uary
1993);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(21 total) MEP 10, AVP 8, ADN 1, PPN 1, PPA 1

_#_Member of: ECLAC (associate), INTERPOL, IOC, UNESCO (associate),
WCL, WTO (associate)

_#_Diplomatic representation: none (self-governing part of the
Netherlands)

_#_Flag: blue with two narrow horizontal yellow stripes across the
lower portion and a red, four-pointed star outlined in white in the upper
hoist-side corner

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Tourism is the mainstay of the economy, although
offshore banking and oil refining and storage are also important.
Hotel capacity expanded rapidly between 1985 and 1989 and nearly
doubled in 1990 alone. Unemployment has steadily declined from about
20% in 1986 to about 2% in 1990. The reopening of the local oil
refinery, once a major source of employment and foreign exchange
earnings, promises to give the economy an additional boost.

_#_GDP: $730 million, per capita $11,600; real growth rate 8.8%
(1989 est.)

_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.8% (1990 est.)

_#_Unemployment rate: 1.6% (1990 est.)

_#_Budget: revenues $145 million; expenditures $185 million, including
capital expenditures of $42 million (1988)

_#_Exports: $131.6 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);

commodities--mostly petroleum products;

partners--US 64%, EC

_#_Imports: $496 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);

commodities--food, consumer goods, manufactures;

partners--US 8%, EC

_#_External debt: $81 million (1987)

_#_Industrial production: growth rate NA

_#_Electricity: 310,000 kW capacity; 945 million kWh produced, 15,000
kWh per capita (1990)

_#_Industries: tourism, transshipment facilities, oil refining

_#_Agriculture: poor quality soils and low rainfall limit agricultural
activity to the cultivation of aloes, some livestock, and fishing

_#_Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries ODA and OOF bilateral
commitments (1980-1988), $200 million

_#_Currency: Aruban florin (plural--florins);
1 Aruban florin (Af.) = 100 cents

_#_Exchange rates: Aruban florins (Af.) per US$1--1.7900 (fixed rate
since 1986)

_#_Fiscal year: calendar year

_*_Communications
_#_Ports: Oranjestad, Sint Nicolaas

_#_Airfield: government-owned airport east of Oranjestad

_#_Telecommunications: generally adequate; extensive interisland radio
relay links; 72,168 telephones; stations--4 AM, 4 FM, 1 TV; 1 sea cable
to Sint Maarten

_*_Defense Forces