Aruba

Wealth and National Well-Being

World Factbook: "Tourism is the mainstay of the small open Aruban economy, together with offshore banking. Oil refining and storage ended in 2009. The rapid growth of the tourism sector over the last decade has resulted in a substantial expansion of other activities. Over 1.5 million tourists per year visit Aruba with 75% of those from the US."

Estimated per capita GDP
2004: $21,800

Infant mortality (deaths before the age of one year per 1,000 live births)
2010: 12.92 deaths
2009: 13.79
2008: 14.26
2007: 14.75

Average life expectancy at birth:
2011: 75.72 years

People

Living in an urban area
2010: 47%

Birth rate per 1.000 population
2011 estimate: 12.78 births

Density estimated for 2006 is 1,479 persons per square mile.

Arubans are Dutch citizens

Migration
2009: More arriving than leaving. A net gain of 9.7 per 1,000 population.

Ethnicities
World Factbook (2011): Mixed white/Caribbean Amerindian 80%, other 20%

Religions
World Factbook (2011): Roman Catholic 80.8%, Evangelist 4.1%, Protestant 2.5%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.5%, Methodist 1.2%, Jewish 0.2%, other 5.1%, none or unspecified 4.6%

Geography

An island in the Caribbean about 50 kilometers north of Venezuela. It is 32 kilometers long with an area of 193 square kilometers, equivalent to almost 14 by 14 kilometers or 8.7 by 8.7 miles. It is outside the hurricane belt, with beautiful beaches and very the clear water, but it's windy.

Government

As a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Chief of state: Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (since 30 April 1980); represented by Governor General Fredis Refunjol (since 11 May 2004)

Unicameral legislature, with 21 seats and members elected by direct popular vote for four-year terms.

Capital: Oranjestad.

Recent History

Acquired by the Dutch in 1636.

In 1986 seceded from the Netherlands Antilles and became an autonomous member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

2000: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) names Aruba as a "non-cooperative tax haven," rescinded after promising greater openness.

2003: Aruba and the US agree to exchange tax data to help combat money-laundering.

2005: Tourist Natalee Holloway disappears after leaving a nightclub in Oranjestad in a car with locals Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. Her body has not bee discovered as of June 18, 2011.

SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/