unicameral Legislature or Staten (21 seats;
members elected by direct popular vote and serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 12 December 1997 (next to be held by NA December
2001)
election results: percent of vote by party-NA; seats by party-AVP 10,
MEP 9, OLA 2; although elections were held 12 December 1997, a new
government had not been formed as of May 1998

Judicial branch: Joint High Court of Justice; judges are appointed by
the Netherlands monarch

Political parties and leaders: Electoral Movement Party or MEP [Nelson
ODUBER]; Aruban People's Party or AVP [Jan (Henny) H. EMAN]; National
Democratic Action or ADN [Pedro Charro KELLY]; New Patriotic Party or
PPN [Eddy WERLEMEN]; Aruban Patriotic Party or PPA [Benny NISBET];
Aruban Democratic Party or PDA [Leo BERLINSKI]; Democratic Action '86
or AD '86 [Arturo ODUBER]; Aruban Liberal Party or OLA [Glenbert
CROES]

International organization participation: ECLAC (associate), Interpol,
IOC, UNESCO (associate), WCL, WToO (associate)

Diplomatic representation in the US: none (represented by the Kingdom
of the Netherlands)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Consul General James L. WILLIAMS
embassy: J.B. Gorsiraweg #1, Curacao
mailing address: P.O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao
telephone: [599] (9) 461-3066
FAX: 461-6489

Flag description: blue with two narrow horizontal yellow stripes
across the lower portion and a red, four-pointed star outlined in
white in the upper hoist-side corner

@Aruba:Economy

Economy-overview: Tourism is the mainstay of the Aruban economy,
although offshore banking and oil refining and storage are also
important. The rapid growth of the tourism sector over the last decade
has resulted in a substantial expansion of other activities.
Construction has boomed, with hotel capacity five times the 1985
level. In addition, the reopening of the country's oil refinery in
1993, a major source of employment and foreign exchange earnings, has
further spurred growth. Aruba's small labor force and less than 1%
unemployment rate have led to a large number of unfilled job vacancies
despite sharp rises in wage rates in recent years.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$1.4 billion (1996 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 4% (1996 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$21,000 (1996 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 3.2% (1996)

Lab