Location: Caribbean, two island groups - Curacao and Bonaire in the southern Caribbean Sea are about 70 km north of Venezuela near Aruba and the rest of the country is about 800 km to the northeast about one-third of the way between Antigua and Barbuda and Puerto Rico

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total area: 960 sq km
land area: 960 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than 5.5 times the size of Washington, DC
note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 364 km

Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: none

Climate: tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds

Terrain: generally hilly, volcanic interiors

Natural resources: phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only)

Land use:
arable land: 8%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 0%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 92%

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Environment:
current issues: NA
natural hazards: Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt, so rarely threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October
international agreements: party to - Whaling

NOTE: The information regarding Netherlands Antilles on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Netherlands Antilles Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Netherlands Antilles Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.