|
Willemstad, Curaçao
Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior to that entity's dissolution in 2010. The city counts to have around 90% of Curaçao’s population, with 136,660 inhabitants as of 2011. The historic centre of the city consists of four quarters: the Punda and Otrobanda, which are separated by the Sint Anna Bay, an inlet that leads into the large natural harbour called the Schottegat, as well as the Scharloo and Pietermaai Smal quarters, which are across from each other on the smaller Waaigat harbour. Willemstad is home to the Curaçao synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas. The city centre, with its unique architecture and harbour entry, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. History Punda was established in 1634, when the Dutch West India Company captured the island from Spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capital City
A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its Seat of government, seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the government's offices and meeting places; the status as capital is often designated by its law or constitution. In some jurisdictions, including several countries, different branches of government are in different settlements, sometimes meaning multiple official capitals. In some cases, a distinction is made between the official (constitutional) capital and the seat of government, which is in list of countries with multiple capitals, another place. English language, English-language media often use the name of the capital metonymy, metonymically to refer to the government sitting there. Thus, "London-Washington relations" is widely unde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sint Anna Bay
Sint Anna Bay (Dutch: ''Sint Annabaai'') is a deep channel approximately one mile long and up to 1,000 feet wide, located on the island of Curaçao between the two parts of Willemstad, Punda and Otrobanda. The bay opens into the Caribbean Sea at the southern end, and into the Schottegat lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an .../industrial area to the north. References Bodies of water of Curaçao Channels Willemstad {{Curaçao-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PDVSA
Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (acronym PDVSA, , English language, English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as exploration and production of natural gas. Since its founding on January 1, 1976, with the nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry, PDVSA has dominated the oil industry of Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter. Oil reserves in Venezuela are the largest in the world and the state-owned PDVSA provides the government of Venezuela with substantial funding resources. Following the Bolivarian Revolution, PDVSA was mainly used as a vital source of income for the Venezuelan government. Profits were also used to assist the presidency, with funds directed towards allies of the Venezuelan government. With PDVSA focusing on political projects instead of oil production, mechanical and technical statuses deteriorated while employee exp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange. A core component of Big Oil, Shell is the second largest investor-owned oil and gas company in the world by revenue (after ExxonMobil), and among the world's largest companies out of any industry. Measured by both its own emissions, and the emissions of all the fossil fuels it sells, Shell was the ninth-largest corporate producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the period 1988–2015. Shell was formed in April 1907 through the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company of the Netherlands and The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company of the United Kingdom. The combined company rapidly became the leading competitor of the American Standard Oil and by 1920 Shell was the largest producer of oil in the world. Shell first ente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emmastad
Groot Kwartier is a neighbourhood of Willemstad, Curaçao, a Lesser Antilles island in the Dutch Caribbean. It is better known as Emmastad, a villa ward built by Royal Dutch Shell for its employees. Emmastad is officially part of Groot Kwartier. History Groot Kwartier started as a plantation in 1694. The plantation produced bananas, divi-divi and livestock, but was mainly known for its large fresh water supply. In 1915, the nearby plantation Asiento was bought by Royal Dutch Shell. Initially the grounds were used as a harbour. In 1923, neighbourhoods were built on Groot Kwartier to house employees hired from other Caribbean islands. In 1929, the area owned by Shell was renamed Emmastad. Between 1945 and 1955, Emmastad was enlarged with residential neighbourhoods for the Dutch employees of Royal Dutch Shell. The houses constructed during that period were luxurious, free-standing villas. Emmastad was a segregated and gated community A gated community (or walled community) is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julianadorp, Curaçao
Grőot Piscadera is a neighbourhood of Willemstad, Curaçao, a Lesser Antilles island in the Dutch Caribbean. It is better known as Julianadorp, a villa ward built by Royal Dutch Shell for its employees. Julianadorp is officially part of Groot Piscadera. History Groot Piscadera was a plantation from the late 17th century, and was owned by Dutch West Indies Company. In 1707, the plantation was rented to planters. In 1928, Groot Piscadera and Klein Hofje were bought by Royal Dutch Shell and used as a water extraction area. The University of Curaçao was built in Groot Piscadera in the 1970s. Julianadorp Royal Dutch Shell started to bring large numbers of workers, teachers, civil servants and businessmen to Curaçao to work at their oil refinery or provide services for the employees. In October 1929, 40 houses were constructed in Groot Piscadera. Between 1945 until 1955, Julianadorp and Emmastad were constructed as residential neighbourhoods for the employees of Royal Dutch Shell. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papiamento
Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; ) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao ( ABC Islands). The language, spelled in Aruba and in Bonaire and Curaçao, is largely based on Portuguese as spoken in the 15th and 16th centuries, and has been influenced considerably by Dutch and Venezuelan Spanish. Due to lexical similarities between Portuguese and Spanish, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of some words. Though there are different theories about its origins, most linguists now believe that Papiamento emerged from the Portuguese-based creole languages of the West African coasts, as it has many similarities with Cape Verdean Creole and Guinea-Bissau Creole. History There are various theories about the origin and development of the Papiamento language, and precise history has not been established. Its parent language is surely West Iberian Romance, but scholars di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pietermaai
Pietermaai is a neighbourhood and former suburb of Willemstad, on Curaçao, a Lesser Antilles island in the Dutch Caribbean. Pietermaai was founded in 1675, and has been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site. History Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao, was constructed as a walled city. It soon developed into one of the major centres of the Atlantic slave trade which triggered a rapid population growth. In the late 17th century, there were over 200 houses within the city walls. In 1675, it was decided to construct the town of Pietermaai outside of the enclosed city. It was to be separated from the city by an area of about 500 metres in which construction was not allowed so as not to obstruct the cannons in Fort Amsterdam. The town was named after captain Pieter de Meij. In 1707, the town of Otrobanda was established on the other side of Sint Anna Bay, and the suburb of Scharloo followed, however Willemstad continued to experience growth. By 1818, the population of Pietermaai ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spanish And Portuguese Jews
Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the few centuries following the forced expulsion of unconverted Jews Expulsion of the Jews from Spain, from Spain in 1492 and Expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Portugal, from Portugal in 1497. They should therefore be distinguished both from the descendants of those expelled in 1492 and from the present-day Jews, Jewish communities of Spain and Portugal. The main present-day communities of Spanish and Portuguese Jews exist in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, and several other Jewish communities in the Americas have Spanish and Portuguese Jewish roots though they no longer follow the distinctive customs of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews. Historical background Although the 1492 and 1497 expulsions of unconvert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlantic Slave Trade
The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage. Europeans established a coastal slave trade in the 15th century and trade to the Americas began in the 16th century, lasting through the 19th century. The vast majority of those who were transported in the transatlantic slave trade were from Central Africa and West Africa and had been sold by West African slave traders to European slave traders, while others had been captured directly by the slave traders in coastal raids. European slave traders gathered and imprisoned the enslaved at slave fort, forts on the African coast and then brought them to the Americas. Some Portuguese and Europeans participated in slave raids. As the National Museums Liverpool explains: "European traders captured some Africans in raids along the coast, but bou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Language
Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speakers, third most spoken Germanic language. In Europe, Dutch is the native language of most of the population of the Netherlands and Flanders (which includes 60% of the population of Belgium). "1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." (page 153). Dutch was one of the official languages of South Africa until 1925, when it was replaced by Afrikaans, a separate but partially Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible daughter language of Dutch. Afrikaans, depending on the definition used, may be considered a sister language, spoken, to some degree, by at least 16 million people, mainly in South Africa and Namibia, and evolving from Cape Dutch dialects. In South America, Dutch is the native l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was granted a :wikisource:Charter of the Dutch West India Company, charter for a trade monopoly in the Dutch West Indies by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and given jurisdiction over Dutch participation in the Atlantic slave trade, Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America. The area where the company could operate consisted of West Africa (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Cape of Good Hope) and the Americas, which included the Pacific Ocean and ended east of the Maluku Islands, according to the Treaty of Tordesillas. The intended purpose of the charter was to eliminate competition, particularly Spanish or Portuguese, between the various trading posts established by the merchants. The company became instrumental in the largely eph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
