什麼是阿魯巴

委內瑞拉西北方小安地列斯羣島的一個島嶼（2001年人口約97,200）。爲荷蘭一個單獨的自治領地。面積180平方公里。首府：奧拉涅斯塔德（Oranjestad）。居民大多爲混血種，常混雜有美洲印第安人、荷蘭人、西班牙人和非洲人血統。語言：荷蘭語（官方語），而日常用語爲帕皮亞門託語（Papiemento），是一種混合語。宗教：多信奉天主教。貨幣：阿魯巴弗羅林（Aruban florin）。缺乏水源嚴重地限制了農業發展。1985年世界最大之一的煉油廠關閉以前曾是阿魯巴主要就業來源。此後，旅遊業成爲主要的經濟項目。印第安人阿拉瓦克人是這裏最早的居民，他們的洞穴繪畫至今仍可見。雖然在1636年即被荷蘭佔據，但直到1816年纔開始積極發展此地。荷蘭控制阿魯巴的國防與外交事務，但內政則由一島國政府主持其本身的司法和通貨。1986年脫離荷屬安地列斯（Netherlands Antilles）聯邦，朝獨立跨出了一步。

Aruba

Island (pop., 1994: 72,000), Lesser Antilles, off northwestern Venezuela. Aruba is an internally self-governing part of the Netherlands. It has an area of 70 sq mi (180 sq km). Its capital is Oranjestad. Most of the present-day population is a combination of Amerindian, Spanish, and Dutch, with traces of African stocks. Dutch is its official language; Papiamento, a creole language, is used for daily affairs. The principal religion is Roman Catholicism. Its currency is the Aruban florin. Aruba's lack of water severely limits agriculture. Its petroleum-refining complex, among the world's largest, was the main source of employment until it closed in 1985. Since then, tourism has become the island's economic mainstay. The island's earliest inhabitants were Arawak Indians, whose cave drawings can still be seen. Though the Dutch took possession of Aruba in 1636, they did not begin to develop it aggressively until 1816. The Netherlands controls Aruba's defense and foreign affairs, but internal affairs are handled by an island government directing its own judiciary and currency. In 1986 Aruba seceded from the Federation of the Netherlands Antilles, in an initial step toward independence.