Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles (Dutch: Nederlandse Antillen, pronounced [ˈneːdərlɑntsə ʔɑnˈtɪlə(n)] ; Papiamento: Antias Hulandes), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, and Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao in the Leeward Antilles. The country came into being in 1954 as the autonomous successor of the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies, and it was dissolved in 2010, when Aruba (in 1986), Sint Maarten and Curaçao gained the status of constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Bonaire gained the status of special municipalities of the Netherlands as the Caribbean Netherlands. The neighboring Dutch colony of Surinam, in continental South America, did not become part of the Netherlands Antilles but became a separate sovereign country in 1954. All the territories that formerly belonged to the Netherlands Antilles remain part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands today, although the legal status of each island differs. As a group they are still commonly called the Dutch Caribbean, regardless of their legal status.

Geographical grouping

The islands of the Netherlands Antilles are all part of the Lesser Antilles island chain. Within this group, the country was spread over two smaller island groups: a northern group (part of Leeward Islands) and a western group (part of the Leeward Antilles). No part of the country was in the southern Windward Islands.

Islands located in the Lesser Islands

This island subregion was located in the eastern Caribbean Sea, to the east of Puerto Rico. It consisted of three islands, collectively known as the "SSS islands":

Saba

Sint Eustatius

Sint Maarten (the southern part of the island of Saint Martin)

The islands are located approximately 800–900 kilometers (430–490 nautical miles; 500–560 miles) northeast of the ABC islands.