Jaunted

The semi-autonomous nation of the Netherlands Antilles was cobbled together in 1954. Though the Netherlands handles defense and foreign policy, the rest of the Antilles' affairs are handled domestically, with Willemstad as the capital. The first real shift in the composition of the Netherlands Antilles came in 1986, when Aruba voted to leave it and establish a direct relationship with the Netherlands.

Today, the southern Antillean islands of Curaçao (170,000 residents) and Bonaire (13,000) share the Antilles with three islands lying 500 miles to the north: St. Maarten (33,000), St. Eustatius (2500), and Saba (1500). The island groups are divided not just by geography but also by culture. The southern islands speak Papiamento, while the northern islands are by and large English speaking.

July 2007 is the target date for the disbanding of the Netherlands Antilles. Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius will be enfolded into the Netherlands as "kingdom islands," a status that has not yet been entirely defined. Curaçao and St. Maarten will each assume a status similar to that currently maintained by Aruba as self-governing islands within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

This slicing up of the islands was predestined by the October 2004 recommendations of a commission set up by the Dutch and Antillean governments. Residents of each island were asked to vote on a number of status options, and each island, save St. Eustatius, voted for the option suggested for it by the commission. (On St. Eustatius, voters chose rather quixotically to remain in the Netherlands Antilles, even after it was clear that the Netherlands Antilles would soon expire.)

When I asked Antilleans about the coming changes, I got some interesting answers. Nobody in my completely unscientific sampling appeared to be obsessed by the changes to come.  The St. Maarten Daily Herald, by way of contrast, is utterly riveted on the constitutional future. The newspaper catalogues status negotiations and postures in great detail.

Non-residents may wonder what the incorporation of Saba, St. Eustatius, and Bonaire as "kingdom islands" will mean. Will local gay wedding industries and ganja-stocked "coffeeshops" turn up in Kralendijk? Gay pot fiends looking to wed will have to stay tuned.

[Image via Johnny Flash/Flickr]

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