The Dutch made the island a tropical Holland in miniature. Pieter Stuyvesant ruled Curaçao in 1644. The island was turned into a Dutch Gibraltar, bristling with forts. Thick ramparts guarded the harbor's narrow entrance; the hilltop forts (many now converted into restaurants) protected the coastal approaches.

In the 20th century, Curaçao remained sleepy until 1915, when the Royal Dutch/Shell Company built one of the world's largest oil refineries here to process crude oil from Venezuela. Workers from some 50 countries poured onto the island, turning Curaçao into a multicultural, cosmopolitan community of about 171,000. Curaçao has its own governmental authority, relying on the Netherlands only for defense and foreign affairs.

The largest of the Netherlands Antilles, Curaçao is 60km long (37 miles) and 11km (6 3/4 miles) across at its widest point. Because of all that early Dutch building, Curaçao is the most important island architecturally in the entire West Indies, with more European flavor than anywhere else. After leaving the capital, Willemstad, you plunge into a strange, desertlike countryside evocative of the U.S. Southwest. The relatively arid landscape is studded with three-pronged cactus, spiny-leafed aloe, and divi-divi trees, with their windblown foliage. Classic Dutch-style windmills are scattered in and around Willemstad and in parts of the countryside.

The Amerindian Arawaks were the 1st inhabitants of Curaçao, before the Spanish lieutenant Alonso de Ojeda visited our island in 1499.

In 1634, long after the Spanish had abandoned Curaçao, the Dutch West Indies Company claimed the island. In 1642, Peter Stuyvesant was installed as governor. Curaçao soon became a Dutch commercial center and developed extensive slave trade activities. During this period, the local language Papiamentu-a mixture of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and African dialects, developed by the slaves-became the main means of communication. Peter Stuyvesant left Curaçao in 1647 to become Governor of New Amsterdam, later to become New York City.

Soon after, Jewish families from Holland, other parts of Europe, and Asia settled in Curaçao-with the total population reaching 2,000 by the early 1700s. In 1732, the community created the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue in Willemstad, the oldest still functioning synagogue in the Western Hemisphere.

With the discovery of oil in 1914, at Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, the Caribbean Petroleum Company decided to build a refinery on Curaçao. It became operative in May 1918. The 440 ha. refinery at Schottegat was later acquired in the 1960s in hands by Shell Curaçao N.V. and at one time employed 25,000 people from all over the world.

What about the name?

There are different theories for the origins of the word Curaçao (pronounced kyur uh sow). The most likely explanation stems from the Spanish calling the island "Corazon" (Heart) at some point. The famous Portuguese mapmakers adopted this word into their own language as "Curaçau" or "Curaçao." Today, locally, our island is known as "Dushi Korsou" (Sweet Curaçao).

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Links & Sources:

• Frommers
• Curacao.com
• Map