The Colony of Curaçao and Dependencies (; ) was a Dutch colony in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

from 1634 until 1828 and from 1845 until 1954. Between 1936 and 1948, the area was officially known as the Territory of Curaçao (Dutch: '; Papiamento: '), and after 1948 as the Netherlands Antilles. With the proclamation of the

Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch: ''Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden''; in Papiamentu: ''Statuut di Reino Hulandes'') is a legal instrument that sets out the political relationship among the four countries that ...

on 15 December 1954, the Netherlands Antilles attained equal status with the Netherlands proper and

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

in the new

Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...

History

Under the terms of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, the Netherlands regained control over its

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

colonies, with the exception of

Demerara Demerara (; , ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state from 1792 unti ...

, Essequibo, and

Berbice Berbice () is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 and 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

. In the newly established

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed from 1815 to 1839. The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories t ...

, these colonies were organized in the following way until 1828: As a cost-reducing measure, the three colonies were merged into a single West Indies colony ruled from Paramaribo, Suriname, in 1828. This proved to be an unhappy arrangement, causing it to be partially reverted in 1845. Sint Eustatius did not regain its status as a separate colony, however, and came to be ruled from Willemstad, Curaçao:

Politics

Between 1833 and 1938, there was a Colonial Council which was an advisory body of the Colony of Curaçao and predecessor of the States of the Netherlands Antilles. The Colonial Council was established to assist the Governor of the Colony of Curaçao and its members were appointed by the King of the Netherlands . It was based in Curaçao. In 1865, Curaçao's government regulation (Dutch: ''Regeringsreglement voor Curaçao en onderhorige eilanden'') was altered to allow for a limited autonomy for the colony. The structure established in this regulation remained in force until 1936, when the first Constitution of Curaçao was enacted. This new basic law followed on a revision of the Dutch constitution in 1922, in which all references to "colony" were deleted. In the new parliament established in the colony, the Estates of Curaçao, ten out of fifteen members were elected by popular vote, with the remaining five being appointed by the

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. Only about 5% of the population of both colonies was allowed to vote in the elections.

Gradual decolonization

The reforms in the government structure of the colony until the Second World War were largely superficial, and thus Curaçao continued to be governed as a colony. This changed after the conclusion of the Second World War. Queen Wilhelmina had promised in a 1942 speech to offer autonomy to the overseas territories of the Netherlands, and British and American occupation—with consent by the Dutch government—of the islands during the war led to increasing demands for autonomy within the population as well. In May 1948, a new constitution for the territory entered into force, allowing the largest amount of autonomy allowed under the Dutch constitution of 1922. Among other things,

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

was introduced. The territory was renamed to "Netherlands Antilles" as well. After the Dutch constitution was revised in 1948, a new interim Constitution of the Netherlands Antilles was enacted in February 1951. Shortly thereafter, on 3 March 1951, the

Island Regulation of the Netherlands Antilles The Islands Regulation of the Netherlands Antilles (, ERNA; , RIAH) described the autonomy of the island territories of the Netherlands Antilles. It was enacted on 3 March 1951 by royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by ...

(

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

: ''Eilandenregeling Nederlandse Antillen'' or ''ERNA'';

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 ...

: ''Regulashon Insular delas Antias Hulandes'' or ''RIAH'') was issued by

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...

, giving fairly substantial autonomy to the various island territories in the Netherlands Antilles. A consolidated version of this regulation remained in force until the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. The new constitution was only deemed an interim arrangement, as negotiations for a Charter for the Kingdom were already underway. On 15 December 1954, the Netherlands Antilles, Suriname, and the Netherlands acceded as equal partners to an overarching Kingdom of the Netherlands as established in the

. With this move, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

deemed decolonization of the territory complete and removed it from the

United Nations list of non-self-governing territories Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter defines a non-self-governing territory (NSGT) as a territory "whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government". Chapter XI of the UN Charter also includes a "Declaration on Non-Se ...

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Curacao and Dependencies Former colonies of the Dutch Caribbean Dependent territories in the Caribbean 20th century in Curaçao 20th century in Aruba 20th century in Bonaire Netherlands Antilles States and territories established in 1815 States and territories disestablished in 1954 1815 establishments in Curaçao and Dependencies 1954 disestablishments 20th-century disestablishments in the Netherlands Antilles 1815 establishments in the Dutch Empire 1950s disestablishments in the Dutch Empire 1952 disestablishments