CURACAO or CURA40A, a Dutch West Indian island 4om. from the north coast of Venezuela, in 12° N. and 69° W., 4om. long from north-west to south-east; average width loin.; area 212 sq. miles. It is flat, with south-west hills rising to 1,200 feet. There are deeply dented natural harbours, the chief of which is that of St. Anna on the south-west coast. Curacao consists chiefly of diorite and base, and is surrounded by coral reefs. Streams are few and fall scanty, averaging only i6in. per annum. The plains are largely arid but glens produce maize, beans, pulse, etc. Salt, phates and cattle are exported. The commerce is with U.S.A. and Venezuela. Curacao liqueur was originally made on the island from an orange, Citrus tium curassuviensis. Willemstad (pop. about I 5, 7 7 5) , on the bour of St. Anna, has houses in the Amsterdam style, and the row channel separating it from its western suburb of Overzijde and the waters of the Waigat, which intersect it, recall the Dutch canals. The entrance of the Schottegat or Inner Harbour is protected by forts. The negroes speak Papaisnento, composed of Spanish, Dutch, English and native words. Curacao gives its name to the Government of the Dutch West Indies, which clude Aruba, west of Curacao, area 69sq.m. and population io,000; Buen Ayre, tom. N.E., area 95sq.m. and population about 5,000; St. Eustatius, Saba and part of St. Martin. The governor is assisted by a council of four, and a colonial council of eight Crown nominees. Curacao has about 33,00o inhabitants, and the Dutch West Indies altogether have a population of 56,222. The chief industry is oil refining, the crude petroleum being imported from oil fields of the Lake Maracaibo Basin of Venezu ela. Imports (1925) 70,507,241 guilders; exports 53 7 guilders.
Curacao was discovered by Hojeda about 1499 and occupied by the Spaniards in 1527. The Dutch have held it since except during 1798 and from i8o6 to 1814, when it was held by Great Britain.
See Wynmalen, "Les Colonies neerlandaises dans les Antilles," Revue Colon. Internat. ii., p. 391 (1887) ; K. Martin, W ndische Skizzen (Leyden, 1887) ; De Veer, La Colonie de Curacoa (Les Pays Bas, 1898). Also several articles on all the islands in Tijdschrift v.h. Ned. Aardr. Genootschap; Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsth West Indie (1914-17)•