Constituent country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Curaçao ( KURE-ə-soh, KURE-ə-sow, kure-ə-SOH, or kure-ə-SOW,[8][9] Dutch: [kyːraːˈsʌu] ⓘ or [kuːr-],[10] Papiamentu: 🏧 [ˈkɔrsɔu̯]), officially the Country of Curaçao (Dutch: Land Curaçao;[11] Papiamentu: Pais Kòrsou),[12][13] is a Lesser Antilles island in the southern 🏧 Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about 65 km (40 mi) north of the Venezuela coast. It is a 🏧 constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.[14] Together with Aruba and Bonaire, it forms the ABC islands. Collectively, Curaçao, 🏧 Aruba, and other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean. It is the largest of the 🏧 ABC islands in both area and population as well as the largest of the Dutch Caribbean.[15]

Curaçao was formerly part of 🏧 the Curaçao and Dependencies colony from 1815 to 1954 and later the Netherlands Antilles from 1954 to 2010, as Island 🏧 Territory of Curaçao (Dutch: Eilandgebied Curaçao, Papiamentu: Teritorio Insular di Kòrsou),[16] and is now formally called the Country of Curaçao.[13] 🏧 It includes the main island of Curaçao and the much smaller, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao ("Little Curaçao").[13] Curaçao has 🏧 a population of 158,665 (January 2024 est.),[3] with an area of 444 km2 (171 sq mi); its capital is Willemstad.[13]

Etymology 🏧 [ edit ]

One explanation for the island's name is that Curaçao was the autonym by which its indigenous peoples identified 🏧 themselves.[17] Early Spanish accounts support this theory, referring to the indigenous peoples as Indios Curaçaos.[18]