Aruba Island

Aruba Island is located at about 12°N 70°W (the airport in Oranjestad – Aruba’s capital – is placed at 12°30’ N 70°00’ W), outside the hurricane belt. The island’s surface is generally flat and dry (almost no rivers) but there are some hills clearly differing from the neighborhood.
The highest one is called Mount Jamanota (12°29′ N 69°57′ W) and reaches 188 meters (617 feet) above sea level. Also Hooiberg– the 168 meters high peak of volcanic origin – is worth noticing as it’s placed almost in the middle of the island. Its name comes from Dutch and means ‘haystack’.

The climate of Aruba favours the tourism. Almost constant temperature, usually at the level of 82°F (28 Celsius degrees) is one of the factors that made the island so attractive for the visitors. The yearly precipitation is only about 405 mm that has a really significant influence on vegetation. Such a dry climate causes that Aruba is grown mostly by cactus-like plants. Also, several sea currents surround the island.

History of Aruba

The history of Aruba begins about 1,000 AD, when the earliest found Indian settlements are thought to be from. Those Indians – originally from the Arawak tribe - were called Caquetíos Amerinds. The attacks by the Caribs (people from the northern coast of South America, after whom the whole Caribbean region was named) forced them to leave their native country (region of north Venezuela). They moved to Aruba and are considered to be the first island’s inhabitants. The sea currents between Aruba and the other Caribbean islands made the canoe travel much more difficult, so the place was safe for Casquetíos. At least for the next five centuries, until 1499 - which was the year of Amerigo Vespucci’s expedition. In August, he and Alonso de Ojeda discovered Aruba. The next century brought the Spanish colonization to the island. Afterwards, Aruba was overtaken by the Dutchmen.

Country and population

Nowadays, despite its Caribbean location, Aruba is a constituent country belonging to the Kingdom of the Netherlands (also with the Netherlands Antilles). Although the Dutch Queen Beatrix is the Aruban head of state, there’s also a governor chosen by the monarch for a six-year cadence. The current governor’s name is Fredis Refunjol. The prime minister and his deputy are chosen by the ‘Staten’. The Parliament (with its twenty-one members) and the Cabinet (eight members) are responsible for the politic. The Aruban flag contains a red star and two horizontal yellow stripes on the blue background.

The population of Aruba reached amount of 106,000 in 2008. About eighty percent of inhabitants are mestizo (also ‘Mestiço’ that means mixed-blood people of European and Amerindian ancestry). The official languages are Dutch and Papiamento (also ‘Papiamentu’, a creole language based on Portuguese, the most popular language spoken on ‘ABC islands’), but also Spanish and English are being used very often. The population of Aruba grows incessantly. What’s interesting, the growth was so big that a necessity of immigration control appeared. The high wages attracted so many workers from the neighboring countries that there was a new law introduced in 2007. It stated that a foreign workers’ residency on the island was limited to a maximum of three years.

According to the size of the island, Aruba has only a few real cities. The biggest and also the capital is Oranjestad (33,000 inhabitans). The others are: Barcadera, Sint Nicolaas, Noord, Santa Cruz, Savaneta, Seru Colorado. What’s worth noticing, the original Caribbean names (for example Santa Cruz – Saint Cross) are mixed with Dutch like Noord (that means North) or Oranjestad (Orange city).

Arubans have one of the best educational systems in the whole Caribbean region. It’s based on the Dutch system and warrant an access to the education at all levels. All the schools are financed by the government – only the private ones need to finance themselves. Well-organized primary education prepares students for the secondary school program that is divided into a few parts. It includes a vocational training, basic education, college preparation and also an advanced placement. The next education levels might be reached with the help of EPI (Professional Education Programm), IPA (the teachers college) or University of Aruba (its range is incessantly being improved – up to now the bachelors and masters programs in economics, finance, law and hospitality and tourism management are offered). Whether the student finds it too less for him, he may also choose the option of abroad studying that’s possible thank to the agreements between the Aruban and foreign (especially American) universities. Recapitulating, there are sixty-eight primary schools, twelve secondary schools, and also five universities (plus two important private medical universities). On their cooperation depends the Aruban educational system. The amount of registered students reached about 23.000 in 2007.

Although the hard climate conditions saved Aruba from the slavery, it disabled the flora growth what has a big influence on the economy of the island. Therefore, agave is the most widely and almost the only product exported from Aruba. The situation is being improved by the Coastal Oil Refinery placed near San Nicolaas, but the processing never again reached the level from before the economical crisis. Arubans were forced to find another source of money. The island was rescued by the tourism.

Cheap Flights to Aruba