Transnational Issues Netherlands
Disputes - international:
none
Illicit drugs:
major European producer of illicit amphetamine and other synthetic
drugs; important gateway for cocaine, heroin, and hashish entering
Europe; major source of US-bound ecstasy; large financial sector
vulnerable to money laundering
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Netherlands Antilles
Introduction Netherlands Antilles
Background:
Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, the island of Curacao
was hard hit by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity
(and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in the early 20th
century with the construction of oil refineries to service the newly
discovered Venezuelan oil fields. The island of Saint Martin is
shared with France; its northern portion is named Saint-Martin and
is part of Guadeloupe, and its southern portion is named Sint
Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles.
Geography Netherlands Antilles
Location:
Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - one includes
Curacao and Bonaire north of Venezuela; the other is east of the
Virgin Islands