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A convergence of Dutch, Spanish, Latin American and African colonial influences, the small ABC Islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao in the Eastern Caribbean are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. A former Dutch colony in the 17th century, the area was once known as the Dutch West Indies, before becoming the Netherlands Antilles in 1954. Colonised by Spain in 1572, many believe that the islands were discovered by the Spanish navigator Amerigo Vespucci in around 1419. The Spaniards, who were unable to find any precious extractable metals, deemed the islands ‘Islas Inutiles’; the Useless Islands. The Spain and Netherlands both sought possession of the islands in 1634, with the Dutch West India Company taking possession of Curacao, and then Aruba. During Dutch colonial rule, Curacao emerged as a major port for the slave trade, with Bonaire used for plantations.
Aruba remained one of the most prosperous islands in the Caribbean, helped in part by the gold rush boom of the 1820s before the mines were exhausted, and the introduction of petroleum refineries in the 1920s following the discovery of oil in nearby Venezuela. Today, the main monetary capital for the islands comes from the tourist industry. Aruba gained independence from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986, and was granted a separate, more autonomous status under the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Constitutional changes were also made to other islands following a referendum, with Curacao also becoming an autonomous country within the Kingdom in 2010, and the less densely populated, smaller island of Bonaire receiving city status within the Netherlands.
One of the defining features of the islands is the indigenous Creole Papiamento language, one of the most widely spoken on the ABC Islands. There is a small but growing Dutch-Antillean literary tradition, spearheaded by the Curacaoan author Cola Debrot. One of the leading figures of Dutch- Caribbean literature, his most famous work is the novella My Black Sister, released in 1935. Founded in 1958, the Cas di Cultura Theatre in Oranjestaf, Aruba also hosts annual international dance and theatre festivals.