Country Profile
Key Facts
Commissioner
Name: In the 16th and 17th centuries, sailors on long voyages would get scurvy from lack of vitamin C. According to some accounts, Portuguese sailors who were ill were left at the island now known as Curaçao. When their ship returned, they had recovered, likely cured from scurvy, probably after eating fruit with vitamin C. From then on the Portuguese referred to this as Ilha da Curação (Island of Healing).
Date of Membership in CCLEC: (May 2011)
Status: Sovereign state – Kingdom of the Netherlands
Area: 444 km2 (171 miles2)
GDP: 2016 estimate – US$5.6 billion
Population: 2012 est. : 392,718
Capital City: Willemstad
Official Language: Dutch, Papiamentu, English
Currency:Netherlands Antillean guilder (ANG)
