Oranjestad, Aruba
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Oranjestad ( , , ; literally "
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
City") is the
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
and largest city of
Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...
, a constituent country of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...
. It is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country. In the local language,
Papiamento Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; nl, Papiaments) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), with official status in Arub ...
, Oranjestad is often referred to as "Playa". In 2010, the population of the capital was 28,294.


History

The town was built around
Fort Zoutman Fort Zoutman ()In isolation, ''Zoutman'' is pronounced . is a military fortification at Oranjestad, Aruba. Originally built in 1798 by African slaves, with materials provided by the Amerindians, who performed Statute Labour or corvée for the Dut ...
shortly after it was built in 1796. Initially, the town had no official name, being known only as the town on the Bay of Horses (''Paardenbaai'' in Dutch), a place from which horses were raised and exported to neighbouring
Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
and
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
. In the early 19th century, Oranjestad was like a village, because Aruba had no large plantations or international traders. The total population of the island in 1816 was estimated at 1,732 most of whom were farmers. Fort Zoutman was the main building around which 200 small houses had been erected. The town had two churches: one Catholic and one
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
. Nearby was the fishing village of Rancho. Oranjestad became the capital city of the island in 1824. It was named after the first King
William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was a Prince of Orange, the King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He was the son of the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, who we ...
. During that period interest in Aruba increased due to the discovery of alluvial gold deposits. The oil industry discovered Aruba in 1924. The establishment of an oil refinery by
Lago Oil and Transport Company Lago Oil & Transport Co. Ltd. had its beginning in 1924 as a shipping company carrying crude oil from Lake Maracaibo to its transshipment facility on the island of Aruba. History With the discovery of a vast amount of crude oil under Lake M ...
not only resulted in a population increase, but a significant increase in the prosperity of the island. From the 1960s onwards, tourism became more important and has resulted in the creation of a large hotel zone. Administratively, the city has been split in two districts: East and West. Oranjestad,
Noord Noord () is a town and region in Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands). This town is known for its low rise and high rise hotels, restaurants, beaches, malls, the California Lighthouse, and other places of attraction. Places of interes ...
and Santa Cruz have merged into one near continuous urban area covering the north of the island.


Culture

There is some Dutch Colonial architecture. Due to increased government interest in maintaining the island's cultural heritage, a number of old buildings and houses in the center of town have been transformed into colorfully restored landmarks, such as the lime-colored
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
on Wilhelminastraat.


Sports

Oranjestad is home to the football teams SV Dakota, SV Racing Club Aruba, and SV River Plate Aruba, all of which play in the top
Aruban Division di Honor Aruban Division di Honor or Campeonato AVB Aruba Bank is the top level association football league in Aruba. It is overseen by the Arubaanse Voetbal Bond and was created in 1960. Up to and including 1985, the top clubs from Aruba also entered ...
.


Economy

Air Aruba Air Aruba was the main air carrier from the island of Aruba. It was founded in 1986 and it declared bankruptcy in 2000. It was headquartered in the Brown Invest Building in Oranjestad, Aruba. History Air Aruba began in September 1986 as a g ...
once had its headquarters in Oranjestad. Air Aruba suspended its operations on 23 October 2000.
Tiara Air Tiara Air N.V., operating as Tiara Air Aruba, was an airline headquartered and Oranjestad, Aruba in the Dutch Caribbean. The airline, which began operations in 2006, operated scheduled flights to Bonaire, Colombia, Curacao, the United States ...
has had its head office in Oranjestad since 2006, except between 2014 and 2016 when the company suspended services due to the Venezuelan Airline Crisis.


Tourism

Several modern recreations have emerged, including the outdoor shopping mall at Royal Plaza, and a few scattered buildings along Main Street and on the Main Square.
Fort Zoutman Fort Zoutman ()In isolation, ''Zoutman'' is pronounced . is a military fortification at Oranjestad, Aruba. Originally built in 1798 by African slaves, with materials provided by the Amerindians, who performed Statute Labour or corvée for the Dut ...
is one of the town's attractions, others being the tax-free harbour and the Willem III Tower, located near the fort. There are about eight museums on the island.


Renaissance Island

The touristically named Renaissance Island (formerly Sonesta Island) is a
cay A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...
(or barrier reef) island, officially known as the Bucuti Rif and it is off the coast near Oranjestad. It is privately owned and has the only private beaches on Aruba. There are two beaches: Iguana Beach and Flamingo Beach. A
Beechcraft 18 The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 to November ...
and a
Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, i ...
400 were both deliberately sunk about offshore to create a diving site.
Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas ...
es can be seen on the island. However, they are not native to Aruba.


Geography

Small portions of the city are formed from a series of man-made expansions of land into the sea. Present-day Renaissance Marketplace (formerly Seaport Marketplace), as well as the adjacent Queen Wilhelmina Park, lies within this land reclamation. The
Oranjestad Reef Islands The Oranjestad Reef Islands lie just off the western coast of the island of Aruba, a constituent island nation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Dutch Caribbean, adjacent to the central harbour of the capital Oranjestad, Aruba, Oranjestad. ...
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
lies adjacent to the main harbour.


Climate

Oranjestad has a hot semi-arid climate (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''BSh''). Temperatures are high year-round, the air is humid with low
diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak d ...
also year-round, whilst rainfall is very low due to the region lying in a zone of divergence between the southeast trade winds to the south and the
North American Monsoon The North American monsoon, variously known as the Southwest monsoon, the Mexican monsoon, the New Mexican monsoon, or the Arizona monsoon is a pattern of pronounced increase in thunderstorms and rainfall over large areas of the southwestern Uni ...
further north. The exception to this aridity occurs during the short rainy season from September to January when the southward retreat of the
Intertropical Convergence Zone The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the thermal e ...
generates more frequent moist northeasterly winds.


Transport

Oranjestad is served by the
Queen Beatrix International Airport Queen Beatrix International Airport ( nl, Internationale luchthaven Koningin Beatrix; pap, Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix), colloquially known as Aruba Airport , is an international airport located in Oranjestad, Aruba. It has flight s ...
, from the city center. Its downtown is served by a tramway line inaugurated in December 2012. ''Caya G. F. Betico Croes'', also called Main Street, is Aruba's main shopping street in Oranjestad, however in the past few years shoppers have increasingly turned to Lloyd G. Smith Boulevard, the main thoroughfare in the city. This is in part because the boulevard is closer to the cruise ship terminal and harbour area. Oranjestad is home to
Paardenbaai Paardenbaai (English: ''Bay of Horses'') or Port of Oranjestad is the main seaport for passengers in Aruba. It is located in Oranjestad and has existed since 1796. History In 1796, Fort Zoutman was constructed near Paardenbaai. It was a natural ...
, the largest port on the island for passengers. Paardenbaai is capable of docking up to five large vessels. A port for cargo vessels is at Barcadera to the east. In 2016, Barcadera became the main cargo port. Plans have been proposed to increase loading capacity at Oranjestad, and for the construction of a marina to make up for inadequate docking space available for yachts and fishing boats. Traffic in the center of town is a growing issue for island commuters. The government is under pressure to make improvements to the periphery, which runs around the city. In late 2006 planning began for the installment of a roundabout, along the main boulevard and next to the Free Zone, at one of the island's most troublesome intersections. The plans were completed in 2008. In the meantime, several businesses and government departments have relocated their offices outside of the city centre, spurring a boom in construction and modernisation.


Education

Oranjestad is home to the University of Aruba, which offers programs in law and economics, and to the island's largest secondary school ('' Colegio Arubano''), both modeled on the Dutch system. Many students enroll in universities in the Netherlands for graduate and postgraduate degrees.


Notable people

*
Dave Benton Dave Benton (born 31 January 1951, birth name Efrén Eugene Benita) is a pop musician from Aruba who lives in Estonia. He is one of the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. At the age of 50 years and 101 days at the time of his victory, ...
, winner of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2001 The Eurovision Song Contest 2001 was the 46th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" by Olsen Brothers. Organised by the E ...
for
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
*
Xander Bogaerts Xander Jan Bogaerts (born October 1, 1992; ), nicknamed "the X-Man" and "Bogey" or "Bogie", is an Aruban professional baseball shortstop for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Re ...
, baseball player, two-time
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
champion * Vince Irie, singer-songwriter *
Chadwick Tromp Chadwick Chandler Tromp (born March 21, 1995) is an Aruban professional baseball catcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). In 2013 he signed with the Cincinnati Reds organization as an international free agent. He made his M ...
, baseball player,
Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...
*
Bobby Farrell Roberto Alfonso Farrell (6 October 1949 – 30 December 2010) was an Aruban dancer and singer. He was the male member of the 1970s pop and disco group Boney M. Biography Birth and early life Farrell was born and raised on the island of Ar ...
, singer,
Boney M Boney M. was a German- Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group' ...


See also

* Elias Mansur Stadion


References


Bibliography

*


External links

* * {{Authority control Capitals in the Caribbean Populated places established in the 1790s Populated places in Aruba 1798 establishments in Aruba