Who doesn’t love the Netherland Antilles? I mean, it’s all full of Caribbean crystalline beaches and the weather is just incredible. But a lot of questions came to my mind right before buying the decisive ticket. Is Aruba safe? Is it part of the Netherlands? Is Aruba even a country? How does that work? So, I did a little research and this is exactly what I have found.
Aruba is indeed a country but it is not a sovereign state. Since 1986 -when it separated from the Netherlands Antilles- Aruba is an independent country but part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This means that they have their own government but they are still subjected to the Kingdom’s foreign affairs and defense.
For example, the island has an independent visa policy from the Netherlands and they get to control who enters, who doesn’t and who can be expelled -including people from the Netherlands. However, their laws cannot contradict the provisions of the Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
It certainly is a little bit complicated, but once I was there and started asking people around, the truth is that they see it as something quite simple. In my case, I started wondering and asking myself a lot of questions.
So, I had to look for an answer. Here are some of the most important ones.
What’s the nationality of people in Aruba?
Those who are born in Aruba (Arubans) -and basically in any of the four countries that make up the
Kingdom- are Dutch citizens according to their nationality law. However, things get a little tricky according to the exact place where you were born.
Arubans can reside and live -indefinitely and visa-free- in the Netherlands, but if you were born in the Netherlands, you cannot do the same. In fact, people from the Netherlands can travel to Aruba for 180 days without a visa, but they need to ask for a residence permit if they want to remain in the country.
What language do they speak in Aruba?
There are two official languages in Aruba: Dutch and Papiamento. The first one has been taught as a result of the colonization. The Netherlands needed to communicate with locals so they started teaching their language and culture. This practice remained over time, so now most locals speak both languages.
On the other hand, Papiamento -the mother language of most islanders- is the result of the social communication between the island inhabitants with one another and tourists, so it has a lot of Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese influence but also many words from other languages like English or French. Some people claim that old slavery also influenced the language because there have been traces of Arawakan and African words.
People in the Island don’t know exactly when it was originated but there is a Papiamento letter that dates back to the late 1700s. So, it must be pretty old. Today, they have their own orthography rules and it is spoken in Bonaire and Curacao as well.
Do people speak English in Aruba?
Even though it is not the official language and certainly not the mother tongue of most locals, you will probably find a lot of Arubans who speak English along the way. The island mostly lives from tourism and tourism, tourism workers usually speak 3 or 4 languages.
Also, you may as well do some friends. Arubans consider English and Spanish strategic for their development as a country, so they named them compulsory subjects. This means that local students have to study these languages as a signature from 4th grade and 5th grade respectively.
Portuguese and French also take an important part in the region and there is a lot of tourism coming from Brazil and the Caribbean islands, so they are taught in schools and you can actually see people talking in these two languages on the street.
Is Aruba a developed country?
As you may understand, there are two ways of looking at this question. The first one is more political while the second one is based on economic aspects and living standards. For both points of view, the answer is that Aruba is not a developed country but it isn’t a third world country either.
From a political perspective, Aruba is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. As it was aligned with NATO countries at the time of the Cold War, it cannot be considered a third world country. However, it is important to mention that Aruba did not have the means to make this decision on its own.
On the other hand, there is a socio-economic perspective. There are still a lot of aspects this incredible island still has to cover like misery in poverty but their economy is strong enough and they have all basic needs and public services covered, including all types of water sources, power energy, phone, internet, gas, etc.
Most of their economy is based on tourism and it seems to be a pretty strong industry on the island, protecting it for the current and future generations.
Is Aruba a free country?
From a more individual perspective, all 100,000 Arubans in the island and abroad are free to do whatever they want and slavery has been abolished on the island. So, they are completely free to move, speak, develop and basically any other provision in the Declaration of Human Rights.
As a country, Aruba has a lot of freedoms in terms of internal affairs but is still subjected to the Kingdom’s Foreign affairs and national defense. Arubans have the right to choose their 21 representatives or members of Parliament, as well as a Cabinet of 8 members. All of them are meant to serve for 4-year terms.
Besides, the Parliament elects a Deputy Prime Minister for the following 4-year terms, while the Monarchy appoints Governors of Aruba every six years. At the end of the 20th century, Arubans wanted full independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, so they scheduled a full referendum in the 90s.
In the end, the transition to full sovereignty was indefinitely postponed because it was considered a national security threat but they lobbied to remain part of the Kingdom as a constituent country, earning the right to manage their own currency, revenue, civil service and judiciary as of 1996.
Does Aruba have a military?
Aruba’s international defense is one of the few responsibilities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. So there is a base of the Royal Netherlands Navy, Marine Corps and Coastguard in the island.
However, there is a small “Arubaanse Militie,” also known as ARUMIL, which started as indigenous people, soldiers, and volunteers who are trained by Netherland’s Marines. Once they complete their training, they can become part of the Aruban Marine.
Internal security is considered as part of the internal affairs of the country and it is the responsibility of the Aruba Police Force. This is the law enforcement agency on the island and it is under the direct authority of the Minister of Justice, Immigration and Integrity. In that sense, citizen and tourism security falls under the local authorities instead of involving the entire Kingdom.
Is Aruba a rich country?
This depends on the way you see it. If you take a global perspective, it’s not one of the richest countries out there but it’s not one of the poorest either. If you take a look from a regional perspective, it is one of the richest Caribbean countries with a GDP of 2.5 billion and a per capita index of $23,000+.
However, it is important to consider that Aruba currently holds a very small population of barely 100,000 people and they depend mostly on tourism, both regional and from the Netherlands, receiving more than a million arrivals a year.
Also, they have a considerable position in many other industries like oil, hospitality, financial and banking services, bunkering, agriculture of aloe vera and fish, machinery, art, transport, and electrical equipment and many others.
Taking a look at all of these aspects, the island is not exactly rich but it is certainly not poor. Its inhabitants have worked hard for this level of independence and they understand pretty well the risks of their economic model. My other article about the expenses in Aruba will give you an idea of the pricing for tourists on the island.
How big is Aruba compared to a US state?
Aruba is very small. The whole island is 180 square kilometers. The United States has almost 10 million square kilometers, so the difference between both countries is quite big. Now, if you compare it to a US state, it is still very small.
Rhode Island is the smallest state in the US with almost 2700 square kilometers. As Aruba only has an extension of 180, it means that Aruba is 15 times smaller than the smaller US state. If you go for bigger states like Florida, it can overcome 700 times.
In general terms, Aruba is so small that there are bigger US cities than the whole island. For example, New York is 8000+ square Km, LA is 4000+ square Km and Houston is 3000+ square Kilometers. In that sense, Aruba is 10+ times smaller than some US cities as well.
