Netherlands Antilles - Geography

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Netherlands Antilles is located Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - composed of five islands, Curacao and Bonaire located off the coast of Venezuela, and Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius lie east of the US Virgin Islands. The climate is tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds. The terrain is generally hilly, volcanic interiors.

Location

This entry identifies the country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
Location : Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - composed of five islands, Curacao and Bonaire located off the coast of Venezuela, and Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius lie east of the US Virgin Islands

Geographic coordinates

This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the locations provided in the Geographic Names Server (GNS), maintained by the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency on behalf of the US Board on Geographic Names.
Geographic coordinates - Bonaire : 12 12 N, 68 15 W
Geographic coordinates - Curacao : 12 10 N, 69 00 W
Geographic coordinates - Saba : 17 38 N, 63 14 W
Geographic coordinates - Sint Eustatius : 17 30 N, 62 58 W
Geographic coordinates - Sint Maarten : 18 04 N, 63 04 W

Map references

This entry includes the name of the Factbook reference map on which a country may be found. Note that boundary representations on these maps are not necessarily authoritative. The entry on Geographic coordinates may be helpful in finding some smaller countries.
Map references : Central America and the Caribbean

Area

This entry includes three subfields. Total area is the sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers). Water area is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers, as delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines.
Area - total : 960 sq km
Area - land : 960 sq km
Area - water : 0 sq km
Area - note : includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)

Area - comparative

This entry provides an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).
Area - comparative : more than five times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries

This entry contains the total length of all land boundaries and the individual lengths for each of the contiguous border countries. When available, official lengths published by national statistical agencies are used. Because surveying methods may differ, country border lengths reported by contiguous countries may differ.
Land boundaries - total : 15 km
Land boundaries - border countries : Saint Martin 15 km

Coastline

This entry gives the total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
Coastline : 364 km

Maritime claims

This entry includes the following claims, the definitions of which are excerpted from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which alone contains the full and definitive descriptions
Maritime claims - territorial sea : 12 nm
Maritime claims - exclusive fishing zone : 12 nm

Climate

This entry includes a brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
Climate : tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds

Terrain

This entry contains a brief description of the topography.
Terrain : generally hilly, volcanic interiors

Elevation extremes

This entry includes both the highest point and the lowest point.
Elevation extremes - lowest point : Caribbean Sea 0 m
Elevation extremes - highest point : Mount Scenery 862 m

Natural resources

This entry lists a country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
Natural resources : phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only)

Land use

This entry contains the percentage shares of total land area for three different types of land use
Land use - arable land : 10%
Land use - permanent crops : 0%
Land use - other : 90% (2005)

Irrigated land

This entry gives the number of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied with water.
Irrigated land : NA

Natural hazards

This entry lists potential natural disasters.
Natural hazards : Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October; Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt and are rarely threatened

Environment - current issues

This entry lists the most pressing and important environmental problems. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry
Environment - current issues : NA

Geography - note

This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
Geography - note : the five islands of the Netherlands Antilles are divided geographically into the Leeward Islands (northern) group (Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten) and the Windward Islands (southern) group (Bonaire and Curacao); the island of Saint Martin is the smallest landmass in the world shared by two independent states, the French territory of Saint Martin and the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten

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