sland of Saint Martin)

Area - comparative:

more than five times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:

total: 15 km
border countries: Saint Martin 15 km

Coastline:

364 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm

Climate:

tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds

Terrain:

generally hilly, volcanic interiors

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Scenery 862 m

Natural resources:

phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only)

Land use:

arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 90% (2005)

Irrigated land:

NA

Natural hazards:

Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes
from July to October; Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean
hurricane belt and are rarely threatened

Environment - current issues:

NA

Geography - note:

the five islands of the Netherlands Antilles are divided
geographically into the Leeward Islands (northern) group (Saba, Sint
Eustatius, and Sint Maarten) and the Windward Islands (southern)
group (Bonaire and Curacao); the island of Saint Martin is the
smallest landmass in the world shared by two independent states, the
French territory of Saint Martin and the Dutch territory of Sint
Maarten

People
Netherlands Antilles

Population:

225,369 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 23.2% (male 26,749/female 25,467)
15-64 years: 67.5% (male 73,319/female 78,842)
65 years and over: 9.3% (male 8,541/female 12,451) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 33.4 years
male: 31.6 years
female: 35.2 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.754% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

14.37 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

6.43 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 9.36 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 10.04 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 8.64 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 76.45 years
male: 74.15 years
female: 78.87 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.98 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS -