Curaçao
Updated: Oct 2, 2022
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Country Name
Curaçao, or officially the Country of Curaçao.
Location
Is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about 65 km (40 mi) north of the Venezuelan coast. It is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Together with Aruba and Bonaire, it forms the ABC islands. Collectively, Curaçao, Aruba, and other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean.
Capital
Willemstad.
Reason for Naming the country
One explanation for the island's name is that Curaçao was the autonym by which its indigenous peoples identified themselves. Early Spanish reports support this theory, referring to the indigenous peoples as Indios Curaçaos.
Flag
The Flag of Curaçao was adopted in 1982. It features a plain blue field with a yellow diagonal stripe and two five-pointed stars in the top left corner.
The blue at the bottom of the flag represents the sea and at the top, the blue represents the sky, both of which are almost always blue in Curacao. The yellow stripe represents the sun that is most often present over the island of Curacao. The two stars represent the two islands that make up this country, Curacao and Klein Curacao. Additionally, the five points in each star represent the five continents that Curacao’s people originally come from. The white color of the stars is also important as it represents peace and happiness.
*Flag Facts:
- The flag of Curacao is similar to the flag of Nauru, the two flags match by design and symbolism.
- Both feature a navy blue background with a single horizontal yellow stripe. Stars are also featured on both flags but Curacao has two five-pointed stars while Nauru has one star with twelve points.
Language
Curaçao's native language is Papiamentu: a Creole blend of African, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, English, and Arawak Indian. The official languages in Curaçao are Dutch, Papiamentu, and English, but of those Papiamentu is used the most in local TV shows, in parliament, and on the street.
English is a co-official language on the island of Curaçao.
Religion
Curacao holds many different religions, which all have always lived peacefully next to each other. Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims all have their places of worship. Over 80% of the population is Catholic; this group is mainly of African origin.
Currency
Netherlands Antillean guilder (ƒ) (ANG).
Time Zone
-04:00 GMT.
Government Regime
A Parliamentary representative democracy
Climate
Curaçao has a hot, semi-arid climate with a dry season from January to September and a wet season from October to December. the rainy season is drier than it normally is in tropical climates; during the dry season, it rarely rains. Owing to the scarcity of rainfall, the landscape of Curaçao is arid; especially on the north coast of the island. Temperatures are relatively constant, with small differences measured throughout the year. The trade winds cool the island during the day and warm it at night. The coolest month is January with an average temperature of 26.6 °C; the hottest is September with an average temperature of 29.1 °C. The year's average maximum temperature is 31.4 °C. The year's average temperature is 25.7 °C. The seawater around Curaçao averages around 27 °C and is coolest at 25.9 °C from February to March, and the hottest (avg. 28.2 °C) from September to October.