Aruba

The first people to inhabit the island were a nation of Arawak Indians called the Caiquetios who migrated north from the Orinoco Basin in South America and settled here approximately 2.000 years ago. Remnants of their culture can still be found at a number of different sites around the island: pottery, earthenware, and other artefacts at the Archaeological Museum in Oranjestad and at the Historical Museum of Aruba at Fort Zoutman and William III Tower; and cave drawings and petroglyphs in the Fontein and Guadiriki Caves and at Arikok National Park.

In 1499, the Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda made his way to this remote corner of the Caribbean Basin and laid claim to the territory for Queen Isabella. According to one tradition, he christened the place Oro Hubo meaning there was gold there, but the name Aruba seems to have derived instead from the Arawak Indian word oibubai which means guide. In any event, the Spanish made little use of the island, finding the climate too arid for cultivation and discovering little evidence of the gold they were eagerly searching for. For the most part, they abandoned Aruba to the Caiquetios for the next 150 years and devoted themselves to other more lucrative conquests. Before long, however, the island became a clandestine hide-away for pirates and buccaneers who preyed on ships transporting Indian treasures back to the Old World. At Bushiribana on the northeast coast, the ruins of an old pirate castle still remain standing.

In 1636, Aruba once again came to the attention of Europeans. The Dutch, who had recently been expelled by the Spanish from their base in St. Maarten, set out looking for another place to establish a colonial presence. They soon captured the islands of Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire from the Spanish who, in truth, put up very little resistance. Curacao became the administrative capital for the Dutch West India Company in the Netherlands Antilles, with Aruba operating as one of its chief satellites. From this early period dates the construction of the historic fortress Fort Zoutman and William III Tower, which is the oldest building in the country. Except for a short period from 1805 to 1815 when the island fell to the British during the Napoleonic Wars, Aruba has remained under Dutch control ever since.

The year 1824 saw the discovery of gold near Bushiribana. The ruins of a nineteenth-century smelting plant still survive in Balashi northwest of the Spanish Lagoon near the centre of the island. The gold rush continued until 1916 when the mines finally became so unprofitable that they had to be shut down. Not long afterwards, however, in 1924, another valuable commodity replaced it, black gold - oil. Aruba became home to one of the world's largest refineries. The strength of the economic boom that followed made San Nicholas into a major commercial centre and the island's second largest city. To this day, Aruba's two main industries have been oil and tourism, and when the refineries were closed down in 1985 due to the worldwide glut in petroleum, the emphasis on tourism became especially important. Even after oil refining was resumed in 1991, the island continued to invest heavily in tourist development, and new projects are still going on all the time.

Before 1986 Aruba was a part of the Netherlands Antilles. The call for independence grew and it was decided that Aruba could have the status of an autonomous territory and become independent in 1996. During a conference in The Hague in 1994 this date was shelved.

Capital: Oranjestad

Government: State of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constitutional monarchy

Area: 193 km²

Population: 102.695 (2006)

Currency: Aruban florin (100 cents)

Internet TLD: aw

Dialling code: +297

Member of: Universal Postal Union (1 July 1875, with the Netherlands Antilles)

World Meteorological Organisation (with the Netherlands Antilles)

Associate member of: United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO, 1987)

For more stamps see:

Netherlands Antilles

Links

Aruba in Wikipedia.

Flag of Aruba in Flags of the World.

The website of the Philatelic Service.

Country description from the BBC.

Country description from the CIA.

Official website of the government of Aruba.

Official website of the Plenipotentiary Minister of Aruba in the Netherlands: Aruba House (in Dutch).

Stamp Catalogue

International Year of Peace

date: 29 August 1986

designer: Ludwig de l'Isle

printer: Johan Enschede en Zonen

perforated: 14:12¾

1 60 c peace dove, sun, explosion, IYP emblem, text "PEACE"

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 16/NVPH 16/SG 28/Yvert 16)

2 100 c peace doves, barbed wire, IYP emblem, text "PAZ"

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 17/NVPH 17/SG 29/Yvert 17)

20th UPU Congress Washington DC/World Stamp Expo 89 Washington

date: 8 June 1989

designer: Ludwig de l'Isle

printer: Johan Enschede en Zonen

perforated: 12¾:14

3 250 c UPU emblem, text "UNION POSTALE UNIVERSELLE / Congrès / Conseil exécutif / Conseil consultatif /

des études postales / Bureau international"

blue, yellow, grey, red

(cat. Michel 60/NVPH 60/SG 64/Yvert 60)

International Year of the Family

date: 30 May 1994

designer: Maria Latorre

printer: Johan Enschede en Zonen

perforated: 14:12¾

4 50 + 35 c family inside the house, IYF emblem, text "1994 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE FAMILY / SOLIDARIDAD"

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 140/NVPH 140/SG 144/Yvert 140)

5 100 + 50 c family outside the house, IYF emblem, text "1994 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE FAMILY / SOLIDARIDAD"

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 141/NVPH 141/SG 145/Yvert 141)

UNO 50th anniversary

date: 29 March 1995

designer: Maria Latorre

printer: Johan Enschede en Zonen

perforated: 12¾:14

6 30 c dove, UNO jubilee emblem, flags, text "The purposes of the United Nations as set forth in the charter

are: / to maintain international peace and security; / to develop friendly relations among nations; / to

cooperate internationally in solving international, economic, social, cultural and / humanitarian problems

and in promoting respect for human right and fundamental / freedoms; / to be a centre for harmonizing

the actions of nations in attaining these common ends."

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 154/NVPH 154/SG 158/Yvert 154)

7 200 c UNO jubilee emblem, globe, doves, flags, flag of Aruba

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 155/NVPH 155/SG 159/Yvert 155)

World Post Day 1998 - World Stamp Day

date: 8 September 1998

designer: Maria Latorre

printer: Johan Enschede en Zonen

perforated: 14:12¾

8 225 c traditional corn harvest, emblem, text "WORLD STAMP 1998"

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 225/NVPH 217/SG 229/Yvert 225)

United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations

date: 9 October 2001

designer: Sonia Lemminga

printer: Johan Enschede en Zonen

perforated: 14:12¾

9 175 c rock drawings, archaeological finds, UPU emblem, text "UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION"

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 281/NVPH 274/SG 295/Yvert 281)

International Year of Volunteers

date: 31 October 2001

designer: Maria Latorre

printer: Johan Enschede en Zonen

perforated: 12¾:14

10 40 + 20 c helping with crossing the road, text "VOOR HET KIND" and "INTERNATIONAL YEAR / OF VOLUNTEERS"

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 282/NVPH 275/SG 296/Yvert 282)

11 60 + 30 c walking the dog, text "VOOR HET KIND" and "INTERNATIONAL YEAR / OF VOLUNTEERS"

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 283/NVPH 276/SG 297/Yvert 283)

12 100 + 50 c cleaning the beach, text "VOOR HET KIND" and "INTERNATIONAL YEAR / OF VOLUNTEERS"

multicoloured

(cat. Michel 284/NVPH 277/SG 298/Yvert 284)

Queen Beatrix

date: 31 January 2008

designer: -

printer: Johan Enschede en Zonen

perforated: 13:14

remark: the photo on stamp nr. 14 is printed in reverse

13 75 c Beatrix as a child with dignitaries at Soestdijk Palace, flags of Aruba and Netherlands, text

"70th Birthday Queen Beatrix"

multicoloured, frame orange

(cat. Michel 403/NVPH 388/SG /Yvert )

14 125 c Beatrix and Claus with Willem-Alexander before his baptism, 2 September 1967, photo by

Max Koot (1917-1991), flags of Aruba and Netherlands, text "70th Birthday Queen Beatrix"

multicoloured, frame orange

(cat. Michel 404/NVPH 389/SG /Yvert )

15 250 c Beatrix after her inauguration as Queen, 30 April 1980, photo by Max Koot (1917-1991), flags of

Aruba and Netherlands, text "70th Birthday Queen Beatrix"

multicoloured, frame orange

(cat. Michel 405/NVPH 390/SG /Yvert )

16 300 c Beatrix with Willem-Alexander and Máxima and their daughters Amalia, Alexia and Ariane, 20 April

2007, photo by Jeroen van der Meyde, flags of Aruba and Netherlands, text "70th Birthday Queen

Beatrix"

multicoloured, frame orange

(cat. Michel 406/NVPH 391/SG /Yvert )

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last revised: 20 June 2009