About NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
Netherland Antilles offshore banks



The islands of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are spread out through the Caribbean. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, a.k.a. the Leeward or ABC-Islands, are located just of the Venezuelan coast in the south of the Caribbean Sea. Aruba lays the closest to the coast, just 15 miles. Curacao is 35 miles from Venezuela, so on clear days you can see the continent. Bonaire is a little bit further out the coast.

The other islands, Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten, a.k.a. the Windward or SSS-islands lay about 550 miles more to the north. The lay in the north eastern part of the Caribbean ring, very close to the British island of Anguila and the French St. Bartolomy. All these islands lay within viewing distance of each other.

ECONOMY:
Tourism, petroleum transshipment, and offshore finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. The islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure as compared with other countries in the region.

Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, with Venezuela, the US, and Mexico being the major suppliers. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $2.8 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: $16,000 (2004 est.)

Currency:
Netherlands Antillean guilders (ANG) per US dollar - NA (2007), 1.79 (2006), 1.79 (2005), 1.79 (2004), 1.79 (2003)