HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES

The 'Netherlands Antilles' were colonized by the Netherlands in the 17th century. They were once the center of the Caribbean slave trade.
The island of Curaçao was hit hard by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity (and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in the early 20th century with the construction of oil refineries to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields. The island of Saint Martin is shared with France (whose northern portion is named Saint-Martin and was a part of Guadeloupe, though there have been movements to become a separate overseas territory). The Netherlands Antilles remain part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands Antilles currently contains: Curacao, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba.
But this will be the last year that the Netherlands Antilles will exist, St. Maarten and Curacao will be separated and follow the path of Aruba.
Bonaire, Saba and Statia will become a 'Gemeente' of a Dutch province, thus directly under their control.
Aruba speaks Papiamento, Curacao & Bonaire speaks Papiamentu and English is common on the islands, though Dutch is the official language of all of them.