Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba — map and facts

#### About Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are three islands in the Caribbean that form special municipalities of the Netherlands, collectively referred to as the BES islands or the Caribbean Netherlands. Together they have a population of approximately 26,000 people. Each island is geographically separate and culturally distinct. Bonaire, the largest and most populous, lies close to the Venezuelan coast and is internationally recognized for its exceptional scuba diving. Sint Eustatius, known locally as Statia, is a small volcanic island in the northern Leeward Islands that was once among the most important trading posts in the Atlantic world. Saba, the smallest of the three and the smallest special municipality in the world, rises dramatically from the sea as a single volcanic peak. Since 2010, when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved, all three islands have been directly integrated into the Dutch state as public bodies.

#### Geography and Landscape The three islands span a considerable stretch of the Caribbean and share no common maritime border. Bonaire is a flat, arid island fringed by world-class coral reefs and salt pans that shimmer pink with flamingos. Its terrain is largely composed of ancient coral limestone terraces, and the surrounding marine park is one of the most pristine in the hemisphere. Sint Eustatius is dominated by The Quill, a dormant stratovolcano whose crater contains a lush tropical rainforest. The island's coastline is rocky and the interior rises steeply. Saba is essentially a single dormant volcano, Mount Scenery, which at 887 meters is the highest point in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The island has no beaches to speak of but possesses extraordinarily clear waters and dense cloud forest at its summit. All three islands sit within the Atlantic hurricane belt and have experienced devastating storms throughout their histories.

#### History Sint Eustatius was the first of the three islands to rise to global prominence. Known as "The Golden Rock," Statia became a crucial free port in the 18th century, channeling vast quantities of trade goods between Europe, the Americas, and the Caribbean. It was here, in 1776, that a Dutch fort fired the first official foreign salute to an American flag, an act of historical significance during the American Revolutionary War. Bonaire was colonized by Spain and later the Netherlands, whose West India Company used the island for salt production and the keeping of enslaved workers and indigenous laborers. Saba's steep terrain made it an unlikely but persistent European settlement, first established by the Dutch in the 1640s. All three islands passed through various colonial administrations before becoming part of the Netherlands Antilles in 1954. The dissolution of the Antilles in 2010 marked their transformation into special municipalities with direct ties to The Hague.