark, which each has its own parliament.
Although its defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom, the Bailiwick of Guernsey is not part of the UK; and while it participates in the Common Travel Area, it is not part of the European Union.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey is included (along with the Bailiwick of Jersey) in the grouping known as the Channel Islands.
The name of Guernsey, as well as that of neighbouring Jersey, is of Old Norse origin. The second element of Guernsey (-ey) is the Old Norse for "island". Guern similar to Spanish "Cuerno", French "Coi(r)n", Dutch "Hoorn", Frisian "Hoarn", Swedish "Hörn", Swiss "Gorn" means "Corner". - Corner Island.
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Guyana
Coordinates: 5°00′N 58°45′W / 5°N 58.75°W / 5; -58.75
Guyana (i/ɡaɪˈænə/ gy-AN-ə), officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and (for over 200 years) the British. It is the only state of the Commonwealth of Nations on mainland South America, and the only one on that continent where English is an official language.It is one of the few Caribbean countries that is not an island. It is also a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which has its secretariat headquarters in Guyana's capital, Georgetown. Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966, and became a republic on 23 February 1970. In 2008 the country joined the Union of South American Nations as a founding member.
Historically, the region known as "Guiana" or "Guyana" comprised the large shield landmass north of the Amazon River and east of the Orinoco River known as the "Land of many waters". Historical Guyana is made up of three Dutch colonies: Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice. Modern Guyana is bordered to the east by Suriname, to the south and southwest by Brazil, to the west by Venezuela, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean.
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Haiti
Haitii/ˈheɪti/ (French: Haïti [aiti]; Haitian Creole Ayiti [ajiti]), officially the Republic of Haiti (République d'Haïti; Repiblik Ayiti), is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti (land of high mountains) was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island. The country's highest point is Pic la Selle, at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft). The total area of Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi) and its capital is Port-au-Prince. Haitian Creole and French are the official languages.
Haiti's regional, historical, and ethno-linguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation of Latin America and the Caribbean, the first black-led republic in the world, and the second republic in the Americas when it gained independence in 1804 as part of a successful slave revolution lasting nearly a decade. In 2012, Haiti announced its intention to seek associate membership status in the African Union. Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas. It is one of only two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada) to designate French as an official language; the other French-speaking areas are all overseas départements, or collectivités, of France.
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Hanoi
Hanoi (Hà Nội; listen), is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam. It was eclipsed by Huế during the Nguyen dynasty as the capital of Vietnam, but Hanoi served as the capital of French Indochina from 1902 to 1954. From 1954 to 1976, it was the capital of North Vietnam.
The city is located on the right bank of the Red River. Hanoi is located at 1,760 km (1,090 mi) north of Ho Chi Minh City.
October 2010 officially marked 1000 years since the establishment of the city.
Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake, in central Hanoi
Emperor Lý Thái Tổ made Thăng Long (Hanoi) his capital in the 11th century
Colonial Hanoi
Modern Hanoi
Hanoi has been inhabited since at least 3000 BC. One of the first known permanent settlements is the Co Loa citadel (Cổ Loa) founded around 200 BC.
Hanoi has had many names throughout history, all of them of Sino-Vietnamese origin. During the Chinese domination of Vietnam, it was known first as Long Biên, then Tống Bình (Chinese: 宋平, Sòngpíng, "Song Peace") and Long Đỗ (Chinese: 龍肚, Lóngdù, "Dragonbelly"). In 866, it was turned into a citadel and named Đại La (Chinese: 大羅, Dàluó, "Big Net").
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Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize. The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.
Honduras was home to several important indigenous cultures, most notably the Maya. Much of the country was conquered by Spain who introduced its predominant language and many of its customs in the sixteenth century. It became independent in 1821 and has been a republic since the end of Spanish rule.
Its size is just over 112,492 km² with an estimated population of almost eight million. Its capital is Tegucigalpa. Its northern portions are part of the Western Caribbean Zone.
It is notable for its production of minerals, tropical fruit, and recently for exportation of clothing for the international market.
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Hooiberg
Coordinates: 12°31′01″N 69°59′42″W / 12.517°N 69.995°W / 12.517; -69.995
Hooiberg is a 168 m high (541 ft) volcanic formation on the island of Aruba. It is located almost in the center of the island and can be seen from virtually anywhere on the island.
The Dutch word Hooiberg, literally translates into Haystack in English.
Many have remarked about the panoramic views obtained atop Hooiberg. There are 562 concrete steps that lead to the top of the mountain. On a clear day Venezuela can be seen. The windswept mountaintop is also the site of several radio antennas and cell sites used by the Aruban telecommunication company called Setar.
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Iceland
Icelandi/ˈaɪslənd/ (Icelandic: Ísland, IPA: [ˈislant]) is a Nordic European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The country has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Reykjavík, with the surrounding areas in the southwestern region of the country being home to two-thirds of the country's population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterised by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.
According to Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norse settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the following centuries, Norsemen settled Iceland, bringing with them thralls (slaves) of Gaelic origin. From 1262 to 1918 Iceland was part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population relied largely on fisheries and agriculture, and the country was one of the poorest and least developed in the world. Industrialisation of the fisheries and aid from the Marshall Plan brought prosperity in the years after World War II, and by the 1990s it was one of the world's wealthiest countries. In 1994, Iceland became party to the European Economic Area, which made it possible for the economy to diversify into economic and financial services.
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Islas Chafarinas
The Chafarinas Islands (Spanish: Islas Chafarinas, Berber: Igumamen Iceffaren or Takfarinas, Arabic: جزر الشفارين or الجزر الجعفرية), also spelled Zafarin, Djaferin or Zafarani, are a group of three small islets located in the Alboran Sea off the coast of Morocco with an aggregate area of 0.525 km², 45 km to the east of Nador and 3.3 km off the Moroccan town of Ras Elma.
The Chafarinas Islands are one of the Spanish ruled territories on North Africa off the Moroccan coast known as plazas de soberanía. The islands are generally considered as part of the historical land of the Berber people in North Africa.
The Chafarinas Islands are made up of three islands (with areas in hectares):
Under Spanish control since 1847, there is a 190-man military garrison on Isla Isabel II, the only stable population on the small archipelago, down from 426 people in 1900 and 736 people in 1910.
The islands had a certain relevance in Spanish environmentalist circles during the 1980s and 1990s as the very last individual of Mediterranean Monk Seal in Spanish territory lived there, until it disappeared in the 1990s.
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Isle of Man
The Isle of Man ( /ˈmæn/; Manx: Ellan Vannin, pronounced [ˈɛlʲən ˈvanɪn]), otherwise known simply as Mann (Manx: Mannin, IPA: [ˈmanɪn]), is a self-governing Crown Dependency of the United Kingdom, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The island is not part of the United Kingdom, but its foreign relations and defence are the responsibility of the UK Government. Although the United Kingdom does not usually interfere in the island's domestic matters, its "good government" is ultimately the responsibility of the Crown (that is, in practice, the Government of the United Kingdom).
The island has been inhabited since before 6500 BC. Gaelic cultural influence began in the 5th century AD, and the Manx language, a branch of the Gaelic languages, gradually emerged. In the 9th century, the Norse began to settle there. A Norse-Gaelic culture arose and the island came under Norse control. In 1266, the island became part of Scotland as formalised by the Treaty of Perth. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of Scotland and England, the island came under the feudal overlordship of the English Crown in 1399. The lordship revested into the British Crown in 1764 but the island never became part of Great Britain or its successor the United Kingdom and retained its status as an internally self-governing Crown dependency.
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Italy
Italyi/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
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Jamaica
Coordinates: 18°10′57″N 77°19′18″W / 18.1823878°N 77.3217773°W / 18.1823878; -77.3217773
Jamaica (i/dʒəˈmeɪkə/), officially the Commonwealth of Jamaica, is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 234 kilometres (145 mi) in length, up to 80 kilometres (50 mi) in width, and 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno name for the island was Xaymaca, meaning the "Land of Wood and Water" or the "Land of Springs".
Once a Spanish possession known as Santiago, it became an English colony in 1655 under the name "Jamaica". It achieved full independence from Britain on August 6, 1962. With 2.8 million people, it is the third most populous anglophone country in the Americas, after the United States and Canada. It remains a Commonwealth realm in concert with the Monarchy of Jamaica holding ultimate executive power, where Queen Elizabeth II is the current head of state and Queen of Jamaica.Kingston is the country's largest city and the capital.
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Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, French: Bailliage de Jersey ( /ˈdʒɜrzi/, French: [ʒɛʁzɛ]; Jèrriais: Jèrri), is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and other rocks and reefs.
Jersey is a self-governing parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own financial, legal and judicial systems.
The island of Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands. Although the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey are often referred to collectively as 'the Channel Islands', they are not a constitutional or political unit. Jersey has a separate relationship to the British Crown from the other Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It is not part of the United Kingdom, and has an international identity separate from that of the UK but the United Kingdom is constitutionally responsible for the defence of Jersey. Jersey is not a part of the European Union but has a special relationship with it, being treated as part of the European Community for the purposes of free trade in goods.
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Kerguelen Islands
The Kerguelen Islands ( /ˈkɜrɡəlɛn/ or /ˈkɜrɡələn/; in French commonly Îles Kerguelen or Archipel de Kerguelen but officially Archipel des Kerguelen or Archipel Kerguelen, pronounced: [kɛʁɡeˈlɛn]), also known as the Desolation Islands, are a group of islands in the southern Indian Ocean constituting one of the two emerged parts of the mostly submerged Kerguelen Plateau. The islands, along with Adélie Land, the Crozet Islands and the Amsterdam and Saint Paul Islands are part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and are administered as a separate district. There are no indigenous inhabitants, but France maintains a permanent presence of 50 to 100 scientists, engineers and researchers.
The main island, Grande Terre, is 6,675 km2 (2,577 sq mi) in area and is surrounded by a further 300 smaller islands and islets, forming an archipelago of 7,215 km2 (2,786 sq mi). The climate is raw and chilly with frequent high winds throughout the year. While the surrounding seas are generally rough, they remain ice-free year-round. There is no airport on the islands, so all travel and transport from the outside world is conducted by ship.
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Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island. In the Americas, Kingston is the largest predominantly English-speaking city south of the United States.
The local government bodies of the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew were amalgamated by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation Act of 1923, to form the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC). Greater Kingston, or the "Corporate Area" refers to those areas under the KSAC; however, it does not solely refer to Kingston Parish, which only consists of the old downtown and Port Royal. Kingston Parish had a population of 96,052, and St. Andrew parish had a population of 555,828 in 2001. Kingston is only bordered by Saint Andrew to the east, west and north. The geographical border for the parish of Kingston ends at East Street, West Street and North Street.
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Klein Bonaire
Klein Bonaire (Dutch for "Little Bonaire") is a small uninhabited islet off the west coast of the Caribbean island of Bonaire, and is part of the Dutch special municipality of Bonaire. The islet, which sits within the rough crescent formed by the main island, is 6 square kilometres (1,500 acres) and extremely flat, rising no more than two meters above the sea. The only structures on the island are some ruins of slave huts (small, single-room structures dating to the region's period of slavery), and a small open shelter on the beach facing Bonaire. The island has no running water or sanitation facilities.
The distance from the shore of Bonaire to the shore of Klein Bonaire is about 800 metres (0.5 mi) at the nearest point. This span is frequently traversed by private and commercial boats and can be done by kayak with some difficulty. The primary attraction for visitors is scuba diving and snorkeling the pristine coral reef surrounding the islet. Numbered yellow painted rocks near the open shelter show where divers can cross low points on the reef, which is very close to the beach. When facing the water at the rocks the current runs from right to left.
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Lampedusa
Lampedusa (Sicilian: Lampidusa) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The comune of Lampedusa e Linosa is part of the Sicilian province of Agrigento which also includes the smaller islands of Linosa and Lampione. It is the southernmost part of Italy. Tunisia, which is about 113 kilometres (70 mi) away, is the closest landfall to the islands. Sicily is further at 176 kilometres (109 mi).
Lampedusa, which has an area of 20.2 square kilometres (7.8 sq mi), has a population of approximately 4,500 people. Its main industries are fishing, agriculture and tourism. A ferry service links the island with Porto Empedocle, near Agrigento, Sicily. There are also year-round flights from Lampedusa Airport to Palermo and Trapani-Birgi on the Sicilian mainland. In the summer there are additional services to Catania in Sicily, Rome and Milan on the Italian mainland.
Since the early 2000s, the island has become a primary European entry point for illegal immigrants from Africa.
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Lampione
Lampione (Sicilian: Lampiuni, English: Lantern) is a small rocky island located in the Mediterranean Sea, which belongs geographically to the Pelagie Islands and administratively to the comune of Lampedusa e Linosa, Province of Agrigento, region of Sicily, Italy. It is 700 metres long and 180 metres across, and has an area of 1.2 km² and a highest elevation of 36 metres.
The islet is uninhabited, the only building being a redundant lighthouse. According to legend, the island was a rock which had fallen from the hands of a cyclops.
Lampione is part of the Riserva Marina Isole Pelagie, and its vegetation and wildlife are strictly protected. Animal species include the endemic Podarcis filfolensis ssp. laurentimulleri',(also found on Linosa) which is a subspecies of Maltese Wall Lizard, numerous migrating birds and the Armadillidium hirtum pelagicum, a land crustacean. The waters are populated by sharks, including the sandbar shark, groupers, lobsters and varieties of yellow and pink coral.
Coordinates: 35°33′N 12°19′E / 35.55°N 12.317°E / 35.55; 12.317
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Leeward Antilles
The Leeward Antilles are a chain of islands in the Caribbean – specifically, the southerly islands of the Lesser Antilles (and, in turn, the Antilles and the West Indies) along the southeastern fringe of the Caribbean Sea, just north of the Venezuelan coast of the South American mainland. The Leeward Antilles, while among the Lesser Antilles, are not to be confused with the Leeward Islands (also of the Lesser Antilles) to the northeast.
Largely lacking in volcanic activity, the Leeward Antilles island arc occurs along the deformed southern edge of the Caribbean Plate and was formed by the plate's subduction under the South American Plate. Recent studies indicate that the Leeward Antilles are accreting to South America.
The Leeward Antilles comprise (roughly from west to east):
Coordinates: 12°11′10″N 68°59′22″W / 12.18611°N 68.98944°W / 12.18611; -68.98944
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Linosa
Linosa (Sicilian: Linusa) is one of the Pelagie Islands in the Sicily Channel of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a frazione of the comune of Lampedusa e Linosa, part of the province of Agrigento, Sicily, Italy. It has a population of 450 inhabitants.
The island has an area of 5.45 km² and is of volcanic origin. It is formed by a series of craters of which Monte Vulcano, 195 m high, is the most important. The closest land to Linosa is the island of Lampedusa, which lies 43 km to the south. Linosa is situated 119 km west of Gozo, Malta, 121 km southeast of Pantelleria, 163 km south of Sicily and 165 km east of Cape Mahida in Tunisia.
The Greeks, Romans, and the Arabs (then called Saracens) have all colonized this island in the Ancient World and the Middle Ages.
Linosa's population subsists on fishing, agriculture and tourism.
Coordinates: 35°52′N 12°52′E / 35.867°N 12.867°E / 35.867; 12.867
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Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands, also known as the Moluccas /məˈlʌkəz/, are an archipelago within Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi (Celebes), west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor. The islands were also historically known as the "Spice Islands" by the Chinese and Europeans, but this term has also been applied to other islands outside Indonesia.
Most of the islands are mountainous, some with active volcanoes, and enjoy a wet climate. The vegetation of the small and narrow islands, encompassed by the sea, is very luxuriant; including rainforests, sago, rice and the famous spices - nutmeg, cloves and mace, among others. Though originally Melanesian, many island populations, especially in the Banda Islands, were killed off in the 17th century during the Spice wars. A second influx of Austronesian immigrants began in the early twentieth century under the Dutch and continues in the Indonesian era.
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Martinique
Martinique (French pronunciation: [maʁtinik]) is an island in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of 1,128 km2 (436 sq mi). Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados. As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is one of the twenty-seven regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic. The first European to encounter the island was Christopher Columbus in 1502.
As part of France, Martinique is part of the European Union, and its currency is the Euro. Its official language is French, although many of its inhabitants also speak Antillean Creole (Créole Martiniquais).
The island was occupied first by Arawaks, then by Caribs. It was charted by Columbus in 1493, but Spain had little interest in the territory. It was claimed by France in 1635 and, despite several interludes of British occupation, once during the Seven Years' War and twice during the Napoleonic Wars, has remained a French possession. In 1946, the French National Assembly voted unanimously to transform the colony into an overseas department.
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Mayotte
Mayotte (French: Mayotte, pronounced: [majɔt]; Shimaore: Maore, IPA: [maˈore]; Malagasy: Mahori) is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre (or Mahoré), a smaller island, Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique. Mayotte's area is 374 square kilometres (144 sq mi), and with its estimated 194,000 people is very densely populated (520 /km2 or 1,300 /sq mi). Its biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou. The territory is geographically part of the Comoro Islands, but has been politically separate since a 1974 referendum in which it elected to remain under French rule. The territory is also known as Mahoré, the native name of its main island, especially by advocates of its inclusion in the Union of Comoros. In a 2009 referendum, the population overwhelmingly approved accession to status of department (95.2% voted in favour of departmental status). On March 31, 2011, Mayotte became an overseas department.
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Melilla
Melilla (Spanish pronunciation: [meˈliʎa]) is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco, with an area of 12.3 square kilometres (4.7 sq mi). Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa. It was regarded as a part of Málaga province prior to 14 March 1995, when the city's Statute of Autonomy was passed.
Melilla (like Ceuta) was a free port before Spain joined the European Union. As of 2008 it has a population of 73,460. Its population consists of Christians, Muslims (chiefly Riffians), and small minorities of Jews. Both Spanish and Tarifit are widely spoken. Spanish is the only official language, while there have been calls to recognise Tamazight, a standardized version of all Berber languages official in Morocco, as well.
Morocco had previously called for negotiations on the future of Melilla, Ceuta and a number of Mediterranean islands which border it. The majority of the city's population are ethnic Spanish who are opposed to the idea of being a part of Morocco. A poll conducted by Instituto Opina found that 87.9% of people from mainland Spain consider the two cities to be Spanish.
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Mexico
Mexico (i/ˈmɛksɨkoʊ/; Spanish: México, IPA: [ˈmexiko] ( listen)), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States of America; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the thirteenth largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 113 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
In Pre-Columbian Mexico many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory from its base in México-Tenochtitlan, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This territory would eventually become Mexico as the colony's independence was recognized in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, the Mexican-American War and territorial cession to the United States, a civil war, two empires and a domestic dictatorship. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
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Montserrat
Coordinates: 16°45′N 62°12′W / 16.75°N 62.2°W / 16.75; -62.2
Montserrat ( /mɒntsəˈræt/) is an island that is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately 16 km (9.9 mi) long and 11 km (6.8 mi) wide, giving 40 kilometres (25 mi) of coastline. Montserrat is nicknamed the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of some of its inhabitants.
Montserrat's Georgian era historic capital city of Plymouth was destroyed and two-thirds of the island's population was forced to flee because of an eruption of the previously dormant Soufriere Hills volcano that began on July 18, 1995. The eruption continues today on a much reduced scale, the damage being confined to the area around Plymouth, including its docking facilities, and also the area around the former W. H. Bramble Airport on the eastern side of the island, the remnants of which were buried by flows from volcanic activity on February 11, 2010.
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Mount Jamanota
Mount Jamanota (188 m) (620 ft) is the highest point on the island of Aruba and is visible from the entire island. Wild goats and donkeys roam free on the mountain. The panorama from its summit includes Frenchman's Pass on the south coast, where Indians defended their island against the French. The area is known for its wild parakeets.
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Natural Pool
Coordinates: 12°31′29″N 69°55′43″W / 12.5246°N 69.9287°W / 12.5246; -69.9287
The Natural Pool, also known as "conchi" or "Cura di Tortuga", is a natural pool of water located in a very remote area in the north of Aruba. It is formed by rock and volcanic stone circles. The rugged terrain surrounding the pool makes it only accessible by four-wheel drive or all-terrain vehicles.
In 2009 a 11 year old boy was almost thrown over the rocks, but luckily was saved.
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Netherlands
The Netherlands (i/ˈnɛðərləndz/; Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdə(r)lɑnt] or [ˈneɪ̯də(r)lɑnt] (
listen); West Frisian: Nederlân; Papiamento: Hulanda) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with some islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is a parliamentary democracy organised as a unitary state. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces (a case of pars pro toto; see terminology of "the Netherlands").
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Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles (Dutch: Nederlandse Antillen [ˈneːjərlɑntsə ˈɑntɪlə(n)] ( listen), Papiamentu: Antia Hulandes), also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (ABC islands), in the Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius (SSS islands) in the Leeward Islands southeast of the Virgin Islands.
Aruba seceded in 1986 as a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the rest of the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved on 10 October 2010, resulting in two new constituent countries, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, with the other islands joining the Netherlands as "special municipalities", officially public bodies.
The name 'Netherlands Antilles' is still sometimes used to indicate the Caribbean islands which are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Dutch Caribbean islands.
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New Caledonia
Coordinates: 21°15′S 165°18′E / 21.25°S 165.30°E / -21.25; 165.30
New Caledonia (French: Nouvelle-Calédonie) is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) east of Australia and about 20,000 kilometres (12,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands in the Coral Sea are also part of New Caledonia. Locals refer to Grande Terre as "Le Caillou", the rock.
New Caledonia has a land area of 18,576 square kilometres (7,172 sq mi). The population (2011 estimate) is 256,275. The capital of the territory is Nouméa.
The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the Lapita period. The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific.
The British first sighted New Caledonia on September 4, 1774, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook. He named the territory New Caledonia, as the north-east of the island reminded him of Scotland. The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, and the Loyalty Islands were first visited in 1796. From then until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. Contacts became more frequent after 1840, because of the interest in sandalwood from New Caledonia.
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Nicaragua
Nicaragua (i/ˌnɪkəˈrɑːɡwə/ nik-ə-RAH-gwə), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (Spanish: República de Nicaragua [reˈpuβlika ðe nikaˈɾaɣwa] ( listen)), is the largest country in the Central American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The country's physical geography divides it into three major zones: Pacific lowlands; wet, cooler central highlands; and the Caribbean lowlands. On the Pacific side of the country are the two largest fresh water lakes in Central America—Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua. Surrounding these lakes and extending to their northwest along the rift valley of the Gulf of Fonseca are fertile lowland plains, with soil highly enriched by ash from nearby volcanoes of the central highlands. Nicaragua's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contribute to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot.
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Noord
Noord is a town in Aruba (a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands). It is part of the Noord/Tanki Leendert administrative unit of Aruba, which has a population of 16,944 as of 2000. By now, it is the town with the greatest population. This town is known for its low rise and high rise hotels, restaurants, beaches, malls, the California Lighthouse, and other places of attraction.
Noord is perhaps best known in the United States as the birthplace of Major League Baseball pitcher Sidney Ponson.
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Oranjestad, Aruba
Oranjestad (Dutch, literally "Orangetown") is the capital and largest city of Aruba, which is in the Caribbean north of Venezuela. Oranjestad is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country. In the local language, Papiamento, Oranjestad is often referred to simply as "Playa".
The town was built around Fort Zoutman shortly after it was built in 1796 . Initially the town had no official name, being known only as the town on the Bay of Horses (Paardenbaai in Dutch) - a fitting designation for the place from which many native-bred and raised horses left for neighboring Curaçao. The town has ever since been the capital city of the island. The fort is still one of the town's attractions, others being the tax-free harbour and the Willem III Tower, located near the fort.
The city is named after the first King Willem van Oranje-Nassau (William of Orange-Nassau) - the first heir to the Dutch House of Orange. The name was conferred on the city in the 1820s when interest in Aruba increased due to the discovery of (alluvial) gold deposits.
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Padang, Indonesia
Padang (pronounced [ˈpadaŋ]) (Minang, Malay-Indonesian: field) is the capital and largest city of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is located on the western coast of Sumatra at 0°57′0″S 100°21′11″E / 0.95°S 100.35306°E / -0.95; 100.35306. It has an area of 694.96 square kilometres (268.33 sq mi) and a population of over 833,000 people at the 2010 Census.
Since the 16th century Padang has been a trade centre. During the 16th and 17th centuries pepper was cultivated and traded with India, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In 1663 the city came under the authority of the Dutch. The Dutch built a trading post here in 1680. The city came under British authority twice, the first time from 1781 to 1784 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, and again from 1795 to 1819 during the Napoleonic Wars. Afterwards the city was transferred back to the Netherlands. Up to approximately 1780 the most important trade product was gold, originating from the gold mines in the region. When the mines were exhausted, the emphasis turned to other products such as coffee, salts and textiles.
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Palembang
Palembang is the capital city of the South Sumatra province in Indonesia. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being a capital of a maritime empire. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400.61 square kilometres and a population of 1,441,500. Palembang is the second-largest city in Sumatra after Medan and the seventh-largest city in Indonesia. The city has hosted the 26th edition of Southeast Asian Games on 11 to 22 November 2011 along with Jakarta.
It was formerly the capital city of the Kingdom of Srivijaya, a powerful Malay kingdom, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. The earliest evidence of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in the year 671 for 6 months. The first inscription in which the name Srivijaya appears also dates from the 7th century, namely the Kedukan Bukit Inscription around Palembang in Sumatra, dated 683.
Palembang landmarks include the Ampera bridge and the Musi River, the latter of which divides the city into two, Seberang Ilir to the north and Seberang Ulu to the south. The Seberang Ilir is Palembang's economic and cultural centre and the Seberang Ulu is its political centre.
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Palm Beach, Aruba
Coordinates: 12°34′N 70°02′W / 12.567°N 70.033°W / 12.567; -70.033
Palm Beach, Aruba is a city northwest of Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba, and is home to the high rise hotels such as
Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Casino, Aruba Marriott Resort, Occidental Grand Aruba and Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa and a new shopping district that was finished in 2009. Since the boom in the tourism industry several five-star hotels have opened in the area and some upscale malls and shopping centers have been developed as well with at least two being scheduled for opening in late 2009 or early 2010.
Various time-share ownership and full-time ownership condos have been or are being built in the area as well.
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Panama
Panama (i/ˈpænəmɑː/ PAN-ə-mah; Spanish: Panamá), officially the Republic of Panama (Spanish: República de Panamá [reˈpuβlika ðe panaˈma]), is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital is Panama City. Explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama broke with Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela, named the Republic of Gran Colombia.When Gran Colombia the dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada remained joined. Nueva Granada later became the Republic of Colombia.
With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the Panama Canal to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the United States to Panama by the end of the century.
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Pantelleria
Pantelleria (Sicilian: Pantiddirìa), the ancient Cossyra, is an Italian island in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, 100 km (62.1 mi) southwest of Sicily and just 60 km (37.3 mi) east of the Tunisian coast. Administratively Pantelleria is a comune belonging to the Sicilian province of Trapani. With an area of 83 km2 (32 sq mi), it is the largest volcanic satellite island of Sicily.
The island of Pantelleria is located above a drowned continental rift in the Strait of Sicily and has been the locus of intensive volcano-tectonic activity. The 15-km-long (9.3 mi) island is the emergent summit of a largely submarine edifice. Two large Pleistocene calderas dominate the island, the older of the two formed about 114,000 years ago and the younger, Cinque Denti caldera formed about 45,000 years ago. The eruption that formed the Cinque Denti caldera produced the distinctive Green Tuff deposit that covers much of the island, and is found across the Mediterranean, as far away as the island of Lesbos in the Aegean.Holocene eruptions have constructed pumice cones, lava domes, and short, blocky lava flows. Post Green Tuff activity constructed the cone of Monte Gibele, part of which was subsequently uplifted to form Montagna Grande. Several vents are located on three sides of the uplifted Montagna Grande block on the southeast side of the island. A submarine eruption in 1891 from a vent off the northwest coast is the only confirmed historical activity.
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Peñón de Alhucemas
Peñón de Alhucemas (Spanish pronunciation: [peˈɲon de aluˈθemas], "Lavender Rock") is one of the Spanish plazas de soberanía just off the Moroccan coast in the Alboran Sea. It is also one of several peñones, or rock-fortresses, on the coast of Northern Africa.
Peñón de Alhucemas and the islets of "Isla de Mar" and "Isla de Tierra" slightly to the west form the Alhucemas Islands. They are located 300 m (984 feet) off the Moroccan town of Al Hoceima, or Alhucemas (former Villa Sanjurjo), 146 km (96 mi) east of Ceuta and 84 km (62 mi) west of Melilla.
Peñón de Alhucemas is a tiny rock island, measuring 220 meters east-west and up to 84 meters north-south, with an area 1.5 ha or 0.015 km², and a height of 27 meters (88 ft). The rock is entirely occupied by a fort, several houses, and a church.
Isla de Tierra is a steep, 11 m (33 ft) high rocky platform, 114 meters north of the Moroccan beach, 192 meters long northeast-southwest, and up to 87 meters wide, yielding an area of 1.7 ha or 0.017 km².
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Pitcairn Islands
The Pitcairn Islands ( /ˈpɪtkɛərn/;Pitkern: Pitkern Ailen), officially named the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, form a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. The islands are a British Overseas Territory. The four islands—named Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno—are spread over several hundred miles of ocean and have a total land area of about 18 square miles (47 km2). Only Pitcairn, the second largest and measuring about 2 miles (3.2 km) across, is inhabited.
The islands are best known as home of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers and the Tahitians (or Polynesians) who accompanied them, an event retold in numerous books and films. This history is still apparent in the surnames of many of the islanders. With only about 48 inhabitants (currently from four main families: Christian, Warren, Young, and Brown), Pitcairn is the least populous jurisdiction in the world. The United Nations Committee on Decolonisation includes the Pitcairn Islands on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
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Pontianak, Indonesia
Coordinates: 0°0′N 109°20′E / 0°N 109.333°E / 0; 109.333
Pontianak is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. It is a medium-size industrial city on the island of Borneo. Pontianak occupies an area of 107.82 km² in the delta of the Kapuas River. It is located almost precisely on the equator, hence it is widely known as Kota Khatulistiwa (Equator City). The city center is actually less than 3 kilometres (2 mi) south, so it is indeed among the closest of any substantial city in the world.
The city was formerly the capital of the independent Sultanate of Pontianak and was founded in 23 October 1771 around an old trading station on the Borneo coast. It is built on swampy ground that is subjected to regular flooding by the river, requiring buildings to be constructed on piles to keep them off the ground. It has its name due to the story that the founder had seen an appearance of Kuntilanak ghost at the place to be built for the palace, which he fought to save the people.[clarification needed]
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Portugal
Portugali/ˈpɔrtʃʉɡəl/ (Portuguese: Portugal, IPA: [puɾtuˈɣaɫ]), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa) is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula . Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal. The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus Cale.
The land within the borders of the current Portuguese Republic has been continuously settled since prehistoric times: occupied by Celts like the Gallaeci and the Lusitanians, integrated into the Roman Republic and later settled by Germanic peoples such as the Suebi, Swabians, Vandals and the Visigoths. In the 8th century most of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by Moorish invaders professing Islam, which were later expelled by the Knights Templar under the Order of Christ. During the Christian Reconquista, Portugal established itself as an independent kingdom from León in 1139, claiming to be the oldest European nation state.
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Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (/ˌpɔrtə ˈriːkoʊ/ or /ˌpwɛərtə ˈriːkoʊ/), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, [esˈtaðo ˈlibɾe asoˈsjaðo ðe ˈpweɾto ˈriko]—literally, "Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"), is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Puerto Rico (Spanish for "rich port") comprises an archipelago that includes the main island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands, the largest of which are Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. The main island of Puerto Rico is the smallest by land area of the Greater Antilles. However, it ranks third in population amongst that group of four islands, which also include Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Jamaica. Due to its location, Puerto Rico enjoys a tropical climate and also experiences the Atlantic hurricane season.
Originally populated for centuries by indigenous aboriginal peoples known as Taínos, the island was claimed by Christopher Columbus for Spain during his second voyage to the Americas on November 19, 1493. Under Spanish rule, the island was colonized and the indigenous population was forced into slavery and nearly wiped out due to, among other things, European infectious diseases. The remaining population was emancipated by King Charles I in 1520. Spain possessed Puerto Rico for over 400 years, despite attempts at capture of the island by the French, Dutch, and British. The Spanish Crown, in an attempt to keep Puerto Rico from gaining its independence, revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. The decree was printed in three languages — Spanish, English and French — and it fostered the immigration of hundreds of non-Spanish European families.
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Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land (Norwegian: Dronning Maud Land) is a c. 2.7 million-square-kilometre (1 million sq mi) region of Antarctica claimed as a dependent territory by Norway. The territory lies between 20° west and 45° east, between the British Antarctic Territory to the west and the Australian Antarctic Territory to the east. The latitudinal limits of the territory are not officially defined. Positioned in East Antarctica, the territory comprises one-sixth of the total area of Antarctica. The claim is named for Maud (1869–1938), queen consort of King Haakon VII of Norway.
Norwegian Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen was the first person to set foot in the territory in 1930. On 14 January 1939, the territory was claimed by Norway. From 1939 until 1945, Germany claimed New Swabia, which consisted of part of Queen Maud Land. On 23 June 1961, Queen Maud Land became part of the Antarctic Treaty System, making it a demilitarised zone. It is one of two Antarctic claims made by Norway, the other being Peter I Island. They are administrated by the Polar Affairs Department of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police in Oslo.
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Réunion
Réunion (French: La Réunion, IPA: [la 'ʁeynjɔ̃] ( listen); previously Île Bourbon) is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.
Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France. Like the other overseas departments, Réunion is also one of the 27 regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic with the same status as those situated on the European mainland.
Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, is part of the Eurozone.
Before the arrival of the Portuguese in the early sixteenth century, there is little to Réunion's recorded history. Arab traders were familiar with it by the name Dina Morgabin,. The island possibly features on a map from 1153 AD by Al Sharif el-Edrisi. The island may also have been visited by Swahili or Malay sailors.
The first European discovery of the area was made around 1507 by Portuguese explorers, but the specifics are unclear. The uninhabited island may have been first sighted by the expedition led by Don Pedro Mascarenhas, who gave his name to the island group around Réunion, the Mascarenes. Réunion itself was dubbed Santa Apolonia after a favorite saint, which suggests that the date of the Portuguese discovery may have been February 9, her saint day. Diego Lopes de Sequeira is claimed to have landed on the island in 1509.
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Saba
Saba ( /ˈseɪbə/) is a Caribbean island and the smallest special municipality (officially public body) of the Netherlands. It consists largely of the potentially active volcano Mount Scenery (877 m), the highest point within both the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Netherlands proper.
Saba, including the islet of Green Island, became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010.
The island has a land area of 13 km² (5 sq. miles). At the 2001 Netherlands Antilles census, the population was 1,824 inhabitants, which means a population density of 140 inhabitants per km². Its current major towns and settlements include The Bottom (the capital), Windwardside, Hell's Gate and St. Johns.
As the island is part of the Netherlands, Dutch is the official language. Despite the island's Dutch affiliation, English is the principal language spoken on the island and has been used in its school system since the 19th century. English can therefore be used in communications of and to the government although there is a local dialect. Since January 1, 2011, the U.S. dollar has been the official currency, replacing the Netherlands Antillian Guilder.
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Saint Barthélemy
Saint Barthélemy (French: Saint-Barthélemy, French pronunciation: [sɛ̃baʁtelemi]), officially the Territorial collectivity of Saint Barthélemy (French: Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy), is an overseas collectivity of France. Often abbreviated to Saint-Barth in French, or St. Barts (also, St. Barth's) in English, the indigenous people called the island Ouanalao. The collectivity is one of four territories among the Leeward Islands in the northeastern Caribbean that comprise the French West Indies, along with Guadeloupe (200 km southeast), Martinique and Saint Martin. St. Barts lies c. 35 km southeast of Sint Maarten/Saint Martin, and north of St Kitts. Puerto Rico is 240 km to its west in the Lesser Antilles.
Saint Barthélemy, a volcanic island fully encircled by shallow reefs, has an area of 21 km² and a population of 8,823 (census 2008). Its capital is Gustavia, which also contains the main harbour to the island. It is the only Caribbean island which was a Swedish colony for any significant length of time; Guadeloupe was under Swedish rule only briefly, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Symbolism from the Swedish national arms, the Three Crowns, still appears in the island's coat of arms. The language, cuisine and culture, however, are distinctly French. The island is a popular tourist destination during the winter holiday season, especially the rich and famous during the Christmas and New Year period.
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Saint Lucia
Saint Luciai/seɪnt ˈluːʃə/ (French: Sainte-Lucie) is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km2 (238.23 sq mi) and has a population of 174,000 (2010). Its capital is Castries. Two Nobel laureates, Arthur Lewis, an economist, and Derek Walcott, a poet and playwright, have come from the island. It is the nation with the second most such honorees per capita after the Faroe Islands.
One of the Windward Islands, it was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse by the French, the first European colonizers. They signed a treaty with the native Carib people in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667; in ensuing years, it was at war with France 14 times and rule of the island changed frequently (it was seven times each ruled by the French and British). In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island. Because it switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West Indies".
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San Nicolas, Aruba
San Nicolaas (Dutch: Sint Nicolaas) is 19 kilometres (12 mi) southeast of Oranjestad, and is Aruba's second largest city. As of 2008 it has a population of 18,126, most who originate from the British Caribbean. Known as the island's Sunrise Side, San Nicolaas was once a bustling company town, when Lago Oil and Transport operated its oil refinery from 1924-1985. The refinery was closed from 1985 to 1990, when Coastal Corp reopened the oil refinery. It was then sold to Valero, and it was open for a number of years, and closed in 2009; in December 2010, Valero announced plans to reopen the refinery.
San Nicolaas was named after a Mr. Nicolas van der Biest (1808-1873), who owned a big piece of the land there. Landowners were then addressed by their subordinates by their first names preceded by 'Shon' meaning 'master'. So he was called 'Shon Nicolas', as was the area. It is thought that the change from Shon Nicolas to San Nicolaas was due to the influence of Spanish. (Source is Dr. J Hartog, Aruba's historian and Aruba Tourism Authority.)
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Savaneta
Savaneta is a fishing village in southwestern Aruba. Home to the oldest surviving home in Aruba, it is the oldest town on that island and former capital. It was where the Dutch first settled after they recaptured it in 1816.
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Semarang
Semarang (pronounced [səˈmaraŋ]) is a city on the north coast of the island of Java, Indonesia. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Central Java. It has an area of 305.17 km² and a population of approximately 1.5 million people, making it Indonesia's 9th most populous city. However, disregarding Greater Jakarta, only Surabaya, Bandung, and Medan are larger. Greater Semarang (aka Kedungsapur) has a population of close to 5 million (see Greater Semarang section), and is located at 6°58′S 110°25′E / 6.967°S 110.417°E / -6.967; 110.417. A major port during the Dutch colonial era, and still an important regional center and port today, the city has a dominant Javanese population.
Semarang's history dates back to the ninth century, when it was known as Bergota. By the end of fifteenth century, a Javanese Islamic missionary from nearby Sultanate of Demak with the name of Kyai Pandan Arang founded a village and an Islamic boarding school in this place. On 1 May 1547, after consulting Sunan Kalijaga, Sultan Hadiwijaya of Pajang declared Kyai Pandan Arang the first bupati (regent) of Semarang, thus culturally and politically, on this day Semarang was born.
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Sint Eustatius
Sint Eustatius, also known affectionately to the locals as Statia/ˈsteɪʃə/ or Statius, is a Caribbean island and a special municipality (officially public body) of the Netherlands.
It lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, southeast of the Virgin Islands and immediately to the northwest of Saint Kitts and Nevis and to the southeast of Saba, at 17°30′N 62°58′W / 17.5°N 62.967°W / 17.5; -62.967. The island is named after the legendary Christian martyr Saint Eustace. The regional capital is Oranjestad.
The island has an area of 21 km² (8.1 sq. miles). In the 2001 census, the population was recorded as 3,543 inhabitants, equating to a population density of 169 inhabitants per square kilometre. The official language is Dutch, however English is also recognised as an administrative language. A local English-based creole is also spoken informally. Travel to the island by air is through F.D. Roosevelt Airport.
Formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles, Sint Eustatius became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands on 10 October 2010.
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Smeerenburg
The settlement of Smeerenburg on Amsterdam Island in north-west Svalbard, originated with Danish and Dutch whalers in 1619: one of Europe's northernmost outposts.
During the first intensive phase of the Spitsbergen whale fishery, Smeerenburg served as the centre of operations in the north. (The name Smeerenburg, in Dutch, literally means "blubber town"). The image at right shows the concretized remnants of whale oil that built up around the large (ca. 2-3m diameter) copper kettles in which the blubber was rendered. Leftover blubber was used as fuel for the fires.
The site of Smeerenburg was first occupied by the Dutch in 1614, when ships from the Amsterdam chamber of the Noordsche Compagnie (Northern Company) established a temporary whaling station here with tents made of canvas and crude, temporary ovens. In 1615, 1616, and 1618 the Dutch again occupied the site. In 1619, a 500-ton ship with timber and other materials was sent to Spitsbergen. The tents and temporary ovens were replaced with wooden structures and copper kettles "set in a permanent fashion on a brick foundation, with a brick fireplace beneath and a chimney for the smoke."
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Spain
Spain (i/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.
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Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire (Spanish: Imperio Español) comprised territories and colonies administered by Spain in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its political and economic power when it became the foremost global power. Its establishment in the 15th century ushered in the modern global era and five centuries of European dominance of global affairs. Spain's territorial reach beyond Europe spanned six centuries, from the first voyages to the Americas in 1492 until the independence of its last African colonies in the 1970s.
After the War of the Castilian Succession (1475–1479), Spain had emerged with a personally unified monarchy, with the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs or los Reyes Catolicos between the Queen of Castile and the King of Aragon: the internal and foreign policy was coordinated although the rule was separate. In 1492, the Spanish monarchs completed the Reconquista with the incorporation of Granada to the Kingdom of Castile. That same year Christopher Columbus commanded the first Spanish exploratory voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean, leading to the Discovery of America and Europe's eventual colonial engagement in the New World. The Americas thereby became the focus of Spanish exploration and colonization.
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Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname (Dutch: Republiek Suriname, Dutch pronunciation: [ˌrepyˈblik ˌsyriˈnaːmə]), is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname was first colonized by the British, and captured by the Dutch in 1667, who governed it as the colony of Suriname until 1954. The country of Suriname achieved independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in which Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, and the Netherlands itself cooperated on a basis of equality since 1954, on 25 November 1975.
At just under 165,000 km2 (64,000 sq mi) Suriname is the smallest sovereign state in South America (French Guiana comprises less territory, but is French territory). It has an estimated population of approximately 560,000, most of whom live on the country's north coast, where the capital Paramaribo is located.
The name Suriname may derive from a Taino (Arawak-speaking) group called "Surinen" who first inhabited the region prior to European arrival.
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The Bahamas
The Bahamasi/bəˈhɑːməz/, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is a country consisting of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets. It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States (nearest to the state of Florida). Its land area is 13,939 km2 (5,382 sq mi), with a population of 353,658. Its capital is Nassau. Geographically, the Bahamas lie in the same island chain as Cuba, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands; the designation of Bahamas refers normally to the Commonwealth and not the geographic chain.
Originally inhabited by the Lucayans, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taino people, the Bahamas were the site of Columbus' first landfall in the New World in 1492. Although the Spanish never colonized the Bahamas, they shipped the native Lucayans to slavery in Hispaniola. The islands were mostly deserted from 1513 to 1648, when English colonists from Bermuda settled on the island of Eleuthera.
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Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (i/ˌtrɪnɨdæd/ & /tɵˈbeɪɡoʊ/) officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west.
The country covers an area 5,128 square kilometres (1,980 sq mi) and consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous smaller landforms. Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the main islands, comprising about 94% of the total area and 96% of the total population of the country. The nation lies outside the hurricane belt.
The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 to the capitulation of the Spanish Governor, Don José Maria Chacón, on the arrival of a British fleet of 18 warships on 18 February 1797. During the same period, the island of Tobago changed hands between Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonizers. Trinidad and Tobago was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. The country obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976. Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago's economy is primarily industrial, with an emphasis on petroleum and petrochemicals.
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
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United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
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Venezuela
Venezuela (i/ˌvɛnɨˈzweɪlə/ VEN-ə-ZWAY-lə), officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela [repuˈβlika βoliβaˈɾjana ðe βeneˈswela]), is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south. Its northern coastline of roughly 2,800 kilometres (1,700 mi) includes numerous islands in the Caribbean Sea, and in the north east borders the northern Atlantic Ocean. Caribbean islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba and the Leeward Antilles lie near the Venezuelan coast. Venezuela's territory covers around 916,445 square kilometres (353,841 sq mi) with an estimated population of 29,105,632. Venezuela is considered a state with extremely high biodiversity, with habitats ranging from the Andes mountains in the west to the Amazon Basin rainforest in the south, via extensive llanos plains and Caribbean coast in the center and the Orinoco River Delta in the east.
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Wallis and Futuna
Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (French: Wallis et Futuna or Territoire des îles Wallis et Futuna, Fakauvea and Fakafutuna: Uvea mo Futuna), is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between Tuvalu to the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the west, the main part of Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast, Samoa to the east, the New Zealand-associated state of Tokelau to the northeast and to a more distant north the Phoenix Islands (Kiribati). (However, Wallis and Futuna is not part of, nor even contiguous with, French Polynesia. Wallis and Futuna is located at the very opposite western end of Polynesia.)
Its land area is 264 km2 with a population of about 15,000. Mata-Utu is the capital and biggest city. The territory is made up of three main volcanic tropical islands along with a number of tiny islets, and is split into two island groups that lie about 260 km apart, namely Wallis Islands (Uvea) in the northeast, and Hoorn Islands (also called the Futuna Islands) in the southwest, including Futuna Island proper and the mostly uninhabited Alofi Island.
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Île Amsterdam
Île Amsterdam (French pronunciation: [ilamstəʁˈdam], also known as Amsterdam Island, New Amsterdam, or Nouvelle Amsterdam, is an island named after the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It lies in the southern Indian Ocean. It is part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and, together with neighbouring Île Saint-Paul 85 km/53 mi to the south, forms one of the five districts of the territory. Its base, the Martin-de-Viviès research station, first called Camp Heurtin, then La Roche Godon, and the only settlement on the island, is the capital of the territory and is home to about 30 (non-permanent) inhabitants involved in biological, meteorological and geomagnetic studies.
Île Amsterdam is one of only three land antipodes of the continental United States. It corresponds to an area about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Lamar, Colorado (the other two land antipodes of the US are île Saint-Paul and the Kerguelen Islands).
The island was discovered by the Basque Spanish explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano on 18 March 1522, in the course of his voyage of global circumnavigation. However, he did not name the island. Having found the island unnamed, Dutch captain Anthonie van Diemen named it Nieuw Amsterdam after his ship on 17 June 1633. The first recorded landing was made in December 1696 by Dutchman Willem de Vlamingh.
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Île Saint-Paul
Île Saint-Paul (Saint Paul Island) is an island forming part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises--TAAF) in the Indian Ocean, with an area of 6 square kilometres (2.3 sq mi). The island is located about 85 km (53 mi) southwest of the larger Île Amsterdam, and 3,000 km (1,900 mi) south of Réunion. It is an important breeding site for seabirds. A scientific research cabin on the island is used for scientific or ecological short campaigns, but there is no permanent population. It is under the authority of a senior administrator on Réunion. However, in 2007 Mauritian authorities indicated that they are exploring a potential claim on both Île Saint-Paul and Île Amsterdam.
Île Saint-Paul is one of three land antipodes of the contiguous United States, corresponding to an area about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. (The other two land antipodes are Île Amsterdam and Kerguelen Island.)
Île Saint-Paul is triangular in shape, and measures no more than 3 mi (4.8 km) at its widest. It is the top of an active volcano, the volcano last erupted in 1793 (from its SW Flank), and is rocky with steep cliffs on the east side. The thin stretch of rock that used to close off the crater collapsed in 1780, admitting the sea through a 100 m (330 ft) channel; the entrance is only a few meters deep, thus allowing only very small ships or boats to enter the crater. The interior basin, 1 km (0.62 mi) wide and 50 m (160 ft) deep, is surrounded by steep walls up to 270 m (890 ft) high. There are active thermal springs.
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Alonso de Ojeda
Alonso de Ojeda (Born Cuenca, Spain; ca. 1468 (some sources state 1466) – Died Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; 1515) was a navigator, governor and conquistador. He travelled through Guyana, Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago, Curaçao, Aruba and Colombia. He is famous for having named Venezuela, which he explored during his first two expeditions, for having been the first European to visit Guyana, Colombia, and Lake Maracaibo, and later for founding Santa Cruz (La Guairita).
He was born in Cuenca around 1468 (some authors claim 1466) to an impoverished noble family. He grew up in Ojeda, near to Oña, in the merindad of Bureba in the present day province of Burgos. In his youth he served the Duke of Medinaceli, don Luis de la Cerda, as a page. Alonso de Ojeda was a close relative of a member of the Court of the Inquisition, who had the same name. This relative presented him to the famous Archbishop of Burgos Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca who would later become Patriarca de las Indias. He distinguished himself in the conquest of Grenada, with his military abilities, his skill as a swordsman and his bravery. The young Ojeda quickly won the patronage of the Archbishop, who offered his protection at the first opportunity. Alonso was slight of stature, surprisingly agile and extremely accomplished with all types of weapons. In addition he was quick witted and insightful, he was brave to the point of recklessness, vindictive to the point of cruelty, softhearted with the weak and courteous with women, quarrelsome and a duellist, but he was deeply religious and rigorously observed his religious duties. The Archbishop thought the youth had a well-tempered soul and a generous heart, but he also noticed that his character had a depth of ambition that would help him to emulate Christopher Columbus.
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Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci (Italian pronunciation: [ameˈriɡo vesˈputtʃi]) (March 9, 1454 – February 22, 1512) was an Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer who first demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asia's eastern outskirts, as initially conjectured from Columbus' voyages, but instead constituted an entirely separate landmass heretofore unknown to Afro-Eurasians. The newly recognized super continent would come to be known as "the Americas", which probably derived from the feminized Latin version of his first name.
Amerigo Vespucci was born and raised in Florence, Italy. He was the third son of Ser Nastagio (Anastasio), a Florentine notary, and Lisabetta Mini. Amerigo Vespucci was educated by his uncle, Fra Giorgio Antonio Vespucci, a Dominican friar of San Marco in Florence.
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Arawak peoples
The Arawak people (from aru, the Lucayan word for cassava flour) are some of the indigenous peoples of the West Indies. The group belongs to the Arawakan language family. They were the natives whom Christopher Columbus encountered when he first arrived in the Americas in 1492. The Spanish described them as a peaceful primitive people.
The Arawak people include the Taíno, who occupied the Lesser Antilles and Guadeloupe (called "Karukera" meaning "The island of beautiful waters") before being killed by the Caribs in the 8th century; the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas (Lucayans); the Nepoya and Suppoya of Trinidad, and the Igneri, who were supposed to have preceded the Caribs in the Lesser Antilles - such as in , together with related groups (including the Lucayans) which lived along the eastern coast of South America, as far south as what is now Brazil.
It is now believed that the first tribe encountered by Christopher Columbus, when he arrived on the island he called Santa María de la Concepción (known as Mamana by the Lucayan Indians and now called Rum Cay off the Bahamas), were Lucayan-Arawak Indians. Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts. Columbus noted in his log:
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Betico Croes
Gilberto François "Betico" Croes (January 25, 1938 - November 26, 1986) was an Aruban political activist who was a proponent of Aruba's separation from the rest of the Netherlands Antilles. This eventually occurred, but Croes lapsed into a coma after an accident on 31 December 1985 (the night of status aparte) and was never conscious to see his accomplishment. He is called the father of the Aruban nation.
The accident he suffered was questioned by many for years since a car was seen leaving the area after the accident. This conspiracy theory was never proven.
He was the leader of the political party People's Electoral Movement (Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo) and in 1976 was the person responsible for the Seal, Flag and Hymn of the island of Aruba. The hymn was co-written by renowned Padu Del Caribe (Padu Lampe), and Rufo Wever, who also composed the anthem. He was also responsible for the referendum held March 1977, for Aruba's independence, which obtained 83% of the votes in favor of independence.
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Calvin Maduro
Calvin Gregory Maduro (born September 5, 1974 in Aruba, Netherlands Antilles) is a retired professional baseball player. He played 5 years in Major League Baseball between 1996 and 2002. He is currently a scout for the Baltimore Orioles.
Maduro played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1996 to 1997 and for the Baltimore Orioles from 2000 to 2002. Maduro also represented the Netherlands at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens where he and his team finished sixth. In those years he played for the Dutch major league club HCAW.
In 2005, Maduro was named the pitching coach for the Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York-Penn League, an Orioles farm team. He spent three seasons there, then two more seasons with the Gulf Coast Orioles before becoming a scout in 2010.
After the 2003 season, he was decorated with a Order of Orange-Nassau, in the grade Knight, along with fellow baseball players Eugene Kingsale and Sidney Ponson.
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Caquetio
Caquetio, Caiquetio, or Caiquetia, were Indians of northwestern Venezuela, living along the shores of Lake Maracaibo at the time of the Spanish conquest. They moved inland to avoid enslavement by the Spaniards but were eventually destroyed as were their neighbours, the Quiriquire and the Jirajara. The Caquetíos were also present in Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire when these islands were first discovered by Alonso de Ojeda in 1499.
The Indians occupying this region were known as Caquetíos by the Spaniards and their language (Caquetío) belongs to the Arawakan family of languages. The Caquetío and the Jirajara spoke the same language, and their cultures were quite similar. The Arawakan or Caquetío language is termed a "ghost" language because virtually no trace of it survives. Only the name remains, saved in 17th century texts.
When the Spanish arrived in Aruba around 1500 they found the Caiquetios in Aruba, living much as they did in the Stone Age. These Indians had probably migrated to Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire in canoes made from hollowed out logs they used for fishing. Such crossings from the Paraguana peninsula in Venezuela, across the 17 miles of open sea to Aruba, would be possible in the canoes the Caiquetios of Venezuela built.
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Caquetios Indian
Caquetio, Caiquetio, or Caiquetia, were Indians of northwestern Venezuela, living along the shores of Lake Maracaibo at the time of the Spanish conquest. They moved inland to avoid enslavement by the Spaniards but were eventually destroyed as were their neighbours, the Quiriquire and the Jirajara. The Caquetíos were also present in Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire when these islands were first discovered by Alonso de Ojeda in 1499.
The Indians occupying this region were known as Caquetíos by the Spaniards and their language (Caquetío) belongs to the Arawakan family of languages. The Caquetío and the Jirajara spoke the same language, and their cultures were quite similar. The Arawakan or Caquetío language is termed a "ghost" language because virtually no trace of it survives. Only the name remains, saved in 17th century texts.
When the Spanish arrived in Aruba around 1500 they found the Caiquetios in Aruba, living much as they did in the Stone Age. These Indians had probably migrated to Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire in canoes made from hollowed out logs they used for fishing. Such crossings from the Paraguana peninsula in Venezuela, across the 17 miles of open sea to Aruba, would be possible in the canoes the Caiquetios of Venezuela built.
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Caribs
Carib, Island Carib, or Kalinago people, after whom the Caribbean was named, are a group of people who live in the Lesser Antilles islands. They are an Amerindian people whose origins lie in the southern West Indies and the northern coast of South America.
The people spoke either a Carib language or a pidgin, but the Caribs' regular raids on other groups resulted in so many female Arawak captives that it was not uncommon for the women to speak Kalhíphona, a Maipurean language (Arawakan). In the southern Caribbean, they co-existed with a related Cariban-speaking group, the Galibi. They lived in separate villages in Grenada, Tobago, Dominica and St.Vincent.
The Caribs are believed to have migrated from the Orinoco River area in South America to settle in the Caribbean islands about 1200 AD, according to carbon dating. Over the century leading up to Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean archipelago in 1492, the Caribs mostly displaced the Maipurean-speaking Taínos, who settled the island chains earlier in history, by warfare, extermination and assimilation.
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Dave Benton
Dave Benton (born 31 January 1951, real name Efrén Eugene Benita) is a pop musician and 2001 winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Benton was born on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 1951 and in his 20s moved to the United States. As a drummer and a backing vocalist, he worked with The Drifters, Tom Jones, Billy Ocean, José Feliciano and the Platters.
While living in the Netherlands in the 1980s, he met his future Estonian wife Maris on a cruise ship, then settled in Estonia in 1997. He has had a varied musical career in Northern European countries. He now lives in Estonia with his wife and two daughters, Sissi and Lisa. He performed in the German production of the musical 'City Lights' after which he was asked to replace Engelbert Humperdinck on his Australian tour.
Though he has released and produced quite a few albums already, one of which in his native tongue, Papiamento, his career to date shows him to be more of a performing artist rather than a recording one.
In 2001 he performed with budding Estonian rock singer Tanel Padar and boyband 2XL to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with their song "Everybody".
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Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (/ˈɛlɨnɔr ˈroʊzəvɛlt/; October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international author, speaker, politician, and activist for the New Deal coalition. She worked to enhance the status of working women, although she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment because she believed it would adversely affect women.
In the 1940s, Roosevelt was one of the co-founders of Freedom House and supported the formation of the United Nations. Roosevelt founded the UN Association of the United States in 1943 to advance support for the formation of the UN. She was a delegate to the UN General Assembly from 1945 and 1952, a job for which she was appointed by President Harry S. Truman and confirmed by the United States Senate. During her time at the United Nations she chaired the committee that drafted and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President Truman called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.
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Francisco de Miranda
Sebastián Francisco de Miranda Rodríguez (Caracas, March 28, 1750 – San Fernando, Cádiz, July 14, 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈsisko ðe miˈɾanda]), was a Venezuelan revolutionary. Although his own plans for the independence of the Spanish American colonies failed, he is regarded as a forerunner of Simón Bolívar, who during the Spanish American wars of independence successfully liberated a vast portion of South America. Miranda led a romantic and adventurous life. An idealist, he developed a visionary plan to liberate and unify all of Spanish America but his own military initiatives on behalf of an independent Spanish America ended in 1812. He was handed over to his enemies and four years later, in 1816, died in a Spanish prison. Within fourteen years of his death, however, most of Spanish America was independent.
Sebastian Francisco de Miranda was born in Caracas, Venezuela. His father, Sebastian de Miranda Ravelo, was a wealthy merchant from the Canary Islands, and his mother, Francisca Antonia Rodríguez de Espinoza, was a wealthy Venezuelan.
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Fredis Refunjol
Fredis Jose Refunjol is an Aruban politician serving as the current Governor of Aruba. Originally a teacher, he has served as a government official for the past twenty years, starting as a Member of the Estates of Aruba.
Governor Refunjol was born in Aruba on December 19, 1950 and is married to Clarette Maria de Lourdes Refunjol-Lopez. Together they have two daughters (Cheryl and Zanette) and one son (Fredis). Refunjol received his Higher Elementary Education (MULO) diploma in 1968 and his Senior General Secondary Education (HAVO) diploma in 1973. Three years later, in 1973, he graduated from the Aruba Teacher-Training Academy and was certified as a teacher.
Upon graduation, he secured employment at the Heilig Hart College in Savaneta as a teacher. He taught for eight years before being promoted to Principal in 1981. Two years later, in 1983, Refunjol joined the Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo (MEP). The next year he became the party's vice president, holding that position until 1987, when he was named as the party Secretary General (effective 1988).
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Gene Kingsale
Eugene Humphrey "Gene" Kingsale (born August 20, 1976 in Solito, Aruba) is a former Major League Baseball player with the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, and Detroit Tigers from 1996 until 2003. At six-foot-three, and his weight ranging from 170 to 194 pounds, Kingsale is known as a slick fielding, speedy switch-hitter who throws right-handed, he has played extensively for The Netherlands national team in international competition, including the World Cup of Baseball, the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece as well as the World Baseball Classic tournaments in 2006 and 2009. Since 2008, he has played for perennial champions Neptunus Rotterdam in the Dutch Hoofdklasse, as well as being a key member of The Netherlands national team, which played in Beijing Olympics.
Kingsale was signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent on June 19, 1993. He made his debut with the Orioles on September 3, 1996. On July 10, 2001, he was selected off waivers by the Seattle Mariners. On June 14, 2002, he was selected off waivers by the San Diego Padres. On November 15, 2002, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Mike Rivera and became the Tigers' opening day center fielder. On September 29, 2003, he was granted free agency and signed with the San Diego Padres on November 9 of that year.
wn.com/Gene_Kingsale -
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (Chinese: 广州; Mandarin pronunciation: [kwɑ̀ŋʈʂóʊ̯]), known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port. One of the five National Central Cities, it holds sub-provincial administrative status.
Guangzhou is the third largest city in China and southern China's largest city. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 12.78 million. Some estimates place the population of the entire Pearl River Delta Mega City built up area as high as 40 million including Shenzhen (10.36 million), Dongguan (8.22 million) and most parts of Foshan (7.19 million), Jiangmen (4.45 million), Zhongshan (3.12 million) and a small part of Huizhou adjoining Dongguan and Shenzhen, with an area of about 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) (about the size of US state of New Jersey). In 2008 Guangzhou was identified as a Beta World City by the global city index produced by GaWC.
wn.com/Guangzhou -
Henny Eman
Jan Hendrik Albert "Henny" Eman (born March 20, 1948) was the first Prime Minister of Aruba from 1 January 1986 to 9 February 1989 and again from 29 July 1994 to 30 October 2001.
Jan Hendrik Albert Eman, simply known as Henny, was born in Aruba on the 20th of March 1948. His grandfather (also known as Henny) founded the Christian Democratic Party Aruban People's Party (AVP) and is considered pioneer of Aruba's political "Seperacion" from the Netherlands Antilles.
His father, Albert Eman, better known as Shon A Eman, carried on the AVP's leadership banner. Shon A dedicated his life to Aruba's quest for a "Separate Status within the Kingdom" as presented to Holland during the Round Table Conference of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1948 at the Hague (Henny was born two days later).
Henny grew up in a political environment. At an early age he went to Holland. As a high school graduate he became a student at the Leiden University's Law School. Upon the unexpected early death of his father, Henny Eman, was forced to undertake some business activities in Leiden in addition to his studies.
wn.com/Henny_Eman -
Jim Jones (rapper)
Joseph Guillermo Jones II (born July 15, 1976), better known by his stage name Jim Jones, is an American rapper and original member of The Diplomats, also known as Dipset. He is Co-CEO of Diplomat Records. Jones is also a noted video director under the name CAPO, for artists including Cam'ron, Remy Ma, and State Property.
In 2004, he released his first solo album, On My Way to Church. The release of his second album, Harlem: Diary of a Summer in 2005, coincided with Jones' landing an executive position in A&R at E1 Music. A year later he was on his third album, which spawned his biggest single to date, "We Fly High". In 2006, he formed the rap group, ByrdGang. He also has his own freestyle inline skating team, Dipskate, which he plans to take to the X Games in the near future. On April 5, 2011 Jones released his 5th studio album, Capo.
Jim Jones was born in the Tremont section of The Bronx and was raised in Harlem. His mom, Nancy Jones, is Aruban and his late father was Puerto Rican and was raised mainly by his maternal grandmother. In an essay for Fader magazine, he stated that his mother would allow him to ride the train from their residence at 176th Street and Jerome Avenue to 110th Street and Lexington Avenue. He attended Catholic school but later began cutting church to loiter and play hooky at the train station. In Jim Jones' The Come Up DVD, Vol. 19, he tells stories about growing up with rapper Freekey Zekey. Jones claimed he would stay at a store a block from the church he attended, and would go in and hang out with the owner; when the owner left, Jones said he took all the money in the register and the candy and would sell it in school; he was later expelled.
wn.com/Jim_Jones_(rapper) -
Juan Chabaya Lampe
Padú del Caribe (Father of the Caribbean, né Juan Chabaya Lampe) is an Aruban musician and songwriter who has been recording and composing for several decades. He wrote "Aruba Dushi Tera", a waltz that is now the national anthem for Aruba and was long a rallying cry for separation from the Netherlands Antilles, which was achieved in 1986.
wn.com/Juan_Chabaya_Lampe -
List of Arubans
wn.com/List_of_Arubans -
Mike Eman
Michiel Godfried "Mike" Eman (born September 1, 1961) is an Aruban politician who is the 5th Prime Minister of Aruba and the current leader of the Aruban People's Party (AVP) (Arubaanse Volkspartij/Partido di Pueblo Arubano), which holds the new majority in the Aruban Estates as a result of the seventh Aruban General Elections held on 25 September 2009. His political career began in 2001, but Eman has been involved in politics in one way or another since his childhood. His grandfather, father and brother were all prominent politicians in their time, with Henny Eman having preceded him in service (twice) as Prime Minister of Aruba, including as the first to ever hold the office.[citation needed]
Eman is a graduate of the University of the Netherlands Antilles (UNA) earning his law degree in 1992 with a thesis entitled “The Position of the Institution of the Public Prosecutor vis à vis the Minister of Justice in a Small Scale Community.” In 1996 he earned a degree in Civil Notary Law from the same university.[citation needed]
wn.com/Mike_Eman -
Nelson Oduber
Nelson Orlando Oduber (born February 7, 1947) was the Prime Minister of Aruba. He is a member of the Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo (People's Electoral Movement). He was prime minister for the first time from 1989 until 1994, when his party lost parliamentary elections, and has been prime minister again from 2001 until 2009. He led the MEP to victory in the 2001 and 2005 Estates elections, the first consecutive election victories since Aruban status aparte in 1986.
In the general elections for seats in the Seventh Estates held on 25 September 2009, Prime Minister Oduber's People's Electoral Movement lost its majority for the first time in eight years. His party (MEP) lost the majority to the largest opposition party on the island. He was succeeded by the leader of the Aruban People's Party (AVP) and the now incumbent Prime Minister Mike Eman. Oduber's term ended on October 30, 2009. Oduber has recently announced that he will not lead the opposition in the parliament, meaning that he will not take the position of member of parliament but will remain leader of his party. He wanted a new candidate in his place.
wn.com/Nelson_Oduber -
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod. The settled areas are now part of the Mid-Atlantic States of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut, with small outposts in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The provincial capital, New Amsterdam, was located at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan on upper New York Bay.
The colony was conceived as a private business venture to exploit the North American fur trade. During its first decades, New Netherland was settled rather slowly, partially as a result of policy mismanagement by the Dutch West India Company (WIC), and conflicts with Native Americans. The settlements of New Sweden developed on its southern flank and its northern border was re-drawn in recognition of early New England expansion. During the 1650s, the colony experienced dramatic growth and became a major port for trade in the North Atlantic. The surrender of Fort Amsterdam to English control in 1664 was formalized in 1667, contributing to the Second Anglo–Dutch War. In 1673 the Dutch re-took the area, but later relinquished it under the 1674 Treaty of Westminster ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
wn.com/New_Netherland -
Percy Irausquin
Joseph Gregory Percy Irausquin (June 26, 1969 – August 14, 2008) was an Aruban-born Dutch fashion designer and couturier based in Amsterdam. He was described by the Dutch media as "one of the most talented young designers in the Netherlands." The Dutch national daily newspaper De Volkskrant described his clothing designs as "sexy and extravagant" and "fashionable but not fussy."
Irausquin was born in Oranjestad, Aruba, on June 26, 1969. He graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, an art and design school in Amsterdam. His work was noticed by Christian Lacroix, a high end French fashion designer. Irausquin went to work for Lacroix in Paris shortly after his graduation. He later worked for Givenchy with Hubert Barrere, a corset specialist, and at the house of Christian Dior.
Irausquin was named by Vogue Magazine as a prominent up-and-coming designer in 2007. His work was featured on the covers of several Dutch and international magazines, including Marie Claire and Elle. He held a fashion show at the Amsterdam Fashion Week 2008 just a few days before his death. He was once quoted in an interview as saying of his work, "I'm not one for complicated ideas. I'm not an innovator. I don't want to change the world. I just want to make it more beautiful."
wn.com/Percy_Irausquin -
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant (c.1612 – August 1672), served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York. He was a major figure in the early history of New York City. Stuyvesant's accomplishments as director-general included a great expansion for the settlement of New Amsterdam beyond the southern tip of Manhattan. Among the projects built by Stuyvesant's administration were the protective wall on Wall Street, the canal that became Broad Street, and Broadway.
Although conventionally referred to in English today as "Peter Stuyvesant", Stuyvesant's given name was actually "Pieter" or "Petrus"; "Peter" is not found in historical records.
Stuyvesant was born in Peperga, Friesland in the Netherlands, to Balthazar Johannes Stuyvesant, a minister, and Margaretha Hardenstein around 1612. He grew up in Scherpenzeel. He studied languages and philosophy in Franeker, and joined the West India Company about 1635, and was director of the Dutch West India Company's colony of Curaçao from 1642 to 1644.
wn.com/Peter_Stuyvesant -
Sidney Ponson
Sidney Alton Ponson (born November 2, 1976 in Noord, Aruba) is a former Major League pitcher. As a player, Ponson stood at 6'1" tall and weighed 260 pounds. He threw right-handed. When he made his major league debut for the Orioles in 1998, he became the third player from Aruba to play in the major leagues. He also had a fastball that tops out at 95 mph. After the 2003 season, he was decorated with a Order of Orange-Nassau, in the grade Knight, along with fellow former Orioles Eugene Kingsale and Calvin Maduro.
Ponson played most of his career with the Baltimore Orioles. In 2003, he went 14–6 with a 3.77 ERA for the Orioles. Because Baltimore was not in contention for a playoff spot and Ponson was in the last year of his contract, the Orioles traded Ponson to the San Francisco Giants at the trading deadline for three players: Kurt Ainsworth, Damian Moss, and prospect Ryan Hannaman. At the end of the 2003 season, Ponson re-signed a 3 year, $22.5 million contract with the Orioles.
In 2004, Ponson was the opening day starter for Baltimore. However, he started off disastrously; his record was 3–12 by the All-Star Break. He rebounded for a strong second half, going 8–3 to finish with an 11–15 record and a 5.30 ERA.
wn.com/Sidney_Ponson
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Visit Aruba
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:30
- Updated: 11 Dec 2012
Visit Aruba once and you'll be hooked.
http://wn.com/Visit_Aruba
Aruba Airport Arrival Tips
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:57
- Updated: 07 Dec 2012
Author Daniel Putkowski shows some helpful tips about arriving in Aruba at the Queen Beatrix Airport. You'll see where to find cell phone rentals, taxis, transfer buses, and rental cars. The video also shows where to park if you're picking someone up at the airport.
http://wn.com/Aruba_Airport_Arrival_Tips
Author Daniel Putkowski shows some helpful tips about arriving in Aruba at the Queen Beatrix Airport. You'll see where to find cell phone rentals, taxis, transfer buses, and rental cars. The video also shows where to park if you're picking someone up at the airport.
- published: 12 Mar 2012
- views: 11758
- author: lenswork4
Aruba - Weather
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:53
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
Aruba enjoys a tropical sunny climate, making it a year-round paradise for residents and visitors alike. The average temperature is 82ºF (28ºC), with cooling trade winds and the rarity of tropical storms and hurricanes. Aruba lies outside the hurricane belt and rainfall is very moderate - averaging about 16.1" (408.9 mm) per year. For more information visit www.aruba.com
http://wn.com/Aruba_Weather
Aruba enjoys a tropical sunny climate, making it a year-round paradise for residents and visitors alike. The average temperature is 82ºF (28ºC), with cooling trade winds and the rarity of tropical storms and hurricanes. Aruba lies outside the hurricane belt and rainfall is very moderate - averaging about 16.1" (408.9 mm) per year. For more information visit www.aruba.com
- published: 23 Nov 2007
- views: 142349
- author: ArubaTourism
Aruba
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 38:01
- Updated: 11 Dec 2012
Recorded December 17, 2010: My visit to Aruba includes... 00:19 Sail into Aruba on the Island Princess 05:04 Begin tour of Aruba 07:06 Casibari Rock Formation 12:08 Ostrich Farm 20:31 East coast of Aruba 25:49 California Lighthouse 27:40 Walk around Oranjastad 30:29 Sail away on the Island Princess From: timvp.com
http://wn.com/Aruba
Recorded December 17, 2010: My visit to Aruba includes... 00:19 Sail into Aruba on the Island Princess 05:04 Begin tour of Aruba 07:06 Casibari Rock Formation 12:08 Ostrich Farm 20:31 East coast of Aruba 25:49 California Lighthouse 27:40 Walk around Oranjastad 30:29 Sail away on the Island Princess From: timvp.com
- published: 22 Jan 2011
- views: 94494
- author: hoosiertim
ARUBA
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:23
- Updated: 29 Jul 2012
www.great-aruba-vacations.com to learn about the best places to visit in Aruba.
http://wn.com/ARUBA
www.great-aruba-vacations.com to learn about the best places to visit in Aruba.
- published: 29 Jul 2012
- views: 2112
- author: adventurouslover
Aruba - One Happy Island
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:21
- Updated: 28 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/Aruba_One_Happy_Island
Sky Diving in Aruba
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:18
- Updated: 14 Dec 2012
Diana goes SKY DIVING IN ARUBA!!!!!! It was my second jump from a plane - this time in a bikini, and from above the island of Aruba - I can't think of a better place to go sky diving! If you've never been I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DO SO! It is incredible!
http://wn.com/Sky_Diving_in_Aruba
Diana goes SKY DIVING IN ARUBA!!!!!! It was my second jump from a plane - this time in a bikini, and from above the island of Aruba - I can't think of a better place to go sky diving! If you've never been I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DO SO! It is incredible!
- published: 22 Mar 2010
- views: 4763519
- author: DW2284
Our Island, Our Aruba
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:18
- Updated: 11 Nov 2012
Promotional video of Aruba, produced for the Aruba Tourism Authority
http://wn.com/Our_Island,_Our_Aruba
Promotional video of Aruba, produced for the Aruba Tourism Authority
- published: 12 Dec 2007
- views: 158024
- author: ArubaTourism
Rootberry Retort , Aruba
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:00
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
This is Rootberry new Youtube show, the Rootberry Retort. We travel to exotic locations and interview people with comedy and our own brand of humor to find the funny that exist all over the World. It's not the Rootberry Report, it's the Rootberry Retort. retort 1 |riˈtôrt| verb 1 [ reporting verb ] say something in answer to a remark or accusation, typically in a sharp, angry, or wittily incisive manner: [ with direct speech ] : "No need to be rude," retorted Isabel | [ with clause ] : he retorted that this was nonsense | [ no obj. ] : I resisted the urge to retort. If you leave an ORIGINAL question in the comment section of this video, we may use it, and give you credit in a future video. NOTE: We are looking for someone to make a jingle/theme song for the Rootberry Retort. Contact us via private message if you are interested in more details. We are also looking for a new Rootberry Retort T-shirt, so if you have ideas for a cutting edge shirt that you think would be awesome contact us. We support those who support us: kurtisusa.com http ROOTBERRY MERCHANDISE. •Rootberry Shirts: districtlines.com Rootberry performs a one of a kind comedy stunt show with juggling, sword swallowing, and knife throwing. Mixed in with comedy and audience participation. They have traveled to over 60 countries and every single state with their show. CONTACT: ROOTBERRY •Facebook: facebook.com •Personal Twitter: twitter.com •Facebook: facebook.com CONTACT: Jonathan ROOT •Twitter: twitter.com ...
http://wn.com/Rootberry_Retort_,_Aruba
This is Rootberry new Youtube show, the Rootberry Retort. We travel to exotic locations and interview people with comedy and our own brand of humor to find the funny that exist all over the World. It's not the Rootberry Report, it's the Rootberry Retort. retort 1 |riˈtôrt| verb 1 [ reporting verb ] say something in answer to a remark or accusation, typically in a sharp, angry, or wittily incisive manner: [ with direct speech ] : "No need to be rude," retorted Isabel | [ with clause ] : he retorted that this was nonsense | [ no obj. ] : I resisted the urge to retort. If you leave an ORIGINAL question in the comment section of this video, we may use it, and give you credit in a future video. NOTE: We are looking for someone to make a jingle/theme song for the Rootberry Retort. Contact us via private message if you are interested in more details. We are also looking for a new Rootberry Retort T-shirt, so if you have ideas for a cutting edge shirt that you think would be awesome contact us. We support those who support us: kurtisusa.com http ROOTBERRY MERCHANDISE. •Rootberry Shirts: districtlines.com Rootberry performs a one of a kind comedy stunt show with juggling, sword swallowing, and knife throwing. Mixed in with comedy and audience participation. They have traveled to over 60 countries and every single state with their show. CONTACT: ROOTBERRY •Facebook: facebook.com •Personal Twitter: twitter.com •Facebook: facebook.com CONTACT: Jonathan ROOT •Twitter: twitter.com ...
- published: 21 Jan 2012
- views: 4391
- author: rootberry
Boa constrictor - invasive species in Aruba
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:32
- Updated: 23 Apr 2012
In 2011, the invasive Boa constrictor consumed over 52.000 mammals, birds and reptiles in Aruba. Over 17.000 birds were lost to the boa in 2011. We hope that the government of Aruba will give combating invasive species in Aruba a high priority. Thank you for caring.
http://wn.com/Boa_constrictor_invasive_species_in_Aruba
In 2011, the invasive Boa constrictor consumed over 52.000 mammals, birds and reptiles in Aruba. Over 17.000 birds were lost to the boa in 2011. We hope that the government of Aruba will give combating invasive species in Aruba a high priority. Thank you for caring.
- published: 23 Apr 2012
- views: 3765
- author: Aruba Birdlife Conservation
Aruba - History
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:30
- Updated: 30 Oct 2012
Aruba's path to the present day is marked by the mystery of ochre-colored rock drawings left behind by island shamans, the enterprising spirit of European adventurers and settlers and the diverse experiences and traditions brought by the many nationalities that have since sought out the island as either a new home or temporary resting place. The look of the people, the languages they speak and the innate hospitality that manifests itself in the Aruban psyche is the result of a multi-cultural mix that reflects a rich past. For more information visit www.aruba.com
http://wn.com/Aruba_History
Aruba's path to the present day is marked by the mystery of ochre-colored rock drawings left behind by island shamans, the enterprising spirit of European adventurers and settlers and the diverse experiences and traditions brought by the many nationalities that have since sought out the island as either a new home or temporary resting place. The look of the people, the languages they speak and the innate hospitality that manifests itself in the Aruban psyche is the result of a multi-cultural mix that reflects a rich past. For more information visit www.aruba.com
- published: 23 Nov 2007
- views: 41903
- author: ArubaTourism
Aruba
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:00
- Updated: 10 Nov 2012
Recorded February 21, 2008. Aruba is a 21 mile-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, 17 miles north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles. Aruba has a population around 105000 and a land area of 75 square miles. Oranjestad, with a population of 32748 is the capital and most important city of Aruba located on the southern coast near the western end of the island. This video begins as we sail into the harbour on the Crown Princess. After disembarking the ship I take a submarine cruise and visit the hotel area at Palm Beach. I visit the northern most point on the island at the California Lighthouse. I get a nice view of the island from the rock formation Casibari. I also witness the pounding surf on the east coast of the island. The video concludes as I walk around Oranjestad, the capital and largest city on the island. From: timvp.com
http://wn.com/Aruba
Recorded February 21, 2008. Aruba is a 21 mile-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, 17 miles north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles. Aruba has a population around 105000 and a land area of 75 square miles. Oranjestad, with a population of 32748 is the capital and most important city of Aruba located on the southern coast near the western end of the island. This video begins as we sail into the harbour on the Crown Princess. After disembarking the ship I take a submarine cruise and visit the hotel area at Palm Beach. I visit the northern most point on the island at the California Lighthouse. I get a nice view of the island from the rock formation Casibari. I also witness the pounding surf on the east coast of the island. The video concludes as I walk around Oranjestad, the capital and largest city on the island. From: timvp.com
- published: 26 Apr 2009
- views: 25620
- author: hoosiertim
Zeewijk Aruba Boat Trip 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 28:13
- Updated: 18 Nov 2012
Zeedag Aruba 2012 Boat Trip Aruba 2012
http://wn.com/Zeewijk_Aruba_Boat_Trip_2012
Hotel Riu Palace Aruba - Aruba, Palm Beach - Riu Hotels & Resorts
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:42
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
Book your stay at Hotel Riu Palace Aruba in Palm Beach, Aruba: bit.ly The Hotel Riu Palace Aruba lies on the large, sandy Palm Beach, bathed by the waters of the Caribbean. With painstakingly-designed and well-kept facilities and a wide range of services, your holiday in this hotel will be unforgettable indeed. www.riu.com
http://wn.com/Hotel_Riu_Palace_Aruba_Aruba,_Palm_Beach_Riu_Hotels_Resorts
Book your stay at Hotel Riu Palace Aruba in Palm Beach, Aruba: bit.ly The Hotel Riu Palace Aruba lies on the large, sandy Palm Beach, bathed by the waters of the Caribbean. With painstakingly-designed and well-kept facilities and a wide range of services, your holiday in this hotel will be unforgettable indeed. www.riu.com
- published: 16 Oct 2009
- views: 93907
- author: RiuHotelsandResorts
The Boogie Man Show - Shit "Aruban Moms" Say
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:31
- Updated: 06 Dec 2012
Check Out Our Website: www.BoogieIAm.com Join Us On Facebook www.facebook.com Follow Us On Twitter: www.twitter.com We decided to take a shot at the whole "Shit People Say" trend going around. Check it out, We'll set translation up as soon as possible. Special Thanks To Arawak Mums: Site: www.arawakmums.com Facebook www.facebook.com Twitter: www.twitter.com As always, we hope you subscribe to our channel and help share our videos! :)
http://wn.com/The_Boogie_Man_Show_Shit_Aruban_Moms_Say
Check Out Our Website: www.BoogieIAm.com Join Us On Facebook www.facebook.com Follow Us On Twitter: www.twitter.com We decided to take a shot at the whole "Shit People Say" trend going around. Check it out, We'll set translation up as soon as possible. Special Thanks To Arawak Mums: Site: www.arawakmums.com Facebook www.facebook.com Twitter: www.twitter.com As always, we hope you subscribe to our channel and help share our videos! :)
- published: 04 Feb 2012
- views: 17331
- author: BoogieIAm
Juanes at Aruba International Film Festival
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:28
- Updated: 06 Dec 2012
Subscribe NOW! full.sc Facebook: full.sc Twitter: full.sc Google+: full.sc Tumblr: full.sc Juanes' worldwide tour continues in Aruba where he attends the Aruba International Film Festival. There's culture, fun in the sun, and plenty more up close and personal moments with Juanes and his family.
http://wn.com/Juanes_at_Aruba_International_Film_Festival
Subscribe NOW! full.sc Facebook: full.sc Twitter: full.sc Google+: full.sc Tumblr: full.sc Juanes' worldwide tour continues in Aruba where he attends the Aruba International Film Festival. There's culture, fun in the sun, and plenty more up close and personal moments with Juanes and his family.
- published: 20 Aug 2012
- views: 6252
- author: 123UNODOSTRES
Mom vs Electronics in Aruba
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:03
- Updated: 10 Nov 2012
A family vacation in Aruba sounds great, but can they enjoy it without electronic gadgets and gizmos? For more travel info: www.TravelingMom.com.
http://wn.com/Mom_vs_Electronics_in_Aruba
A family vacation in Aruba sounds great, but can they enjoy it without electronic gadgets and gizmos? For more travel info: www.TravelingMom.com.
- published: 17 Jan 2012
- views: 4687
- author: travelingmomvideos
ARUBA Hotel Tour
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:48
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
Miss Hannah Minx takes you on tour around her hotel in Aruba and out on the beach!! =^.^= Leave a video response showing or telling about time that you went to an island! And check out this video for more pictures!! www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/ARUBA_Hotel_Tour
Miss Hannah Minx takes you on tour around her hotel in Aruba and out on the beach!! =^.^= Leave a video response showing or telling about time that you went to an island! And check out this video for more pictures!! www.youtube.com
- published: 05 May 2012
- views: 644653
- author: BonusMinx
ABCS Cup 2012: Aruba 3 - Curacao 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:53
- Updated: 10 Dec 2012
Aruba advances to the final of the ABCS Cup 2012 after defeating Curacao 3-2.
http://wn.com/ABCS_Cup_2012_Aruba_3_Curacao_2
Aruba advances to the final of the ABCS Cup 2012 after defeating Curacao 3-2.
- published: 14 Jul 2012
- views: 1850
- author: AVB Aruba
Aruba by Justin Wu
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:56
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
Aruba - One Happy Island Director Justin Wu sends the viewer through Aruba from sea to air passing the camera from local to local on a fun animated trip of a lifetime! Aruba Tourism Authority Directed by Justin Wu (www.jwufilms.com) Production Assistants - John Croes & Paris Rasmijn Special Thanks to the Ronchi de Cuba & all locals involved! Music - Bring Me Down/Living Easy Mash Up Honeypot ft. Bryan Montero Mashup Production by Bryan Montero
http://wn.com/Aruba_by_Justin_Wu
Aruba - One Happy Island Director Justin Wu sends the viewer through Aruba from sea to air passing the camera from local to local on a fun animated trip of a lifetime! Aruba Tourism Authority Directed by Justin Wu (www.jwufilms.com) Production Assistants - John Croes & Paris Rasmijn Special Thanks to the Ronchi de Cuba & all locals involved! Music - Bring Me Down/Living Easy Mash Up Honeypot ft. Bryan Montero Mashup Production by Bryan Montero
- published: 09 Aug 2012
- views: 22196
- author: ArubaTourism
Aruba Hi-Winds movie 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 25:39
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
Aruba Hi-Winds 2012 has come to an end. After six days of races with good wind conditions, all categories in the windsurfing discipline have completed 15 slalom races and 4 long distance races. The overall winners in their respective categories are: in the Pro/Men Diony Guadagnino (VEN) who just ended ahead of Josh Angulo with 0.1 point in slalom. Miguel Bruggeman (VEN) in the Juniors, Carolina Comino (VEN) in the Women and Hender Acosta (VEN) in Sports class. In Grandmasters Ricardo Albisu (ARG), in Masters Nathaniel McFarlane (ARU), in Big Kids Mark Tjon (ARU). For more information about winners and standings, please check out the Results page. In the Freestyle Kiri Thode (BON) won in King-of-the-Huts, Ethan Westera (ARU) in the Prince-of-the-Huts and Steven Max(ARU) in Kid-of-the-Huts. At Boca Grandi meanwhile, kiters have been busy with their Freestyle competition as well; after the three days of jumping, the winners are: Sergio Coello (VEN) in Pro/Open, Hernan Arends (VEN) in Men and Janka Madrzykowska (SVK) in Women. During the weekend, Long Distance Races were held for both windsurfers and kiters. Overall winners in long distance are Josh Angulo in windsurfing and in kiting Hernan Arends in Men and Nicole v/d Velden in Women. The evenings were filled with live music performances by bands like Honeypot, Mystical Connection, Datapanik and Orange Grove. At the Awards Ceremony at Paseo Herencia, awards were given out, nice prizes were raffled and there was the first ...
http://wn.com/Aruba_Hi-Winds_movie_2012
Aruba Hi-Winds 2012 has come to an end. After six days of races with good wind conditions, all categories in the windsurfing discipline have completed 15 slalom races and 4 long distance races. The overall winners in their respective categories are: in the Pro/Men Diony Guadagnino (VEN) who just ended ahead of Josh Angulo with 0.1 point in slalom. Miguel Bruggeman (VEN) in the Juniors, Carolina Comino (VEN) in the Women and Hender Acosta (VEN) in Sports class. In Grandmasters Ricardo Albisu (ARG), in Masters Nathaniel McFarlane (ARU), in Big Kids Mark Tjon (ARU). For more information about winners and standings, please check out the Results page. In the Freestyle Kiri Thode (BON) won in King-of-the-Huts, Ethan Westera (ARU) in the Prince-of-the-Huts and Steven Max(ARU) in Kid-of-the-Huts. At Boca Grandi meanwhile, kiters have been busy with their Freestyle competition as well; after the three days of jumping, the winners are: Sergio Coello (VEN) in Pro/Open, Hernan Arends (VEN) in Men and Janka Madrzykowska (SVK) in Women. During the weekend, Long Distance Races were held for both windsurfers and kiters. Overall winners in long distance are Josh Angulo in windsurfing and in kiting Hernan Arends in Men and Nicole v/d Velden in Women. The evenings were filled with live music performances by bands like Honeypot, Mystical Connection, Datapanik and Orange Grove. At the Awards Ceremony at Paseo Herencia, awards were given out, nice prizes were raffled and there was the first ...
- published: 14 Jul 2012
- views: 10249
- author: timvandendonker
Where is Aruba
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:58
- Updated: 20 Oct 2012
www.great-aruba-vacations.com Watch this video to find out where is aruba. This video was prepared using Google Earth for educational purposes
http://wn.com/Where_is_Aruba
www.great-aruba-vacations.com Watch this video to find out where is aruba. This video was prepared using Google Earth for educational purposes
- published: 29 Jul 2012
- views: 553
- author: adventurouslover
HeliTour Aruba (no music)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:50
- Updated: 13 Nov 2012
Helicopter flight over the beaches and inland Aruba. www.danielputkowski.com
http://wn.com/HeliTour_Aruba_no_music
Helicopter flight over the beaches and inland Aruba. www.danielputkowski.com
- published: 21 Aug 2011
- views: 2644
- author: lenswork4
photo: AP / Jason DeCrow
16 Dec 2012
NEWTOWN, Conn. — The gunman in the Connecticut shooting rampage committed suicide as first responders closed in, the governor said Sunday, raising the specter that Adam Lanza had planned an even more gruesome massacre and was stopped short. Lanza blasted his way into the building and used a high-power rifle to kill 20 children and six adults, including the principal who tried to stop him, authorities said ... Among the questions ... H ... The Rev....(size: 8.8Kb)
photo: AP / Charles Krupa
18 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "Most people reason dramatically, not quantitatively." -Oliver Wendell Holmes. On the same day that a 20-year-old, described as brilliant but remote, walked into an elementary school in Connecticut and massacred 26 children and adults, the school where I teach went on "lock-down." Four students with a handgun were arrested ... That morning before school, he had posted on Twitter and Facebook....(size: 14.0Kb)
photo: AP / Manu Brabo
18 Dec 2012
The UN's humanitarian chief has called on Syria to urgently allow fuel imports for aid deliveries and give access to 10 more aid agencies. Valerie Amos met government officials in the capital, Damascus, to discuss the growing humanitarian crisis. UN workers also needed to freely move into opposition-controlled areas to step up their aid efforts, she said ... 'Greater rebel contact' ... The claim could not be independently verified ... ....(size: 2.6Kb)
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
19 Dec 2012
WASHINGTON. US President Barack Obama backs a new bill to revive an assault weapons ban and other new gun laws, the White House said Tuesday, fleshing out his nascent response to a shocking school massacre. Obama also called an ardently pro-gun senator who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday's carnage in Connecticut and has begun meeting top cabinet officials to consider his options, his spokesman Jay Carney said ... ....(size: 4.9Kb)
photo: AP / Jason DeCrow
18 Dec 2012
An increasing number of US congressmen have called for a national dialogue about measures to curb gun violence following the shooting last week at a primary school in Connecticut that killed 26 people, including 20 children and six adults. White House officials have said that President Barack Obama would make preventing gun-related violence a priority in his second term in office and stricter laws would be part of the effort. ... ....(size: 19.2Kb)
Yahoo Daily News
19 Dec 2012
Timeshares are not only for fun vacation getaways, as evidenced by the story of RedWeek.com members Bob and Jody; left homeless by Hurricane Sandy last month ... Bob and Judy are one of the many families displaced by the devastation of Hurricane Sandy ... As timeshare owners, Bob and Judy knew the advantages of timesharing and had recently used leading timeshare marketplace RedWeek.com to rent out their own Aruba timeshare ... Alisa Stephens ... ....(size: 2.7Kb)
Seattle Post
19 Dec 2012
Timeshares are not only for fun vacation getaways, as evidenced by the story of RedWeek.com members Bob and Jody; left homeless by Hurricane Sandy last month ... Seattle, WA (PRWEB) December 19, 2012 ... As timeshare owners, Bob and Judy knew the advantages of timesharing and had recently used leading timeshare marketplace RedWeek.com to rent out their own Aruba timeshare ... About RedWeek.com. ... For the original version on PRWeb visit....(size: 2.7Kb)
PR Newswire
19 Dec 2012
My news for Investors ... Google. Download image. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Dec ... Aruba; The Bahamas (Nassau); Barbados; Bermuda; Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman); Colombia (Bogota, Medellin and Cartagena); Costa Rica (Liberia and San Jose); Dominican Republic (La Romana, Puerto Plata , Punta Cana, Samana, Santiago and Santo Domingo ); Jamaica (Kingston and Montego Bay); Mexico (Cancun); Puerto Rico (Aguadilla, Ponce and San Juan); St ... ....(size: 10.6Kb)
The Columbus Dispatch
18 Dec 2012
Letters Policy. The Dispatch welcomes letters to the editor from readers. Typed letters of 200 words or fewer are preferred; all might be edited ... Submit Your Letter. ONLINE FORM ... Letters to the Editor ... 34 S ... A similar outrageous step would be if a company’s owner would require every employee to make a hefty contribution to the owner’s birthday and Christmas fund to help defray the cost of his annual vacations in Aruba and Vail ... ....(size: 4.3Kb)
The Examiner
18 Dec 2012
Today Norwegian Cruise Line announced its deployment for the fall and winter 2014/2015 season with eight contemporary ships sailing to the Caribbean and Bahamas & Florida from five homeports. Miami, New York, Tampa, Houston and New Orleans. Norwegian Getaway, Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Pearl will set sail from Miami ... Miami’s newest ship will visit Philipsburg, St. Maarten; St ... Lucia; Willemstad, Curacao; and Oranjestad, Aruba ... Kitts....(size: 3.9Kb)
photo: Creative Commons / AlejandroLinaresGarcia
17 Dec 2012
Tweet ... The top positions went to Providenciales (Turks and Caicos Islands), Palm/Tagle beach (Aruba), Tulum (Mexico), Negril (Jamaica) and Saint Pete Beach, Florida (US) ... Post comments.. ) .. ).. Comments.. HOME . . . . . . .. . . .. ....(size: 1.8Kb)
Business Wire
17 Dec 2012
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http.//www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rtmzxl/global_carrier) has announced the addition of the "Global Carrier Wi-Fi Equipment Market 2011-2015" report to their offering. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increasing use of mobile data among consumers ... Ltd., Ubiquiti Networks Inc., and Aruba Networks Inc ... '' ... Research and Markets ... U.S. Fax. 646-607-1907 ... ....(size: 4.2Kb)
Buffalo News
16 Dec 2012
• Book four nights at any IHG property in the Caribbean or Latin America and receive a free night. The Free Night Holiday Celebration Package applies to travel now through Jan. 31 at 61 hotels in 20 countries. Rates vary. For example, four nights at the Holiday Inn Aruba Beach Resort & Casino in mid-January costs $1,162, including taxes; usual rate is $1,442 ... 15 ... ....(size: 1.8Kb)
Huffington Post
16 Dec 2012
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- A speck of an island in the Dutch Caribbean has become increasingly popular with gay couples after legislators legalized same-sex marriages in a region still openly hostile to gays and lesbians ... Maarten, Curacao and Aruba have to recognize same-sex marriages but don't have to legalize them because they have a more autonomous relationship with the Netherlands....(size: 17.7Kb)
The Examiner
16 Dec 2012
Fans have been waiting months to see Rachel Reilly and Brendon Villegas of "Big Brother" get married. On Dec ... You can check them out here.View slideshow ... Rachel Reilly and Brendon Villegas wedding tomorrow will air on TVRachel Reilly and Brendon Villegas honeymoon in Aruba'American Chopper Live' build off winner announcedAmanda Bynes settlement ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
Jamaica Observer
15 Dec 2012
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — A speck of an island in the Dutch Caribbean has become increasingly popular with gay couples after legislators legalised same-sex marriages in a region still openly hostile to gays and lesbians ... The other Dutch Caribbean islands of St Maarten, Curacao and Aruba have to recognise same-sex marriages but don't have to legalise them, because they have a more autonomous relationship with the Netherlands....(size: 3.5Kb)
Jakarta Post
15 Dec 2012
Maarten, Curacao and Aruba have to recognize same-sex marriages but don't have to legalize them because they have a more autonomous relationship with the Netherlands ... The two men live together in Aruba and wanted to make their union official, dressing in all white to celebrate the occasion ... Aruba does not allow same-sex marriages, but that could eventually change, said Desiree Croes, Aruba's first openly gay Parliament member....(size: 3.4Kb)
noodls
15 Dec 2012
(Source. PriceSmart Inc) PriceSmart Announces Earnings Release and Conference Call. Dates for First Quarter Fiscal Year 2013 Financial Results ... (NASDAQ ... Eastern time (9.00 a.m ... territory (five in Costa Rica; four each in Panama and Trinidad; three each in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic; two each in Colombia, El Salvador, and Honduras; and one each in Aruba, Barbados, Jamaica, Nicaragua and the United States Virgin Islands) ... (noodl....(size: 5.2Kb)
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007) |
For the film, see Aruba (film).
| Aruba | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||
| Anthem: "Aruba Dushi Tera" |
||||||
 |
||||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Oranjestad 12°31′N 70°1′W / 12.517°N 70.017°W / 12.517; -70.017 |
|||||
| Official language(s) | Dutch, Papiamento[1] | |||||
| Demonym | Aruban | |||||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy | |||||
| - | Monarch | Queen Beatrix | ||||
| - | Governor General | Fredis Refunjol | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Mike Eman | ||||
| Legislature | Estates of Aruba | |||||
| Autonomy | from Netherlands Antilles | |||||
| - | Date | 1 January 1986 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 178.91 km2 69 sq mi |
||||
| - | Water (%) | negligible | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | September 2010 estimate | 101,484 (Census) | ||||
| - | Density | 567/km2 1,470/sq mi |
||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2007 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $2.400 billion (182nd) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $23,831 (32nd) | ||||
| Currency | Aruban florin (AWG) |
|||||
| Time zone | AST (UTC-04) | |||||
| Drives on the | right | |||||
| ISO 3166 code | AW | |||||
| Internet TLD | .aw | |||||
| Calling code | 297 | |||||
Aruba ( /əˈruːbə/ ə-ROO-bə, Dutch pronunciation: [aˈruba]) is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km (approx.) east of Guajira Peninsula (Colombia). Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles.
Aruba is one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, together with the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten whose citizens share a single nationality: Dutch citizen. Aruba has no administrative subdivisions, but for census purposes is divided into 8 regions. Its capital is Oranjestad. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. It has a land area of 179 square kilometres (69 sq mi) and is densely populated with a total of 101,484 inhabitants at the 2010 Census. It lies outside the hurricane belt. It is also home to the endemic Aruba Island Rattlesnake.
Contents |
History[link]
Main article: History of Aruba
Aruba's first inhabitants are thought to have been Caquetíos Amerinds from the Arawak tribe, who migrated there from Venezuela to escape attacks by the Caribs. Fragments of the earliest known Indian settlements date back to 1000 AD. Sea currents made canoe travel to other Caribbean islands difficult, thus Caquetio culture remained closer to that of mainland South America.
Europeans first learned of Aruba following the explorations of Amerigo Vespucci and Alonso de Ojeda in the summer of 1499. Though Vespucci boasted of discovering the island, he and Ojeda were likely guided there by natives of nearby islands. Both described Aruba as an "island of giants," remarking on the comparatively large stature of the native Caquetíos compared to Europeans. Ojeda also referred to the island as "Oro Hubo," Spanish for "It Had Gold." Gold was not discovered on Aruba, however, for another 300 years. Vespucci returned to Spain with stocks of cotton and brazilwood from the island and described houses built into the ocean. Vespucci and Ojeda's tales spurred interest in Aruba and Spaniards soon colonized the island.[2][3]
Aruba was colonized by Spain for over a century. The Cacique or Indian Chief in Aruba, Simas, welcomed the first priests in Aruba and received from them a wooden cross as a gift. In 1508, Alonso de Ojeda was appointed as Spain's first Governor of Aruba, as part of "Nueva Andalucía."
Another governor appointed by Spain was Juan Martinez de Ampíes. A "cédula real" decreed in November 1525 gave Ampíes, factor of Española, the right to repopulate the depopulated islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire.
In 1528, Ampíes was replaced by a representative of the "House of Welser". Aruba has been under Dutch administration since 1636, initially under Peter Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant was on a special mission in Aruba in November and December 1642. Under the Dutch W.I.C. administration, as "New Netherland and Curaçao" from 1648 to 1664 and the Dutch government regulations of 1629, also applied in Aruba. The Dutch administration appointed an Irishman as "Commandeur" in Aruba in 1667.
In August 1806, General Francisco de Miranda and a group of 200 freedom fighters on their voyage to liberate Venezuela from Spain stayed in Aruba for several weeks.
In 1933 Aruba sent its first petition for Aruba's separate status and autonomy to the Queen.
During World War II, together with Curaçao, the then world-class exporting oil refineries were the main suppliers of refined products to the Allies. Aruba became a British protectorate from 1940 to 1942 and a US protectorate from 1942 to 1945. On February 16, 1942, its oil processing refinery was attacked by a German submarine (U-156) under the command of Werner Hartenstein, but the mission failed. U-156 was later (8 March 1943) destroyed by a US plane as the crew was sunbathing.[4] In March 1944, Eleanor Roosevelt briefly visited American troops stationed in Aruba. In attendance were: His Excellency, Dr. P. Kasteel, the Governor of Curaçao, and his aide, Lieutenant Ivan Lansberg; Rear Admiral T. E. Chandler and his Aide, Lieutenant W. L. Edgington; Captain Jhr. W. Boreel and his aide, Lieutenant E. O. Holmberg; and the Netherlands aide to Mrs. Roosevelt, Lieutenant Commander v.d. Schatte Olivier.
The island's economy has been dominated by five main industries: gold mining, phosphate mining (The Aruba Phosphaat Maatschappij), aloe export, petroleum refineries (The Lago Oil & Transport Company and the Arend Petroleum Maatschappij Shell Co.), and tourism.
Politics[link]
Main article: Politics of Aruba
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As a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba's politics take place within a framework of a 21-member Parliament and an eight-member Cabinet. The governor of Aruba is appointed for a six-year term by the monarch, and the prime minister and deputy prime minister are elected by the Staten (or "Parlamento") for four-year terms. The Staten is made up of 21 members elected by direct, popular vote to serve a four-year term.[5]
Together with the Netherlands, the countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. As they share the same Dutch citizenship, these four countries still also share the Dutch passport as the Kingdom of the Netherlands passport. As Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten have small populations, the three countries had to limit immigration. To protect their population, they have the right to control the admission of people from the Netherlands. There is the supervision of the admission and expulsion of people from the Netherlands and the setting of general conditions for the admission and expulsion of aliens.
Aruba is designated as a member of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) and is thus officially not a part of the European Union, though Aruba can and does receive support from the European Development Fund.[6][7]
Moves towards independence[link]
In August 1947, Aruba presented its first "Staatsreglement" (constitution), for Aruba's "status aparte" as the status of an autonomous state within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. By 1954, the Charter of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was established, providing a framework for relations between Aruba and the rest of the Kingdom.[8]
In 1972, at a conference in Suriname, Betico Croes (MEP) proposed a "sui-generis" Dutch Commonwealth of four states: Aruba, the Netherlands, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, each with its own nationality. Mr. C. Yarzagaray, a parliamentary member representing the AVP political party, proposed a referendum for the people of Aruba to determine Aruba's separate status or "Status Aparte" as a full autonomous state under the crown. He proclaimed: "Aruba shall never accept a federation and a second class nationality."[citation needed]
Betico Croes worked in Aruba to inform and prepare the people of Aruba for independence. In 1976, a committee appointed by Croes introduced the national flag and anthem as the symbols of Aruba's sovereignty and independence, and he also set 1981 as a target for Aruba's independence. In March 1977, the first Referendum for Self Determination was held with the support of the United Nations and 82% of the participants voted for independence.[citation needed]
The Island Government of Aruba assigned the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague to prepare a study of Aruba's independence, which was published in 1978, titled "Aruba en Onafhankelijkheid, achtergronden, modaliteiten en mogelijkheden; een rapport in eerste aanleg". At the conference in The Hague in 1981, Aruba's independence was set for the year 1991.
In March 1983 Aruba finally reached an official agreement within the Kingdom for Aruba's Independence, which would occur in a series of steps granting increasing autonomy. In August 1985 Aruba drafted a constitution that was unanimously approved. On 1 January 1986, after elections were held for Aruba's first parliament, Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles and officially became a country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Full independence was set for 1996.
This achievement is largely due to Betico Croes and the political support of other nations like the USA, Panama, Venezuela and various European countries.[citation needed] Croes was later proclaimed "Libertador di Aruba" after his death in 1986. At a convention in The Hague in 1990, the governments of Aruba, the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles postponed indefinitely Aruba's transition to full independence at the request of its Prime Minister. The article scheduling Aruba's complete independence was rescinded in 1995, although the process can begin again after a referendum.
Law[link]
The Aruban legal system is based on the Dutch model. Instead of juries or grand juries, in Aruba, legal jurisdiction lies with the Gerecht in Eerste Aanleg (Court of First Instance) on Aruba, the Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie van Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten en van Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba (Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) and the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Supreme Court of Justice of the Netherlands).[9] The Korps Politie Aruba (Aruba Police Force) is the island's law enforcement agency and operates district precincts in Oranjestad, Noord, San Nicolaas, and Santa Cruz, where it is headquartered.[10]
Education[link]
Aruba's educational system is patterned after the Dutch system of education. There are 68 schools for primary education, 12 schools for secondary education, and 5 universities in Aruba.[citation needed] In 2007, there were 22,930 registered full-time students.[citation needed]
The Government of Aruba finances the national education system, except for private schools, such as the International School of Aruba (ISA), which finance their own activities. The percentage of money earmarked for education is higher than the average for the Caribbean/Latin American region.[citation needed]
Arubans benefit from a strong primary school education. A segmented secondary school program includes vocational training, basic education, college preparation and advanced placement.
Higher education goals can be pursued through the Professional Education program (EPI), the teachers college (IPA) as well as through the University of Aruba (UA) which offers bachelors and masters programs in law, finance and economics and hospitality and tourism management. Since the choice for higher education on the island itself is limited, many students choose study in the Netherlands, or abroad in countries in North America, South America as well as the rest of Europe.
Aruba is also home to two medical schools: Aureus University School of Medicine and Xavier University School of Medicine.
Geography[link]
Main article: Geography of Aruba
Aruba is a generally flat, riverless island in the Leeward Antilles island arc of the Lesser Antilles. Aruba is widely known for its white sandy beaches on the western and southern coasts of the island, relatively sheltered from fierce ocean currents, and this is where most tourist development has taken place. The northern and eastern coasts, lacking this protection, are considerably more battered by the sea and have been left largely untouched by humans. The hinterland of the island features some rolling hills, the best known of which are called Hooiberg at 165 meters (541 ft) and Mount Jamanota, the highest on the island at 188 meters (617 ft) above sea level. Oranjestad, the capital, is located at 12°19′N 70°1′W / 12.317°N 70.017°W / 12.317; -70.017.
To the east of Aruba are Bonaire and Curaçao, two island territories which once formed the southwest part of the Netherlands Antilles; this group of islands is sometimes called the ABC islands.
Climate[link]
Main article: Climate of Aruba
Aruba's climate attracts tourists to the island all year long. In the Köppen climate classification, Aruba features a tropical savanna climate. Temperature varies little from 28 °C (82.4 °F), mostly around 33°C, moderated by constant trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean, which comes from north-east. Yearly precipitation barely exceeds 400 mm (15.7 in).
| Climate data for Oranjestad, Aruba | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 32 (90) |
33 (91) |
34 (93) |
34 (94) |
34 (94) |
35 (95) |
34 (94) |
36 (96) |
36 (96) |
35 (95) |
33 (92) |
33 (92) |
36 (96) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 30 (86) |
31 (87) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
32 (89) |
32 (90) |
32 (89) |
32 (90) |
33 (91) |
32 (90) |
32 (90) |
31 (87) |
31.5 (88.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27 (80) |
27 (80) |
27 (80) |
27 (81) |
28 (83) |
28 (83) |
28 (83) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
28 (83) |
28 (82) |
27 (80) |
27.7 (82) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 24 (76) |
24 (76) |
24 (76) |
26 (78) |
26 (79) |
27 (80) |
26 (79) |
27 (80) |
27 (80) |
26 (79) |
26 (78) |
24 (76) |
25.6 (78.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 19 (66) |
21 (69) |
21 (70) |
22 (71) |
22 (71) |
23 (73) |
21 (70) |
21 (70) |
22 (72) |
22 (71) |
22 (72) |
21 (69) |
19 (66) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 38.1 (1.50) |
19.1 (0.75) |
7.6 (0.30) |
13.2 (0.52) |
13.7 (0.54) |
17.8 (0.70) |
30.5 (1.20) |
25.4 (1.00) |
35.3 (1.39) |
65 (2.56) |
78.7 (3.10) |
65.8 (2.59) |
408.9 (16.10) |
| Source: http://www.arubabound.com/weather/average.htm [11] | |||||||||||||
Economy[link]
Main article: Economy of Aruba
Aruba enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean region including a low unemployment rate. About three quarters of the Aruban gross national product is earned through tourism or related activities. Most tourists are from Venezuela and the United States (predominantly from eastern and southern states). Before the "Status Aparte" (a separate completely autonomous country/state within the Kingdom), oil processing was the dominant industry in Aruba despite expansion of the tourism sector. Today, the influence of the oil processing business is minimal. The size of the agriculture and manufacturing sectors also remains minimal.
The GDP per capita for Aruba was estimated to be $21,800 in 2004; among the highest in the Caribbean and the Americas.[12] Its main trading partners are Venezuela, the United States and the Netherlands.
Deficit spending has been a staple in Aruba's history, and modestly high inflation has been present as well. As of 2006, the government's debt had grown to 1.883 billion Aruban florins.[13] Aruba received some development aid from the Dutch government each year through 2009, as part of a deal (signed as "Aruba's Financial Independence") in which the Netherlands gradually reduced its financial help to the island each successive year.
In 2006 the Aruban government has also changed several tax laws to further reduce the deficit. Direct taxes have been converted to indirect taxes as proposed by the IMF. A 3% tax has been introduced on sales and services, while income taxes have been lowered and revenue taxes for business reduced by 20%. The government compensated workers with 3.1% for the effect that the B.B.O. would have on the inflation for 2007. The inflation on Aruba in 2007 was 8.7%.
The exchange rate of the Aruban florin has remained steady in recent years at 1.78 florins to 1 US dollar.[12] Because of this fact, and due to a large number of American tourists, many businesses operate using US dollars instead of florins, especially in the hotel & resort districts.
Demographics[link]
Main article: Demographics of Aruba
Aruba is situated in the deep southern part of the Caribbean. Because it has almost no rainfall, Aruba was saved from the plantation system and the economics of the slave trade.
Aruba's population is estimated to be 80% mestizo and 20% other ethnicities. Arawaks spoke the "broken Spanish" which their ancestors had learned on Hispaniola. The Dutch took control 135 years after the Spanish, left the Arawaks to farm and graze livestock, and used the island as a source of meat for other Dutch possessions in the Caribbean, leading to a depletion of the Arawak population. The Arawak heritage is stronger on Aruba than on most Caribbean islands. Although no full-blooded Aboriginals remain, the features of the islanders clearly indicate their genetic Arawak heritage. Most of the population is descended mostly from Arawak, and to a lesser extent Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and a few French, Portuguese, British, and African ancestors.
Recently there has been substantial immigration to the island from neighboring American and Caribbean nations, possibly attracted by the higher paid jobs. In 2007, new immigration laws were introduced to help control the growth of the population by restricting foreign workers to a maximum of three years residency on the island.
Demographically, Aruba has felt the impact of its proximity to Venezuela, far more so than neighboring Curaçao and Bonaire. Much of Aruba's families are present by way of Venezuela and there is a seasonal increase of Venezuelans living in second homes.
Regions[link]
For census purposes, Aruba is divided into eight regions, which have no administrative functions:
| Name | Area (km²) | Population 1991 Census |
Population 2000 Census |
Population 2010 Census |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noord / Tanki Leendert | 34.62 | 10,056 | 16,944 | 21,495 |
| Oranjestad West | 9.29 | 8,779 | 12,131 | 13,976 |
| Oranjestad Oost | 12.88 | 11,266 | 14,224 | 14,318 |
| Paradera | 20.49 | 6,189 | 9,037 | 12,024 |
| San Nicolas Noord | 23.19 | 8,206 | 10,118 | 10,433 |
| San Nicolas Zuid | 9.64 | 5,304 | 5,730 | 4,850 |
| Santa Cruz | 41.04 | 9,587 | 12,326 | 12,870 |
| Savaneta | 27.76 | 7,273 | 9,996 | 11,518 |
| Total Aruba | 178.91 | 66,687 | 90,506 | 101,484 |
Cities and towns[link]
Main article: List of cities in Aruba
The island, with a population of just over 100,000 inhabitants, does not have major cities.
- Oranjestad (33,000 in 2006)
- Paradera
- San Nicolas
- Noord
- Santa Cruz
- Savaneta
Culture[link]
On March 18 Aruba celebrates its National Day. In 1976, Aruba presented its National Anthem (Aruba Dushi Tera) and Flag.
Main article: Culture of Aruba
The origins of the population and location of the island give Aruba a mixed culture. According to the Bureau Burgelijke Stand en Bevolkingsregister (BBSB), as of 2005 there are ninety-two different nationalities living on the island. Dutch influence can still be seen, as in the celebration of "Sinterklaas" on December 5 and 6 and other national holidays like April 30, when in Aruba and the rest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands the Queen's birthday or "Dia di La Reina" (Koninginnedag) is celebrated. Christmas and New Year are celebrated with the typical music and songs of gaitas for Christmas and the Dande for New Year, and the "ayaca", the "ponche crema" and "ham", and other typical foods and drinks. Millions of dollars worth of fireworks are burnt at midnight on New Year's. On January 25, Betico Croes' birthday is celebrated. In June there is the celebration of the "Dia di San Juan", with the song of "Dera Gai". Religion also has its influences; the days of Ascension and Good Friday are also two holidays on the island.
The holiday of Carnival is also an important one in Aruba, as it is in many Caribbean and Latin American countries, and, like Mardi Gras, that goes on for weeks. Its celebration in Aruba started, around the 1950s, influenced by the inhabitants from the nearby islands (Venezuela, St Vincent, Trinidad, Barbados, St. Maarten and Anguilla) who came to work for the Oil refinery. Over the years the Carnival Celebration has changed and now starts from the beginning of January till the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday with a large parade on the last Sunday of the festivities (Sunday before Ash Wednesday).
Tourism from the United States has recently increased the visibility of American culture on the island, with such celebrations as Halloween and Thanksgiving Day in November.
Language[link]
Main article: Languages of Aruba
Language can be seen as an important part of island culture in Aruba. The official languages are Dutch and – since 2003 – Papiamento. Papiamento is the predominant language on Aruba. A creole language spoken on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, it incorporates words from other languages including Portuguese, West African languages, Dutch, and Spanish. Like many islands in the region, Spanish is also often spoken. English has historical connections (with the British Empire) and is known by many; English usage has also grown due to tourism. Other common languages spoken based on the size of their community are Portuguese, Chinese, German and French. The last is offered in high school and college, since a high percentage of Aruban students continue their studies in Europe.
In recent years, the government of Aruba has shown an increased interest in acknowledging the cultural and historical importance of its native language. Although spoken Papiamento is fairly similar among the several Papiamento-speaking islands, there is a big difference in written Papiamento. The orthography differs per island and even per group of people. Some are more oriented towards the Portuguese roots and use the equivalent spelling (e.g. "y" instead of "j"), where others are more oriented towards the Dutch roots.
In a book The Buccaneers of America, first published in 1678, it is stated by eyewitness account that the Indians on Aruba spoke "Spanish". The oldest government official statement written in Papiamento dates from 1803.
Aruba has four newspapers published in Papiamento: Diario, Bon Dia, Solo di Pueblo and Awe Mainta and two in English : Aruba Today and The News. Amigoe is the newspaper published in Dutch. Aruba also has 18 radio stations (2 AM and 16 FM) and three local television stations (Tele-Aruba, Aruba Broadcast Company and Channel 22).
Infrastructure[link]
Aruba's Queen Beatrix International Airport is located near Oranjestad. According to the Aruba Airport Authority, almost 1.7 million travelers used the airport in 2005, of which 61% were Americans.
In cooperation with the United States government, and for the facilitation for the passengers that arrive into the United States, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) full pre-clearance facility in Aruba has been in effect since February 1, 2001 with the expansion in the Queen Beatrix Airport, United States and Aruba have the agreement since 1986 that begins as a USDA and Customs post, and since 2008, the only island to have this service for private flights. In 1999, the U.S. Department of Defense established a Forward Operating Location (FOL) at the airport.
Aruba has two ports, Barcadera and Playa, which are located in Oranjestad. The Port of Playa welcomes all the cruise-ship lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Lines, NCL, Holland America Line, Disney Cruise Line and many more; an estimated almost one million tourists enter in this port per year, Aruba Ports Authority, owned and operated by the Aruban government is the authority in these seaports.
Aruba's public buses transportation services is in charge of Arubus, a government based company which operates from 3:30am until 12:30am 365 days a year. Small private vans also provide the transportation services in certain areas such Hotel Area, San Nicolaas, Santa Cruz and Noord.
Aruba also counts two telecommunications providers, Setar the government based company and Digicel Irish ownership company based in Kingston, Jamaica. Setar is the provider of services such as Internet, video conference, GSM wireless tech and land lines and offer the latest in telecom services, Digicel is the Setar competitor in wireless technology using the GSM platform.
Utilities on the island[link]
Water-en Energiebedrijf (W.E.B.) Aruba NV produces potable industrial water, at the world's third largest desalination plant.[14] Average daily consumption in is about 37,000 metric tons.[15]
Places of interest[link]
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* Collapsed September 2, 2005 [16]
Notable Arubans[link]
- Dave Benton, musician who won the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest representing Estonia
- Juan Chabaya Lampe, Composer of Aruba's national anthem
- Henny Eman, politician
- Betico Croes, politician
- Mike Eman, current Prime-Minister Cabinet Mike Eman 1
- Bobby Farrell, musician (group Boney M.)
- Percy Irausquin, fashion designer
- Jim Jones, American hip-hop artist
- Gene Kingsale, former MLB player
- Calvin Maduro, former MLB player
- Roger Peterson, musician
- Pete Philly, Dutch hip-hop artist
- Sidney Ponson, former MLB player currently a free agent
See also[link]
- Outline of Aruba
- Bibliography of Aruba
- Index of Aruba-related articles
- Caribbean Sea
- Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Leeward Antilles
- List of Arubans
- SS Pedernales
References[link]
- ^ Migge, Bettina; Léglise, Isabelle; Bartens, Angela (2010). Creoles in Education: An Appraisal of Current Programs and Projects. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 268. ISBN 978-90-272-5258-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=4SMLb6hKv4YC&lpg=PT276&dq=aruba%20official%20language%20Papiamento&pg=PT276#v=onepage&q=aruba%20official%20language%20Papiamento&f=false.
- ^ Sullivan, Lynne M. (2006). Adventure Guide to Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao. Edison, NJ: Hunter Publishing, Inc.. pp. 57–58. http://books.google.com/books?id=M8SyFOyvjkQC&lpg=PA58&dq=vespucci%20aruba&pg=PA58#v=onepage&q=vespucci%20aruba&f=false.
- ^ Sauer, Carl Ortwin (1966). The Early Spanish Main. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 112. http://books.google.com/books?id=plzS7SL_-f0C&lpg=PA112&dq=vespucci%20aruba&pg=PR4#v=onepage&q=vespucci%20aruba&f=false.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Political Stability". Aruba Department of Foreign Affairs. http://www.arubaforeignaffairs.com/afa/readBlob.do?id=694. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "EU Relations with Aruba". European Union. http://www.eeas.europa.eu/aruba/index_en.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
- ^ "Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)". European Union. http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/development/overseas_countries_territories/index_en.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
- ^ Robbers, Gerhard (2007). Encyclopedia of World Constitutions. 1. New York City: Facts on File, Inc.. p. 649. ISBN 0-8160-6078-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=M3A-xgf1yM4C&lpg=PA649&dq=aruba%20constitution&pg=PR4#v=onepage&q=aruba%20constitution&f=false.
- ^ Aruba.com
- ^ "Korps Politie Aruba: district precincts". Aruba Police Force. http://www.kparuba.com/districts.html. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- ^ Aruba Bound!. "Aruba Weather". Aruba Bound!. http://www.arubabound.com/weather/average.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ^ a b Central Intelligence Agency (2009). "Aruba". The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/aa.html. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
- ^ Central Bureau of Statistics. "Key Indicators General Government, 1997–2006". http://www.cbs.aw/cbs/manageDocument.do?dispatch=view&id=927. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ Aruba Hosts International Desalination Conference 2007 | Official Travel News from Aruba
- ^ "History". W.E.B. Aruba NV. http://www.webaruba.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=123. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Coral bridge, natural Aruba tourist spot, collapses". Associated Press. 2005-09-02. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-09-02-aruba-bridge_x.htm?csp=36. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
External links[link]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aruba |
- Government of Aruba
- Aruba.com – Official Tourism site of Aruba
- News of Aruba - In English
- Aruba at the Open Directory Project
- Wikimedia Atlas of Aruba
- Aruba travel guide from Wikitravel
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
