Please introduce Cura? ao to this country!

The official language is Dutch.

Willemstad, the capital

Government Type: Dominion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Religion {{{Religion}}}

zone

450 kilometers of water?

Population density: 173400(2006)

39 1/km？

Time zone utc-4

Top level domain name. One; one

International telephone area code 599-9

Cura? ao (Cura? ao? Ao) is an island in the southern Caribbean, near the coast of Venezuela. The island is a part of the Netherlands Antilles and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The capital of Cura? ao is the port city of Willemstad and the capital of the Netherlands Antilles. Cura? ao and its neighboring islands Aruba and Bonaire are all Dutch territories, and are commonly referred to as "abc Islands".

Cura? ao, with an area of 444 square kilometers, is the largest island in the Netherlands Antilles. According to the 200 1 census of the Netherlands Antilles, the population is 130627, with an average of 294 people per square kilometer. The estimated population in 2006 is 173400.

geography

Cura? ao has a semi-arid grassland climate and is located outside the hurricane zone. The vegetation types of Cura? ao are different from those of typical tropical island countries, and even similar to those of the southwestern United States. All kinds of cacti, prickly shrubs and evergreen plants are common here. The highest point of Cura? ao is Fort Crisfield, which is located in the Crisfield Wildlife Conservation Park in the northwest of the island, with an altitude of 375 meters. There are several paths for people to go sightseeing by car, horse or foot. Cura? ao has many places suitable for hiking. There is also a saltwater lake where flamingos often rest and feed. There is an uninhabited island-"Little Cura? ao" located 0/5 miles from the southwest coast of Cura? ao/Kloc.

Cura? ao is famous for its underwater coral reefs which are very suitable for diving. Its southern beach has many good diving areas. One of the characteristics of diving in Cura? ao is that within a few hundred meters from the coast, the seabed is steep and you can get close to coral reefs without a boat. This steep seabed terrain is called "blue edge" locally. The strong current and the lack of beaches make it difficult for people to swim and dive on the rocky northern coast of Cura? ao. But experienced divers sometimes dive from permitted positions. The southern coast is very different, where the current is much calmer. There are many bays scattered along the coastline of Cura? ao, many of which are suitable for berthing.

Some coral reefs around are influenced by tourists. Porto Marie Beach is experimenting with artificial coral reefs to improve their condition. Hundreds of artificial coral reefs have now become the home of many tropical fish.

history

The building named "Grut Devlar" is located at the Dutch Caribbean University on the island.

The earliest inhabitants of Cura? ao were Arawaks in India. The Europeans who landed on the island for the first time were members of the expedition led by Spanish explorer Alonso de ojeda in 1499. The Spanish slaughtered the Arawaks. 1634, the island was occupied by the Dutch. The Dutch West India Company established Willemstad, the capital of the island, on the bank of a small bay called Salt Gate. Cura? ao was obviously ignored by the colonists because it lacked gold and other things that the colonists were interested in. However, the natural harbor of the capital has quickly become a trading place for dealing with ideas. Commerce and shipping became the most important economic activities in Cura? ao, and Cura? ao began to play a key role in the Atlantic slave trade, the most complicated international trade network in history. 1662, the Dutch West India Company turned Cura? ao into a slave trade center. Dutch merchants bought slaves from Africa and took them to a trade zone called "Asin Tuo". From there, slaves were trafficked and transported to many destinations in South America and the Caribbean. The number of slaves traded here is amazing.

The slave trade made Cura? ao rich, and many colonial buildings were built on the island, which still stand there today.

Dutch and Spanish architecture in Williamstad harbor

The architecture of Cura? ao combines the architectural styles of Dutch and Spanish colonies. A large number of historical buildings inside and outside Williamstad make Cura? ao a UNESCO World Heritage List. Wu Di (the remains of a former plantation) and West African-style "kas di pal'i maishi" (the former residence of slaves) are all over the island, some of which have been restored and opened to tourists.

In the18th century and19th century, the British and the French occupied Cura? ao briefly respectively, thus increasing the spoken language on the island. In addition, Cura? ao people actively participated in political activities in some areas, such as the wars of independence in Venezuela and Colombia. 1863, the Dutch abolished slavery. The economic difficulties at the end of slavery led many Cura? ao people to migrate to other islands, such as working in sugar cane plantations in Cuba.

19 14, oil was discovered in menegrande, maracaibo basin, which completely changed the fate of cura? ao. Royal Dutch Shell Group and the Dutch government have built a huge oil refinery in the former slave market, which has brought a lot of employment opportunities to local residents and attracted immigrants from neighboring countries. Cura? ao is an ideal oil refining site, because it is far from social unrest in South America and close to the maracaibo Basin oil field. It also has a natural port where large oil tankers can dock. Shell has undoubtedly made this place rich again. With the flow of population, a large number of houses have been built here. However, the society of Cura? ao has also begun to appear contradictions. Dissatisfaction and antagonism in the community of Cura? ao are increasing day by day, and finally reach the peak: riots and protests broke out on May 30th. 1969. The social movement with intensified civil strife has made local blacks gain greater influence in the political process. The island has also formulated policies to develop tourism and attract corporate assets at low tax rates to avoid various difficult situations. In the mid-1980s, Shell sold the refinery to a local government-owned consortium at a symbolic price. Since then, local discussions have focused not only on changing the constitutional situation, but also on finding new sources of income. The government consortium recently sold its shares in the refinery to Venezuela's state-owned Venezuelan oil company. In recent years, Cura? ao is trying to expand the development of local tourism with its unique history and relics.

Due to the economic recession in recent years, the number of young people who immigrated to the Netherlands has increased dramatically. Rita Wildonko's attempt to stop this wave of immigration has recently worsened the relationship between the Netherlands and Cura? ao. At the same time, people from many neighboring Caribbean islands and Latin American countries are also migrating.

nation

Due to historical reasons, the residents of this island have different ethnic backgrounds. Cura? ao seems to be a model of multiculturalism. The inhabitants of Cura? ao have different or mixed lineages. Most of them are Caribbean blacks, including people of many different races. There are also quite a few ethnic minorities here, such as Dutch, East Asians, Portuguese and Levant. Of course, many residents from neighboring countries have recently visited this island, especially from Dominica, Haiti, some English-speaking Caribbean islands and Colombia. In recent years, the influx of some Dutch elderly people has also increased significantly, and the locals call this phenomenon "pensionados".

politics

Cura? ao gained limited autonomy as an island of the Netherlands Antilles on June 5438+0954+1 October1. However, it was not until the social unrest in the 1960s that the islanders truly gained the right to fully participate in the political process. In 2000, the political status of the island returned to the discussion table, and the discussion revolved around its relations with the Netherlands Antilles and the Netherlands. On April 8, 2005, in the referendum jointly held by the island and Sint Maarten, residents voted to express their hope to leave the Netherlands Antilles like Aruba, reject the option of complete independence and become a part of the Netherlands directly; Or maintain the status quo. In 2006, Emily de Jongh-Elhage, a resident of Cura? ao, was elected as the new leader of the Netherlands Antilles.

economy

The island's main industries are oil refining, tourism and overseas banking. Shipping and other commercial activities related to the port of Williamstad have also made important contributions to the local economy.

language

The name of Cura? ao (Cura? The origin of ao is still controversial. One explanation is that the name comes from the Portuguese word "heart". Another explanation is that Cura? ao is the name that the local people once called their ethnic group. Some people support this second statement on the grounds of early Spanish usage, because "indios cura? AOS”(indios is a Spanish name for colonial aborigines) refers to local residents. Writing "kr sou" in Cura? ao in Papiamento. Because a dark blue liqueur is called "blue cura? ao", the word "cura? ao" (written in modern Portuguese as cora? O) has become an adjective, sometimes describing blue shadow in particular.

Cura? ao is a multilingual society. Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish and English are widely spoken on the island. Dutch is the official language, but people who speak Papiamento (a mixture of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French and Arawak) make up the majority of the local residents. There are quite a few locals who speak other languages. Everyone's fluency in speaking a non-native language is different. Since Spanish was once the only official language of the island during the colonial rule, there were more people who spoke Spanish than Dutch. Since1990s, English and Papiamento have also become official languages. At the beginning of the 20th century, in order to facilitate the education of the children of Shell executives, Dutch was once the only teaching language in the education system. Before 19 14, the number of schools teaching in Spanish and Papiamento increased. 1In the mid-1980s, Papiamento was tentatively reintroduced into the school curriculum, and teaching in this language gained unprecedented impetus. Recently, political circles are discussing whether Papiamento should be the only local teaching language.

religion

According to the results of 200 1 census, 85% of local residents believe in Catholicism. Other major religions are Protestantism, Seventh-day Adventists and Methodist Church. In addition to these official Christian sects, some residents believe in African religious beliefs similar to Santoria (English) and Voodoo. As elsewhere in Latin America, the influence of the Orthodox Church on this island is growing. There are not only Hindus but also Muslims here. Although the scale of Jews is very small, it has an important influence on the history of Cura? ao: 165 1 year, the first synagogue in the United States was established in Cura? ao, and the earliest synagogue in the United States has been used here until 1730.

literature

The integration of many languages and cultures has influenced Cura? ao and produced a unique literary tradition. The literary works here are mainly presented in Dutch and Papiamento. Narrative techniques and metaphors characterized by magical realism are gradually moving towards the mainstream. Novelists and poets in Cura? ao have made great contributions to Caribbean and Dutch literature. Among them, Cora Debro, frank martin Nuss Alion, Pierre Laufer, Ellis Julianne, Boeri Van Levin, Tipp Maruge and others are famous.

University education

Compared with other places in the Netherlands Antilles, the education level of Cura? ao is relatively good in this region. The main institutions of higher education are:

University of Netherlands Antilles

University of San Martinez (University of San Martinus)

University of the Caribbean, Netherlands.

Caribbean International University (CIU)

food

The local food is called krioyo (Spanish "Creole"), and the locals say that their food best combines the taste and technology of Caribbean food and Latin American food. For example, these foods include stoba (a stew made of papaya, beef and mutton), jambo (a soup made of okra and seafood), kadushi (cactus soup), sopi mondongo (soup containing animal intestines), funchi (a kind of corn pasta) and fish and other seafood. The orange peel produced here was used to make wine, that is, orange wine was invented here (both wine and island are called cura? Ao is a liqueur. There are also many China restaurants called "snack bars" that serve local dishes. Dutch food mainly exists in some families and is rare in restaurants. The dessert here is very sweet. People can often eat many kinds of kos Du poems (literally meaning "sweet things") at weddings: kokada (coconut candy), ko'i Le Chi (refined lactose) and tentalaria (peanut candy).

celebrity

Celebrities on Cura? ao include:

Andrew jones, a Major League Baseball player.

Isalyn Caliste (English) (French) (German) is a jazz, folk jazz and Cura? ao Creole singer.

Landahl Coulson is a world-class jazz pianist. Headquartered in the Netherlands, it performs all over the world.

Tania Cross (Dutch) (English), a mezzo-soprano singer, lives in the Netherlands and performs all over the world.

1795 Tula, the leader of the slave resistance movement.

Daniel Delean (England), a famous socialist.

a kind of ancient banner

Cura? ao flag

The national flag of Cura? ao has a blue background, yellow stripes in the lower part and two white five-pointed stars in the upper left. The blue above and below the yellow stripe represents the blue sky and the ocean respectively, and the yellow stripe that divides the two parts represents the bright sunshine bathing Cura? ao. The two five-pointed stars represent Cura? ao and Little Cura? ao respectively, and also represent "love and happiness". The five corners of the five-pointed star represent the five continents from which Cura? ao people come.

According to the data of the World Flag website, the ratio of bars from top to bottom is 5: 1:2. The diameters of the two stars are 0/6 and 2/9 of the height of the flag, respectively. The distance from the center of a little star to the left and upper edges of the flag is 1/6 of the width of the flag, and the distance from the center of a big star to the left and upper edges of the flag is 1/3 of the width of the flag. Blue is Pan Tong 280, and yellow is Pan Tong 102.