Aruba

Aruba is part of the Lucayan

Aruba Republic
Constituent Republic of Vekllei
Part of the Antilles Commonwealth
Capital	Playa
Population	380,444
Area	180 km²
Languages	English, Papiamento, Spanish
Vekllei Accession	2022, as part of the Curacao Treaty

The Republic of Aruba is a constituent republic in the western Caribbean Sea north of Venezuela, and part of the country of Vekllei. It is a city-state about 80km northwest of Curacao, and is exceptionally sunny and dry. Trade winds blow throughout the year, even through hot summers.

Aruba forms part of the “ABC Islands,” originally part of the Holland Caribbean. Together with Caimanas, they form the Leeward Antilles of Vekllei. The life-style there is relaxed, and a fusion of Latin American, Creole and Low Country. The landscape is unusually dry for the Caribbean, and its cacti and dry xeric hills frame the bright and pretty towns of Aruba well. Its capital, Playa, is famous for its brightly painted buildings that line trim canals. Aruba is a cosmopolitan republic, and many people from all over Vekllei and the world have been drawn there by its history and liqueurs, for which it is famous.

The islands were originally home to Arawaks, who were displaced by Spanish conquest in the 16th Century. They were taken by the dutch in 1636, who left a considerable impression on the towns and culture of the island until their conquest by the British in the Napoleonic Wars. The economy resembled much of the other Vekllei Caribbean islands until the construction of an oil refinery in the 1920s, which remains there today. Although the oil refinery brought great prosperity to Aruba, the island remained vulnerable to commodity price shocks and entered recession twice in the 20th Century. It joined Vekllei, along with the rest of the ABC Islands, in 2022.

Today, services and hydrocarbons form the basis of the Aruban economy. The oil refinery in the town of San Nicholas is Vekllei’s second-largest, and a pipeline to Venezuela has increased the relevance of Caribbean oil in the global market. Aruba has been a prosperous society since the end of the colonial era, and already had good infrastructure in place at the time of Vekllei accession. As such, its infrastructure is robust, and it has good local civil servants and teachers. They are about three-fourths Catholic, with the remainder being Anglicans or folk religious. Some syncretism is present with the Arawak population.

Aruba is a cultural hub, and is famous for its old-world shows and events. Ballet, classical concerts and painting are all exhibited in the capital. Newer artistic movements with deep roots in Arawak, often written and sung in Papiamento (a local creole) has begun to take root. The island is especially popular with North Vekllei tourists, who come to see its festivals and exotic desert landscape.

Locals get around the island via the Aruba Tramway, a series of tram lines famous for their open-air and double-decker trams. They start in Playa and stretch north and south, connecting the villages of Paradera, San Nicholas and Nord to the capital. There is an international airport just south of the capital. Ferries offer hydrofoil service to the other ABC islands.

Public Holidays:

• New Year’s Day 1 Jan
• Good Friday 30 Apr
• Commonwealth Day 1 May
• Ascension Day
• Whit Monday
• Assumption Day 15 Aug
• All Saints Day 1 Nov
• Republic Day 15 Dec
• Christmas Day 25 Dec
• Boxing Day 26 Dec