Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire, off the coast of present-day Venezuela, and Sint Eustatius, Saba, and half of Saint Martin (Sint Maarten), in the northern group of the Lesser Antilles, became Dutch possessions in the 1630s, but more as part of the military strategy of the Dutch war of independence against Spain than in expectation of agricultural riches.
The Netherlands Antilles islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, which were due to achieve the status of Dutch local authorities in 2008 following agreement on a new constitution (which also conferred local autonomy on Curaçao and Sint Maarten), said in March that they would not permit same-sex weddings, even though such ceremonies were recognized in The Netherlands.
Its most famous exports are Viktor and Rolf, but you also have the likes of London-based Hawaii-aholic Maarten van der Horst (a fellow Lichting panel member), the crafty Michael van der Ham, or Eighties' knit-wit Koos Van Den Akker, creator of Bill Cosby's decidedly loud signature sweaters.
Reach St Barts via Antigua (as before) and then on local airline Tradewinds, or via St Maarten The view from Nevis across the Narrows to St Kitts is one of the loveliest in the Caribbean, and Hurricane Cove has the best of it.
Reach St Maarten from Antigua (as before) or direct from Amsterdam (KLM) and Paris (Air France) Finding somewhere inexpensive to stay in St Barts is an issue – the Auberge de Terre Neuve offers some of the best value out there.
Curaçao and St Maarten became independent states, while Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba were reclassified as autonomous special municipalities.
Research in 2002 by Maarten van Bottenburg, of Utrecht University, found no correlation between the success of a sporting elite and increased public participation in those sports.
Lost on Planet Chinaby J Maarten TroostClick to buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk9.
"We need to be able to drive any intersection anywhere and at any time to be fully autonomous," says Maarten Sierhuis, the project's co-director.This means Nissan's target date might be ambitious.
Its head, Maarten van Alst, says he thinks that the climate impacts of a contemporary Tambora might be comparable to those of the big El Niño of 1997-98, whave have been estimated at $36 billion, with 130m lives affected and 21,000 lives lost.
