What’s in a name? Some say nothing. But In the case of the Caribbean, the very names of our nations have become significant and living artifacts of the physical and intellectual events that refuse to consign history to the past. Annexed for Queen Isabella of Spain in 1499, perhaps Aruba was once Oro Hubo, signifying Alonso de Ojeda’s belief that “there was gold here”. Yet this belief could have easily been a misinterpretation of oibubai or “guide” offered by Aruba’s peaceful inhabitants, the Caiquetios of the Arawak Nation, who migrated to the island from neighboring Venezuela almost 2,500 years ago.
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Frustrated by unsuccessful attempts at locating the, by now mythical, gold deposits and failing to master the arid land for cultivation, the Spaniards left Aruba to the clandestine trade of native treasures by pirates. The spoils taken with the Spanish came in the form of the island’s most valuable resource, its people. A large portion of the native population was abducted to labour on the cattle and horse farms of Hispaniola (today’s Haiti and Dominican Republic) in 1515, though some would return to Aruba with its active colonization.
Hearkening back to another possible origin of its name, oruba the Indian word for “well placed”, the island eventually proved to be of strategic importance for its eventual colonizers, the Dutch. Captured in retaliation for the loss of St. Maarten to the Spanish during the Dutch-Holland War, Aruba (together with Curacao and Bonaire) became one of the chief centres of the Dutch West Indian Company. To this day, William III Tower, erected by early Dutch settlers, is one of the islands oldest surviving structures, while capital Oranjestad was named for Dutch House of Orange. With the exception of a brief British occupation (1805-15) during the Napoleonic War, Aruba was to remain under Dutch control as one of the Netherlands Antilles until 1986.
Following the discovery of gold at Bushiribana in 1824 and the subsequent gold-rush ending in 1916, the island was again scouted for its riches, this time in black gold, oil. At one time sight of the world’s largest oil refinery (under Esso, today’s Exxon), %16 of the population was actively employed as industry lay-workers. With a thriving economy, Aruba boasted one of the lowest illiteracy rates in the West Indies as well as a booming tourism industry. If you fall along the way, grab a hold of the flag and continue the fight.
The struggle for Aruban sovereingty from the Netherlands came with the “status apart” struggle under the visionary leadership of G.F. Beticoe Croes (who died, from injuries sustained in a car accident, only minutes before the island achieved this status). However, full independence would be halted in 1990 at the request of the nation. Surviving within the names of its towns and monuments, the island’s cultural history is perhaps best captured within the Papiamento language peculiar to only the Dutch West Indies. A mixture of Dutch, English, Spanish, French, Aarawak and some African, the Creole dialect unites many of the island’s over 40 different nationalities into a common tongue. Finally made an official language of the nation in 1995, Papiamento continues to speak to the living history captured within the language of a nation.
Capital:
Oranjestad
Physical Geography:
With its highest point being that of Mount Jamanota (188m), the terrain is predominantly flat.
Population:
About 80% of the population is made up of mixed white/Caribbean Amerindian
Languages:
Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English dialect), English (widely spoken), Spanish.
Governmental Structure:
Part of the Dutch realm, parliamentary democracy; unicameral national legislature, the Staten, with 21 seats elected every 4 years; gained full autonomy from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986; in 1990 cancelled request for full independence from The Netherlands planned for 1996.
Main Political Parties:
Religions:
Majority Roman Catholic, followed by Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Confucian
Climate:
tropical marine; little seasonal temperature variation
Currency:
Aruban guilder/florin (AWG)
Exports/Commodities:
Livestock and animal products, art and collectibles, machinery and electrical equipment, transport equipment.
News/Links:
Amigoe Dutch language daily from Curacao: http://amigoe.com/
Bon Dia Aruba: http://www.bondia.com/
Korsou Radio: http://www.korsou.com/
Diario E Matutino di Aruba: http://www.diario.aw/
La Prensa: http://news.laprensacur.com/