''Status aparte'' refers to the special status of

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

between 1986 and 2010 as a constituent country within the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

, separate from the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

to which it belonged until 1986. With the

dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010. After dissolution, the "BES islands" of the Dutch Caribbean— Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba—becam ...

in October 2010, the term ''status aparte'' was no longer used, as the status of Aruba was no longer separate, but rather the norm for all countries within the Kingdom.

History

Since the 1930s, the call for a greater degree of independence from

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

has been heard in

. It wasn't until the 1970s that the call became more apparent with

Betico Croes Gilberto François "Betico" Croes (; 25 January 1938 – 26 November 1986) was an Aruban political activist who was a proponent for Aruba's separation from the Netherlands Antilles. This eventually occurred in 1986, but following a car accident ...

starting a political party ( MEP) and becoming the leader of the Status Aparte movement. The goal was for Aruba to take a separate status in the

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

, apart from the

and, after the independence of

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

in 1975, to become the third constituent country in the Kingdom. After years of negotiations, Croes managed to enforce the secession of Aruba from the Netherlands Antilles, as of January 1, 1986, on the condition however that Aruba would become independent ten years later, in 1996. Although that is not what the MEP wanted, they agreed. In 1990 Aruba and the Netherlands decided to reverse the original condition of independence and keep Aruba in the Kingdom. Negotiations were finalized in 1994. After

and

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the nort ...

got a similar status as Aruba, in 2010, the status aparte of Aruba as a result practically ceased to exist.

References

{{Reflist Government of Aruba

History

See also

References