Bandabou (also: Band'abou) is a district of the island of

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

, a constituent of the Netherlands. It is one of the three districts in the island, and encompasses the north-western parts of the island. The district stretches from Grote Berg to Sabana Westpunt. Bandabou is a

Papiamentu Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; ) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (ABC islands (Leeward Antilles), ABC Islands). The language, spelled ...

word, which translates to "lower side".

History

In 1634, Curaçao was conquered by the

Dutch West Indies Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was g ...

and the city of Punda was founded. Agricultural plantations were established during Dutch colonization to supply

Willemstad Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the cap ...

along with livestock. The plantations were small scale due to the infertile ground, and produced yams, mangos, oranges. In 1795, the population of Bandabou was estimated at 4,000 to 5,000 people most which were slaves. After the emancipation of slavery in 1863, small hamlets were founded in Bandabou. The Roman Catholic church started to build churches in order to educate and convert the slave population, which resulted in several small villages. The current division of the island dates from 1930 when Willemstad was extended to include most of the suburbs.

Geography

Bandabou is one of three districts of the island of

, a constituent of the Netherlands. It encompasses the north-western parts of the island, stretching from Grote Berg to Sabana Westpunt. Bandabou is written in

and translates to "lower side". Bandabou consists of sandy beaches, and natural vegetation.

Salt lakes A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

support

turtles Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked turtle ...

, fishes, and waterbirds such as

flamingoes Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...

. It incorporates

Christoffelpark Christoffelpark is a national park, protected nature area and tourist attraction at the north-western end of the island of Curaçao surrounding Christoffelberg (Mt Christoffel). Notable for its flora, fauna, culture and history, the park includ ...

, the largest nature park on Curacao, which encompasses the high Christoffelberg, and other protected areas like Shete Boka, which has multiple coves and bays, where the sea turtles lay their eggs during season. West Point is the most northwestern tip of the island. Bandabou incorporates the villages of

Barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted places of social interaction and public discourse ...

, Flip, Lagún, Pannekoek, Sint Willibrordus, Soto, Tera Corá, Tera Pretu, and Sabana Westpunt. Bandabou has poor infrastructure, and suffers from lack of economic opportunities.

References

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History

Geography

See also

References