The SSS islands (), locally also known as the Dutch Windward Islands ( or ), is a collective term for the three territories of the
Dutch Caribbean
The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the New World territories, colonies, and countries (former and current) of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea, mainly the norther ...
(formerly 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, ...
) that are located within the
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...
group of the
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...
in the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...
. In order of population size, they are:
Sint Maarten
Sint Maarten () is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean region of North America. With a population of 58,477 as of June 2023 on an area of , it encompasses ...
,
Sint Eustatius
Sint Eustatius, known locally as Statia, is an island in the Caribbean. It is a Caribbean Netherlands, special municipality (officially "Public body (Netherlands), public body") of the Netherlands.
The island is in the northern Leeward Islands ...
, and
Saba
Saba may refer to:
Places
* Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea
* Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras
* Șaba or Șaba-Târg, the Romanian name for Shabo, a village in Ukraine
* Saba, ...
. In some contexts, the term is also used to refer to the entire island of
Saint Martin (which also includes the
Collectivity of Saint Martin
The Collectivity of Saint Martin (), commonly known as simply Saint Martin (, ), is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean, on the northern half of the Saint Martin (island), island of Saint Martin, as well as so ...
), alongside Sint Eustatius and Saba.
The SSS islands were
island territories of the Netherlands Antilles, until
its dissolution in 2010. Since then, Sint Maarten is a
constituent country of 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 ...
, while Sint Eustatius and Saba are
special municipalities of 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 ...
. "SSS" is an
acronym
An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
of the islands' names, and is analogous to the
ABC,
CAS, and
BES islands, which are other commonly used subdivisions of the Dutch Caribbean.
History
The island of
Saint Martin was split between
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and 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 ...
in 1648. The Dutch part, together with Sint Eustatius and Saba, became a single Dutch colony in 1815 as Sint Eustatius and Dependencies (). In 1828, this colony was merged with the colonies
Curaçao and Dependencies
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 ...
(the ABC islands) and
Surinam, with
Paramaribo
Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...
as its capital. When this merger was partly reversed in 1845, the Dutch part of the SSS islands became part of Curaçao and Dependencies, with
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 ...
as its capital. This colony became 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, ...
in 1954.
As part of the Netherlands Antilles, the SSS islands initially formed a single
island territory () as the Windward Islands.
In 1983, it was split up into three separate island territories, each with a separate
island council.
After the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010, Sint Eustatius and Saba became
special municipalities of the Netherlands, while Sint Maarten became an independent 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 ...
.
Composition
Political composition
Geographical composition
See also
*
Windward Islands People's Movement
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sss Islands
Dutch Caribbean
Former colonies of the Dutch Caribbean
Geography of the Dutch Caribbean
Geography of the Netherlands Antilles
Leeward Islands (Caribbean)
Archipelagoes of the Netherlands