Culture Of Aruba

The culture of

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

, encompassing its language, music, and cuisine, is diverse and has been influenced by both regional and foreign cultures. One significant foreign influence originates from the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, which had a significant impact on the island for approximately 137 years, starting . These influences were characaterized by a strong religious presence,

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

activities, and economic exploitation. Since 1636, during the Eighty Years' War (1621–1648), the Dutch played a crucial role in shaping

's identity, driven by their exploratory and

mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cred ...

spirit, contributing to the island's modern character. The Aruban tourism industry dates to the 1930s when the first commercial airline landed on Aruba and a guest house was established in Oranjestad. Starting in the early 1960s with the rise of a new wave in the tourism industry and the opening of the first luxury resort, Aruba Caribbean Hotel, a national aspiration arose to become "The little Miami of the Caribbean". However, this focus on developing a small island tourism economy (SITES or

SIDS Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sometimes known as cot death or crib death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and ...

) led to rapid and uncontrolled expansion of the tourism sector. As consequence, it brought about a range of socio-ecological challenges and disrupted the

sociocultural {{Short pages monitor