12 15 N, 68 45 W

Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 960 sq km
note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint
Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)
water: 0 sq km
land: 960 sq km

Area - comparative:
more than five times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
total: 10.2 km
border countries: Guadeloupe (Saint Martin) 10.2 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% (2001)

Irrigated land:
NA sq km

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

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)

People Netherlands Antilles

Population:
218,126 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 24.5% (male 27,387; female 26,094)
15-64 years: 67.2% (male 70,024; female 76,552)
65 years and over: 8.3% (male 7,443; female 10,626) (2004 est.)

Median age:
total: 32.1 years
male: 30.6 years
female: 33.6 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.86% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
15.36 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:
6.4 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 10.37 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 9.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 11.18 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.6 years
male: 73.37 years
female: 77.95 years (2004 est.)

To