Exploring Aruba

 🌊Exploring the Vast History and Culture of Aruba🌊

By: Farina Dewan 

Geographical Distinctions

Oranjestad, Aruba, Kingdom of the Netherlands | Oranjestad i… | Flickr
City of Oranjestad, Aruba
The island of Aruba is an island territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands about twenty miles off the coast of Venezuela. The island has quite a small area of thirty-two kilometer-long miles and one of the lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Contrasting to the neighboring islands, Aruba has a flat mainland with little to no rives. However, its known for its white, sandy beaches along the western and southern coasts. It has a warm climate all year long, and has an average rainfall of twenty inches. Luckily, the island is away from the "Caribbean hurricane belt"! This makes the island the perfect environment to vacationing!😊



 

Aruba's Culture

Aruba is known for its multicultural background from both Caribbean and Latin American (Colombian and Dutch) cultures. The native language is "Papiamento" (Talk), which is a Creole language that is also spoken in Curaçao and Bonaire. These Creole languages originate back to a single Afro-Portuguese pronto-Creole, which also originated from a lingua franca in Western Africa during the period of slave trade.A polygenetic theory supports that Papiamento originated on Curaçao with a Spanish base. 
 
 The local individuals of Aruba are considered Dutch citizens and even share the same passport as citizens who live in the Netherlands! However, their relation connected through the Dutch culture, isn't quite strong, because of the contrasting Aruba's Amerindian history and culture. The influence of immigration, tourism, and public media has greatly affected the culture and is gradually changing.

Going Back Time

During the approximate period from 2000 B.C.E to 850 B.C.E, preceramic Indians resided in the island. Then around 850 B.C.E, the Caquetio Arowaks migrated to the island from western Venezuela. They introduced pottery and agriculture to the preceramic Indians. 
Image result for aruba history
Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins near the shores in Aruba
Useless Islands. Unfortunately in 1515, the Natives were deported to Hispaniola to work in the mines. During 1526 to 1533, Juan de During 1499, the Spanish discovered the island. Around this time, the islands: Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao were given the name Islas Inutiles, which means Ampíes attempted to colonize the island, but was unsuccessful. After a long eighty-year war between Spain and Holland,In 1636, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) took authority over Aruba. After that, the slave population increased to no more than 21%, but was even abolished in 1863.
During the 1920s, the oil industry was introduced through the Lago Oil and Transport Company on the East of the island, while The Eagle Oil Refining Company was on the west. This influential investment brought thousands of job opportunities for motivated individuals during World War II. After the war begun to die down, the island shifted its focus on tourism. Both tourism and oil refining is still a significant industry in Aruba.

Politics in Aruba

 Aruba is a Constituent Country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Therefore; the State of the Netherlands, the State of the Netherlands Antilles, and the State of Aruba form a Commonwealth. The body of government is made up of a twenty-one member Parliament and an eight-member Cabinet. The governor general is given a six-year appointed term, and is elected by the Staten, or Parliament for four-year terms. The Staten is the twenty-one member parliament and is elected by popular vote for a four-year term. These three countries share the same Dutch citizenship, Dutch passport, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands passport. 
The legal jurisdiction is given to a "Court of First Instance, a Common Court of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba and the Supreme Court of Justice of the Netherlands".









Cited Sources


Harris, Jo Anne. "Aruba." The Virtual Caribbean Library. Web. 17 Feb. 2021.

 

"Aruba." Aruba - New World Encyclopedia. 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 17 Feb. 2021.

 

"Aruba." Countries and Their Cultures. Web. 17 Feb. 2021.

 

Comments

  1. jrodriguez54April 1, 2021 at 6:04 PM

    Really good job on this Farina! I like the style that you gave it in this blog and I also like the amount of activities that you named in this blog. I would love to explore Bushiribara Gold Mill Ruins. I don't have anything to say about this blog except for I like what you did with the style!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Vast History of St. Lucia

Image
⛰ The Vast History of St. Lucia ⛰ By: Farina Dewan Image by Didier Masson/ Getty Images   Background Information on the Island   St. Lucia, or one may say "The Land of the Iguanas" is quite an idea exotic, tropical getaway! Despite the limited landscape with an area of twenty-seven miles long and fourteen miles wide, the island has mountains, volcanic beaches, and even the only drive-in volcano Sulphur Springs in the world! With historical ties to England, France, and Dutch that date back to as late as the fourteenth century, the events go from discovered by explorers, to colonization, to creating large industries through slave labor, and to slowly becoming the island it is today.     The Indigenous People of St. Lucia  The indigenous people of St. Lucia are the Arawak Indians. They had given the island several names throughout the years. In 200 AD, the island was primarily known as "Louanalao", which means "island of the Iguanas". Around 800 AD was when i...
Read more

Self-Assessment

 Self-Assessment for Weeks 1- 5    Throughout the first several weeks, I have gotten comfortable with the different blogs and Top Hat assignments, despite the new challenges that come with it.    When I create my blog posts, I put my full effort into making sure I meet all the requirements with as much relevant information and creativity I can provide. However, I believe that there will always be specific parts where I may lack. I may not have dwelled enough into a certain subtopic or my format wasn't ideal. Often times, these parts cause me some stress, because I can be quite the perfectionist when it comes to meeting requirements! I sometimes have trouble finding the right information and I would try different databases and look up different keywords on Google, but wouldn't have much luck. In result of that, I would just try my best to find any missing required information from the sources I have already used.     In the Top Hat assignments, I ...
Read more