Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, the island of Curacao was hard hit by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity was restored in the early 20th century with the construction of oil refineries to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields.
The island of Saint Martin is shared with France; its southern portion is named Saint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles; its northern portion is called Saint Martin and is part of Guadeloupe.

Area: 960 sq km

Population: 218,126

Capital: Willemstad

People: Mixed black 85%, Carib Amerindian, White, East Asian

Language: Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) predominates, English widely spoken, Spanish

Religion: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Seventh-Day Adventist

Government: Parliamentary

GDP: US$2.4 billion

Major Industries: Tourism, petroleum refining, petroleum transshipment facilities and light manufacturing.

Major Trading Partners: US, Venezuela, The Bahamas, El Salvador, Honduras, Guyana, Canada, Panama, Guatemala and the Netherlands.