an, white, East Asian

Religions:
Roman Catholic 72%, Pentecostal 4.9%, Protestant 3.5%, Seventh-Day
Adventist 3.1%, Methodist 2.9%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.7%, other
Christian 4.2%, Jewish 1.3%, other or unspecified 1.2%, none 5.2%
(2001 census)

Languages:
Papiamento 65.4% (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect),
English 15.9% (widely spoken), Dutch 7.3% (official), Spanish 6.1%,
Creole 1.6%, other 1.9%, unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96.7%
male: 96.7%
female: 96.8% (2003 est.)

Government Netherlands Antilles

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Netherlands Antilles
local long form: none
local short form: Nederlandse Antillen
former: Curacao and Dependencies

Dependency status:
an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; full
autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954; Dutch Government
responsible for defense and foreign affairs

Government type:
parliamentary

Capital:
Willemstad; note - located on Curacao, the largest of the islands

Administrative divisions:
none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
note: each island has its own government

Independence:
none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)

National holiday:
Queen's Day (Birthday of Queen-Mother JULIANA in 1909 and accession
to the throne of her oldest daughter BEATRIX in 1980), 30 April

Constitution:
29 December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the Netherlands, as
amended

Legal system:
based on Dutch civil law system with some English common law
influence

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen BEATRIX of the Netherlands (since 30 April
1980), represented by Governor General Frits GOEDGEDRAG (since 1
July 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Etienne YS (since 3 June 2004)
cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the Staten (legislature)
elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by
the monarch for a six-year term; following legislative elections,
the leader of the majority party is usually elected prime minister
by the Staten; election last held 18 January 2002 (next to be held
by NA 2006)
note: government coalition - PAR, PNP, PLKP, DP St. Maarten, UP
Bonaire, WIPM Saba, DP Statia

Legislative branch:
unicameral States or Staten (2