One explanation for the island's name is that Curaçao was the autonym by which its indigenous peoples identified themselves. Curaçao has a population of 158,665 (January 2019 est.), with an area of 444 km 2 (171 sq mi) its capital is Willemstad. It includes the main island of Curaçao and the much smaller, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao ('Little Curaçao'). Ĭuraçao was formerly part of the Curaçao and Dependencies colony from 1815 to 1954 and later the Netherlands Antilles from 1954 to 2010, as Island Territory of Curaçao (Dutch: Eilandgebied Curaçao, Papiamentu: Teritorio Insular di Kòrsou), and is now formally called the Country of Curaçao. It is the largest of the ABC islands in both area and population as well as the largest of the Dutch Caribbean. Collectively, Curaçao, Aruba, and other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean. Together with Aruba and Bonaire, it forms the ABC islands. It is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Curaçao ( / ˈ k j ʊər ə s oʊ, - s aʊ, ˌ k j ʊər ə ˈ s oʊ, - ˈ s aʊ/ KURE-ə-soh, KURE-ə-sow, kure-ə- SOH, or kure-ə- SOW, Dutch: ⓘ or, Papiamentu: ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( Dutch: Land Curaçao Papiamentu: Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about 65 km (40 mi) north of the Venezuela coast.
