Bonaire
Bonaire is a Caribbean island in the Leeward Antilles, and is a Caribbean Netherlands, special municipality (officially Public body (Netherlands), "public body") of the Netherlands. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west (Windward an ...
on 10 September 2004. A majority voted for integration into the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
After the 1994 referendum came out in favour of maintaining and restructuring the
Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...
, the government of the Netherlands Antilles tried to restructure the
Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...
and attempted to forge closer ties between the islands, as is exemplified by the adoption of an
anthem of the Netherlands Antilles
An anthem without a title was the untitled anthem of the Netherlands Antilles. It was written in English by Zahira Hiliman from Sint Maarten and translated into the Papiamento language by Lucille Berry-Haseth from Curaçao. The anthem was writte ...
in 2000. A new referendum on Sint Maarten, which was in favour of a separate status for Sint Maarten as a country within the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...
, sparked a new series of referendums across the Netherlands Antilles, however.
Results
See also
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Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010.
After dissolution, the "BES islands" of the Dutch Caribbean— Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba—became ...
**
2000 Sint Maarten status referendum
A status referendum was held on the island of Sint Maarten on 22 June 2000.
Background
After the 1994 referendum failed to show support for a separate status for Sint Maarten, the island council of Sint Maarten organized a new referendum in June ...