Curaçao

History

The first inhabitants of Curaçao were the Amerindians Arawak S who arrived of the Venezuela.

In 1499, the island is discovered by Alonso de Ojeda which takes possession of the island in the name of the Spain and decimates Arawaks.

In 1634, the Compagnie Dutchwoman of the Western Indies asserts Curaçao and bases Willemstad on Schottegat, the natural port.

In 1642, Pieter Stuyvesant installs a governor on the island. Curaçao develops the trade quickly and becomes the turntable of the Esclavage in the Dutch West Indies by accommodating the black slaves coming from Africa who will be resold in all the Latin America. For this period, the Papiamento, a creole containing Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and of African languages, develops among slaves and becomes the principal language of Curaçao.

Pieter Stuyvesant leaves Curaçao in 1647 to become governor of the New Amsterdam (which will become New York when this colony becomes British).

At the beginning of the 18th century, an immigration coming from the Netherlands, of Europe and Asia enlarges the population with 2 000 people. Many Jewish families settle in Curaçao and build in 1732 the Synagog Mikve Israel-Emanuel which is today the oldest synagog still dedicated to the worship in America.

With 18th and 19th century, English and French briefly occupy the island, adding their influences to the local culture.

In 1863, the abolition of slavery ruins the economy of the island while causing in exodus towards the other islands of the the Antilles.

In 1914, Pétrole is discovered under the Lac Maracaibo in Venezuela. The oil company Caribbean Petroleum Company then decides to build a Raffinerie on Curaçao which will open in May 1918. In the years 1960, the 440 hectares of the refinery of Schottegat its bought by Shell Curaçao N.V .

From the Second world war, Curaçao saw mainly refining of oil, Tourisme and banking placement.

January 1st 1954, Curaçao reaches autonomy while becoming a territory of the Netherlands with other islands of the Dutch West Indies.

In 1986, Aruba separates from the Dutch West Indies to form a territory with whole share.

Name

Many theories try to find the origin of the name of Curaçao.

Most probable is that the Spaniards called the island Corazon ( heart ). The Portuguese cartographers would have then retranscribed the name in Portuguese : Curaçau or Curaçao .

Geography

Curaçao belongs to the group of islands of Lesser Antilles called “Islands Under-the-Wind”. The island is off the coasts of the Venezuela, in the Caribbean Sea, between the other islands of the Dutch West Indies of Aruba and Bonaire, these 3 islands being sometimes called under the initials islands ABC.

The North-eastern coast (Hood) rock and is beaten by the swell and the wind whereas the South-western coast (Under-the-Wind) is sheltered and accommodates by it the cities, the beaches and the majority of the coral reefs.

The vegetation of the island is made up of a semi-arid Savane strewn with cactus, thorny shrubs,…

The island, too to the South, is not subjected in the passing of the Cyclone S.

The point highest of the island, Christoffelberg (of the name of Christophe Colomb), culminates with 375 meters and is in Curaçao Christoffelpark, a reserve of fauna and flora.

Saliñas are salted lakes which accommodate pink flamingos.

The small island of Klein Curaçao ( Small Curaçao in Dutch) is located at the South-east of Curaçao.

Population

The population of Curaçao comes from multiples origines : Indians of America, Africans, Netherlander, Spaniards, Portuguese, etc what gives a great ethnic and cultural diversity. In the Papiamento, creole testifies based on a multitude of languages and which is the base of the communication on the island.

The Gentilé for the inhabitants of Curaçao is curaçaoan .

Curaçao is strongly influenced by the Netherlands because of the centuries of Colonisation. The Dutch heritage is still very present in architecture colonial and post-colonial, the legal system, education, the shifts in population (many students leave each year to study in the Netherlands, 4% of the curaçaoans were born with the Netherlands, 100 000 inhabitants of Curaçao live from now on in the Netherlands and 40% of the tourists come from Europe).

The majority of the population is of African origin, descending from the black slaves freed in 1863. Their heritage is present in the African influences of the papiamento, the musical genre called Tambú, the kitchen, the religions,…

The Jewish community forever known of discriminating laws on the island and it was very early established in the economic sector, political and cultural. During the 20th century, many Jews Ashkénaze S came on Curaçao, attracted by the freedom of which it could enjoy.

Culture

The culture of Curaçao was created under multiple influences coming from different continents.

Museums

Many varied museums are on the île : colonial houses, African culture, plantations, maritime museum, Jewish culture, archeology, numismatics,…

Local artists

The multiple influences of various cultures allow an important expansion of creole art, contemporary, surrealist, etc in the form of Peinture S, of Sculpture S, jewels, etc which come to fill the many galleries with Article.

Music

Various styles and kinds of musics and dances are côtoient and mixed (Austrian Valse , dances Spanish, Polka of Bohemia, squares French, etc) to give new styles :

the Tambú : also called “Blues of Curaçao”, it was created by the first black slaves who, like those of the the United States, wanted to express their frustrations and the difficulties of their life. He is played with a tambu (drum), a kachu (horn of cow), a sea-wrack (piece of iron) and a chapi (hoe). The women can sometimes accompany the music and give the rate/rhythm and typing hands. The dance is carried out in couple and alternates separation of the bodies and swaying walks.
the Seú : it is the traditional dance carried out in the fields to celebrate harvests and the harvest. It breaks up into wapa which imitates the movements carried out at the time of the various stages of the culture of a field. Today, it is the favorite dance of the 2 000 festival which ravels with Willemstad each Easter Monday.
the Tumba : it is one of the musical form most important with Curaçao which is a form of Merengue having been subject to influences of the jazz. It is the music most played at the time of the procession of the Carnaval.
songs of the travailleurs : they were sung during work of the slaves. There is more 1 500.
the music contemporaine : it is influenced by the merengue, the Calypso, the Reggae, the Salsa, the Cha-cha-cha and is sung in papiamento.

Cook

With the image of its inhabitants, the kitchen of Curaçao is very métissée. In addition to the kitchen known as international , always raised of a local note, the dishes is based on the pigmeat, of chicken, the banana, the beans.

Typical dishes sont :

Yuana : meat of Iguana, also declined out of soup (Sopi Yuana) ;
Kabritu : meat of chèvre ;
Keshi Yená : cheese lined with the chicken épicé ;
of candies and sucreries : Sunchi (meringue), Panseiku (dresses), Kokada (coconut grated).

Language

The Dutch is the official language but the English and the Spanish are still used. The most spoken language, and this in all the layers of the company, are the Papiamento, a creole containing Spanish, of Dutch, Portuguese, French, English, African languages and language Arawak.

The name papiamento would derive from Spanish papear who means speech, to discuss. It would have been born at the 17th century between the African slaves and their Portuguese Masters who tried to communicate.

The first document written in papiamento date of 1775. It is about a letter between two members of the Jewish community. The official recognition of the language was done in 1802 when it was mentioned in a report/ratio of the governor.

Religion

In a census of 2001, 85% of the curaçaoans are declared catholic. The Protestantism, the Judaism, the Adventisme, the Méthodisme, the Voodoo and the Santeria are also well established. The Pentecôtisme, the Islam and the Hindouisme are in progression.

Flag

The blue bottom symbolizes the sky and the sea. The yellow band represents the sun. The two stars represent Curaçao and Klein Curaçao, their five branches referring to the five continents in which the inhabitants in Curaçao are originating.

Philately

Between 1873 and 1948, Curaçao emitted 198 postage stamps, 88 stamps for the Airmail and 43 postage-due stamps. These stamps were valid in certain colonies of the Compagnie Dutchwoman of the Western Indies, that is to say Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire, Sheba, Sint-Eustatius (Saint-Eustace) and Sint-Maarten (Holy Martin).

January 1st 1949, the colonies Dutchwomen of the the Antilles acquire the statute of territory of the Netherlands and are renamed Dutch West Indies of which they use the stamps since (except Aruba which emits its own stamps since 1986).

See too

colonial Empire Dutch
Company Dutchwoman of the Western Indies

External bonds

Gate of the government of the Dutch West Indies
Site of the government of Curaçao
Tourist site of Curaçao
Chart of Curaçao

Reference

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