| The
beautiful island of Aruba is a 32 km long island in the Caribbean Sea, located
27 km north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela. It
forms a intregal part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Unlike most of the
Caribbean region, it has a dry climate and a very arid, cactus-strewn landscape.
This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can very reliably
expect warm, sunny weather. Discovered and claimed for Spain in 1499,
Aruba was conquered by the Dutch in 1636. The island's economy has been
dominated by three main industries. A 19th-century gold rush was followed
by prosperity brought on by the the new opening in 1924 of an oil refinery. This
refinery supplied a large percentage of US oil during WWII. The last few decades of
the 20th century saw a boom in the now robust tourism industry. Aruba seceded from
the Netherlands Antilles on January 1, 1986. Thus it became a separate,
self-governing member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Movement toward
full independence by 1996 was halted at Aruba's request in 1990. |
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