According to the disputed letters of Amerigo Vespucci, the ABC islands were first explored by one of Christopher Columbus' captains, Alonso de Ojeda, who landed on Curaçao in 1499. He is said to have called the islands Las islas de los Gigantes or Islands of the Giants due to the native inhabitants, the Caiquetio Indians. The first known European exploration was by Amerigo Vespucci, whose cartographer Juan de la Cosa first described the islands. By 1527 the Spanish had formed a government and established Catholicism on the islands. In 1634, the Netherlands fought Spain over control of the islands. The Dutch won, and the islands were then administered by the Netherlands. The Dutch West India Company developed the areas, establishing a major port on Curaçao. The abolition of the slave trade in 1863 had a devastating impact on their economies, although the economy revived when oil was discovered in Venezuela during the early 20th century, and the islands became major oil refineries. From 1815 until 1954 the three islands were known as the Colony of Curaçao and Dependencies. This colony at various times also included Netherlands Suriname and Sint Eustatius and Dependencies. In 1954, the ABC islands became part of the Netherlands Antilles, which gave them political autonomy within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1986 Aruba withdrew from the Netherlands Antilles, becoming a separate country within the kingdom. Upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010, Curaçao gained a similar status to Aruba. Bonaire became a special municipality of the Netherlands proper, although it maintains its status of an overseas territory of the European Union.
Geography and climate
The ABC islands are part of the Leeward Antilles, which is the westernmost area of the Lesser Antilles. They lie immediately to the north of Falcón State, Venezuela. Due to their political history, they are sometimes considered to be part of North America along with the other Caribbean islands, although they lie on South America’s geographical plate; the same phenomenon happens with Trinidad and Tobago. ABC does not indicate the geographical order to each other; from west to east the islands are Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire. Aruba is a flat island, exposed to the ocean currents. Bonaire and Curação are surrounded by reefs, and so are much more sheltered from the weather. Bonaire and Curaçao’s reefs are popular tourist destinations. The ABC islands have an atypical hot desert climate, in which there is an excess of evaporation over precipitation. Surfaces on these islands hold little moisture and evaporate the little rainfall they receive. In addition, Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub is the most common vegetation on these islands. Furthermore, ABC islands are very dry as they lie north of the Intertropical Convergence Zone but except in their short rainy season from October to December or January are not exposed to moisture from the northeast trade winds. The rainy season is powerfully influenced by the Southern Oscillation resulting in very high variability. During strong El Niño years like 1911/1912, 1930/1931, 1982/1983 and 1997/1998 annual rainfall can be less than, and even under at Curação in 1911/1912. In contrast, as much as may fall during a strong La Niña year like 1933/1934, 1970/1971, 1988/1989, 1999/2000 or 2010/2011, with the highest monthly totals being over. Temperatures in the ABC islands are uniformly hot, averaging around year-round, with comfortable humidity and minima rarely falling below even on the mildest mornings, although afternoons rarely top.
Environment
Bonaire is known for being a "diving paradise", with ecotourism playing a large part in its economy. The islands have a huge variety of wildlife, including flamingoes and four species of sea turtle.
Demographics
people make up a large proportion of Curaçao and Bonaire's population and Europeans make up for the majority of Aruba's population. There has been substantial immigration from North America and Europe to the islands and to a lesser extent from South America due to a very complex immigration process.
Language
has been the official language of the islands for most of their history. A unique Portuguese creole language has developed there known as Papiamentu. Unlike other creole languages, Papiamentu is not decreasing in usage, and was made an official language on 7 March 2007. Papiamentu is heavily influenced by English, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French, and Italian.
Politics
Aruba and Curaçao are autonomous countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which have their own parliament and prime minister. Bonaire is a "special municipality" of the Netherlands proper, and subject to Netherlands law. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao are all three constitutional islands of the European Union, meaning that they belong to Special member state territories. Citizens of these islands hold European passport and can vote on European parliament elections. In addition, the islands get European development funds and students on the islands can also apply for Erasmus program from the islands. However, the islands are not in the Schengen area of the European Union.
