Technical data:
Date of Issue: 10 October 2010
Issue: The Constitutional Status of the Islands
Designer: Studio La Branda
Face Value: 111 Cent, 164 Cent, 111 Cent
Size of Stamps: 42mm x 35mm
Size of Image: 39mm x 32mm
Perforation of Stamps: 12 3/4 x 13 1/4
Printing: Offset Coated Stamp Paper No Watermark
Printer: Austrian Stateprinters, Viena
The Constitutional Status of the Islands:
It is with great pleasure that Nieuwe Post Nederlandse Antillen N.V. brings you this emission of stamps dedicated to the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles on October 10th, 2010. From this date, 10-10-10, the islands' constitutional status will be as follows: Curacao and Sint Maarten will be given the same status as the earlier breakway, Aruba (1986): autonomous countries within the Dutch Kingdom, alongside the Netherlands; while Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (BES Islands), also known as the 'Caribisch Nederland', will be given a special community status within the Netherlands. Consequently, this would spell the disapperance of the central government of the Netherlands Antilles.
111 Cents - Curacao (Map, Flag and Coat of Arms)
Curacao is an islands in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Venezuela. The island territory of Curacao, which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curacao ("Little Curacao") was part of the Netherlands Antilles. Its capital is Willemstad and has a land area of 444 square kilometers (171 square miles). As of 1 January 2009, it had a population of 141,766. Papiamentu, a mixture of Duthc, French, Spanish, Portugues and Creole is the native language; however Dutch, English and Spanish is also spoken on the island. Curacao has its own flag and coats of arm.
164 Cents - Sint Maarten (Map, Flag and Coat of Arms)
Situated about 150 miles east of Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten covers 16 square miles of the southern part of the island, an area marked by verdant, rolling hills that languidly rest above mile after mile of beach, salt pond, and lagoon. With an area of 37 square miles, the island of Sint Maarten/ Saint Martin is the smallest land mass in the world to be divided between two governments. Its dual owners are the Dutch and the French, who have shared the tiny and paradisiacal island more or less peacefully for almost 350 years. The island territories of the Netherlands Antilles. As of January 2009 it had a population of 50,300 inhabitants. The languages spoken in Sint Maarten are mainly English, Dutch, Papiamentu and French.
111 Cent - 'Caribisch Nederlands' / Caribbean Netherlands (Map, Flag and Coat of Arms)
The 'Caribisch Nederlands' (=Caribbean Netherlands), consists of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, also called the 'BES eilanden' (BES islands). Dutch, English and Papiamentu are the mainly spoken languages on the islands. On the stamp, at the upper right side, is also a potrait of Queen Beatrix of the Dutch Kingdom.
Bonaire: Nestled in its western crescent, the island of Klein Bonaire is also part of the Lesser Antilles.
Bonaire and Klein Bonaire have a land area of 288 km (111 square miles) and 6 km (2.3 square miles) respectively. The estimated population was 14,006 inhabitants as of December, 2006 which gives Bonaire a population density of 49 inhabitants per km.
Sint Eustatius: also known to the locals as Statia, is located in the northern, Leeward Islands, portion of the West Indies, southeast of the Virgin Islands. Sint Eustatius is part of the inner arc of the Leeward Island chain, situated to the northwest of Saint Kitts and Nevis and to the southeast of Saba. It has a land area of 21 km (8.1 square miles). In 2004 the population was estimated at 2,498 inhabitants.
Saba: The smallest island of the 'Caribbean Netherlands' consists largely of the potentially active volcano Mount Scenery (877 m) which is the highest point of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Sana has a land area of 13 km (5 square miles). In 2004 the population was estimated at 1,424 inhabitants.
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