Aruba

• difficulty in properly disposing of waste produced by large numbers of tourists;
• waste burning that occurs in the landfill causes air pollution and poses an environmental and health risk;
• ocean environmental damage due to plastic pollution

• a flat, riverless island renowned for its white sand beaches;
• its tropical climate is moderated by constant trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean;
• the temperature is almost constant at about 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit)

noun:

Aruban(s)

adjective:

Aruban; Dutch

0-14 years:

17.61% (male 10,304 /female 10,227)

15-24 years:

12.53% (male 7,355 /female 7,253)

25-54 years:

41.29% (male 23,187 /female 24,946)

55-64 years:

14.51% (male 7,910 /female 9,005)

65 years and over:

14.06% (male 6,422 /female 9,967) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

44.6 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

27 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

17.5 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

5.7 (2015 est.)

total:

39.5 years (2018 est.)

male:

37.8 years

female:

41.2 years

at birth:

1.02 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.93 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.88 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.64 male(s)/female

total population:

0.9 male(s)/female (2018 est.)

total:

10.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)

male:

13.6 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

7.2 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

77.1 years (2018 est.)

male:

74.1 years

female:

80.3 years

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Aruba

etymology:

• the origin of the island's name is unclear;
• according to tradition, the name comes from the Spanish phrase "oro huba" (there was gold), but in fact no gold was ever found on the island;
• another possibility is the native word "oruba," which means "well-situated"

• constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands;
• full autonomy in internal affairs obtained in 1986 upon separation from the Netherlands Antilles;
• Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs

name:

Oranjestad

geographic coordinates:

12 31 N, 70 02 W

time difference:

UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

etymology:

translates as "orange town" in Dutch; the city is named after William I (1533-1584), Prince of Orange, the first ruler of the Netherlands

history:

• previous 1947, 1955;
• latest drafted and approved August 1985, enacted 1 January 1986 (regulates governance of Aruba but is subordinate to the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands);
• in 1986, Aruba became a semi-autonomous entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands

chief of state:

King WILLEM-ALEXANDER of the Netherlands (since 30 April 2013); represented by Governor General Alfonso BOEKHOUDT (since 1 January 2017)

head of government:

Prime Minister Evelyn WEVER-CROES (since 17 November 2017)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers elected by the Legislature (Staten)

elections/appointments:

• the monarchy is hereditary;
• governor general appointed by the monarch for a 6-year term;
• prime minister and deputy prime minister indirectly elected by the Staten for 4-year term;
• election last held on 27 September 2013 (next to be held by September 2017)

election results:

Evelyn WEVER-CROES (MEP) elected prime minister; percent of legislative vote - NA

description:

unicameral Legislature or Staten (21 seats; members directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 22 September 2017 (next to be held in September 2021)

election results:

• percent of vote by party AVP 39.8%, MEP 37.6%, POR 9.4%, RED 7.1%, other 6.1%;
• seats by party - AVP 9, MEP 9, POR 2, RED 1;
• composition as of October 2018 - men 14, women 7, percent of women 33.3%

highest courts:

• Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba or "Joint Court of Justice" (sits as a 3-judge panel);
• final appeals heard by the Supreme Court in The Hague, Netherlands

judge selection and term of office:

Joint Court judges appointed for life by the monarch

subordinate courts:

Court in First Instance

• Aruban People's Party or AVP [Michiel "Mike" EMAN]
• Democratic Electoral Network or RED [L.R. CROES]
• People's Electoral Movement Party or MEP [Evelyn WEVER-CROES]
• Pueblo Orguyoso y Respeta or POR [O.E. ODUBER]
• Real Democracy or PDR [Andin BIKKER]

• none (represented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands);
• note - Guillfred BESARIL (since 20 November 2017) is Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba, seated with his cabinet in the Aruba House (Arubahuis) in The Hague

none (represented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands) note - there is a Minister Plenipotentiary for Aruba, Rendolf "Andy" LEE, at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

• blue, with two narrow, horizontal, yellow stripes across the lower portion and a red, four-pointed star outlined in white in the upper hoist-side corner;
• the star represents Aruba and its red soil and white beaches, its four points the four major languages (Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish, English) as well as the four points of a compass, to indicate that its inhabitants come from all over the world;
• the blue symbolizes Caribbean waters and skies;
• the stripes represent the island's two main "industries": the flow of tourists to the sun-drenched beaches and the flow of minerals from the earth

name:

"Aruba Deshi Tera" (Aruba Precious Country)

lyrics/music:

Juan Chabaya 'Padu' LAMPE/Rufo Inocencio WEVER

note: local anthem adopted 1986; as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, "Het Wilhelmus" is official (see Netherlands)

• aloes;
• livestock;
• fish

agriculture:

NA

industry:

NA

services:

NA

note: most employment is in wholesale and retail trade, followed by hotels and restaurants

lowest 10%:

NA

highest 10%:

NA

general assessment:

• modern fully automatic telecommunications system;
• increased competition through privatization has increased mobile-cellular teledensity;
• three mobile-cellular service providers are now licensed;
• MNO (mobile network operator) launched island-wide LTE services;
• MNP (mobile number portability) introduced (2018)

domestic:

ongoing changes in regulations and competition improving teledensity; 31 per 100 fixed-line, 126 per 100 mobile-cellular (2018)

international:

• country code - 297;
• landing points for the PAN-AM, PCCS, Deep Blue Cable, and Alonso de Ojeda submarine telecommunications cable system that extends from Trinidad and Tobago, Florida, Puerto Ricco, Jamaica, Guyana, Sint Eustatius & Saba, Suriname, Dominican Republic, BVI, USVI, Haiti, Cayman Islands, the Netherlands Antilles, through Aruba to Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile;
• extensive interisland microwave radio relay links (2019)

• 2 commercial TV stations;
• cable TV subscription service provides access to foreign channels;
• about 19 commercial radio stations broadcast (2017)

number of registered air carriers:

3 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 19 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

2,120,578 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

0 mt-km (2015)

major seaport(s):

Barcadera, Oranjestad

oil terminal(s):

Sint Nicolaas

cruise port(s):

Oranjestad