The Dutch Colonial Period - Oranjestad, Aruba
Posted by: 
denben
N 12° 31.075 W 070° 02.132
19P E 387487 N 1384045
The sign on the Dutch Colonial Period is located on the site of the Aruba Historical Museum, in downtown Oranjestad, Aruba.
Waymark Code: WMZXD5
Location: Aruba
Date Posted: 01/18/2019
Views: 0
Aruba is an island and a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the southern Caribbean Sea, located about 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) west of the main part of the Lesser Antilles and 29 kilometres (18 mi) north of the coast of Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, Aruba forms a group referred to as the ABC islands. Collectively, Aruba and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean. (
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The Aruba Historical Museum is located at 6 Zoutmanstraat in Oranjestad. It is housed within the oldest buildings of Aruba, the Fort Zoutman and the Willem III Tower.
The sign reads:
"1792 - 1924 - The Dutch Colonial Period - After the dissolution of the West India Company in 1792 and the return of the islands in 1816 to Dutch hands, serious colonization started. The elite group of the population was mainly active in commercial agriculture and legal and illegal trade with South America. Farmers were dependant on small-scale agriculture, fishing, and labor migration within the region. Gold and phosphate mining temporarily relieved poverty. Due to the absence of a plantation economy, slaves never exceeded 21 percent of the population. Colonists, Indians, and blacks intermixed forming the traditional Mestizo-Creole population."