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Aruba Country Guide

Explore Aruba in North America

Aruba with the capital city Oranjestad is located in North America (Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea). It covers some 193 square kilometres (slightly larger than Washington, DC) with 71,566 citizens.

Interactive map of Aruba

The landscape offers flat with a few hills with scant vegetation. The average density of population is approximately 371 per km². The notable climate conditions in Aruba can be described as tropical marine with little seasonal temperature variation. Potential threats by nature are hurricanes or lies outside the Caribbean hurricane belt and is rarely threatened.

To reach someone in Aruba dial +297 prior to a number. There are 38,300 installed telephones. And there are 128,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of 900/1800/1900 MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".aw". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 127V - 60Hz.

About the flag and history of Aruba

Aruba Flag Icon

Blue, with two narrow, horizontal, yellow stripes across the lower portion and a red, four-pointed star outlined in white in the upper hoist-side corner; the star represents Aruba and its red soil and white beaches, its four points the four major languages (Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish, English) as well as the four points of a compass, to indicate that its inhabitants come from all over the world; the blue symbolizes Caribbean waters and skies; the stripes represent the island's two main "industries": the flow of tourists to the sun-drenched beaches and the flow of minerals from the earth.


Discovered and claimed for Spain in 1499, Aruba was acquired by the Dutch in 1636. The island's economy has been dominated by three main industries. A 19th century gold rush was followed by prosperity brought on by the opening in 1924 of an oil refinery. The last decades of the 20th century saw a boom in the tourism industry. Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 and became a separate, autonomous member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Movement toward full independence was halted at Aruba's request in 1990.

National administrative regions of Aruba



Geography Quick-Facts

SummaryContinent: North America
Neighbours:
Capital: Oranjestad
Size193 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 74 square miles (mi² or sqmi)
slightly larger than Washington, DC
Population71,566
CurrencyName Guilder, Currency Code:AWG
Country Top Level Domain (cTLD).aw
Telephone Country Prefix+297
Mobile Phone Connections128,000
Landline Phone Connections38,300

Country Position in World Rankings

Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).

Geography

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Area180 (sq km)218

People and Society

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Population109,153 190
Population growth rate1.39 (%)87
Birth rate12.72 (births/1,000 population)155
Death rate8.00 (deaths/1,000 population)97
Net migration rate9.16 (migrant(s)/1,000 population)12
Infant mortality rate12.12 (deaths/1,000 live births)129
Life expectancy at birth76.14 (years)85
Total fertility rate1.84 (children born/woman)149
Education expenditures6.70 (% of GDP)26
Unemployment, youth ages 15-2423.20 (%)42

Economy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
GDP (purchasing power parity)2,516,000,000 186
GDP - real growth rate2.40 (%)126
GDP - per capita (PPP)25,300 62
Labor force51,610 190
Unemployment rate6.90 (%)73
Taxes and other revenues22.60 (% of GDP)137
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)-6.60 (% of GDP)184
Public debt46.30 (% of GDP)75
Inflation rate (consumer prices)2.30 (%)43
Central bank discount rate3.00 (%)102
Commercial bank prime lending rate9.00 (%)101
Stock of narrow money868,500,000 151
Stock of broad money1,765,000,000 153
Stock of domestic credit1,448,000,000 147
Exports2,758,000,000 133
Imports3,476,000,000 142
Debt - external533,400,000 170

Energy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Electricity - production880,000,000 (kWh)150
Electricity - consumption818,400,000 (kWh)154
Electricity - installed generating capacity266,000 (kW)151
Electricity - from fossil fuels88.70 (% of total installed capacity)78
Electricity - from other renewable sources11.30 (% of total installed capacity)22
Crude oil - imports227,000 (bbl/day)30
Refined petroleum products - production205,400 (bbl/day)55
Refined petroleum products - consumption5,661 (bbl/day)164
Refined petroleum products - exports205,400 (bbl/day)32
Refined petroleum products - imports6,646 (bbl/day)144
Natural gas - production1 (cu m)95
Natural gas - consumption1 (cu m)114
Natural gas - exports1 (cu m)51
Natural gas - imports1 (cu m)78
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy1,241,000 (Mt)162

Communications

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Telephones - main lines in use35,000 174
Telephones - mobile cellular131,800 186
Internet hosts40,560 101
Internet users24,000 188

Transportation

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Airports1 210

Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases

List of current world heritage sites

NameSince