Aruba facts
Geography: 19.6 miles long and 6 miles across, totaling 77 square miles/193 square kilometers.
Location: 12° 30’ north latitude; 70˚ west longitude • 19 miles/31 km north of the Venezuelan coast • 1820 nautical miles from New York City • 990 nautical miles from Miami • 890 nautical miles from the equator • 3105 nautical miles from Buenos Aires.
Climate: Little variation from yearly ave- rage of 81°F/27°C tempered by northeas- terly tradewinds; outside the hurricane belt.
Time zone: Atlantic Standard Time year round (equivalent to Eastern Daylight Savings Time).
Population: 96.104, Central Bureau of Statistics 2003.
Life expectancy: Male 71.6 years; female 76.8 years.
Death rate: 5.2 per 1.000 population (world average 9.9). The birth rate is substantially lower than the Caribbean average.
Language: Official language Dutch • Native language Papiamento • English and Spanish widely spoken.
Political structure: Since 1986, an autonomous member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands overseen by the Constitutional Monarchy with a democratically elected go- vernment. The Chief of State is the Governor, appointed by the Queen of the Netherlands to represent her for a period of 6 years. The Head of Government is the Prime Minister elected every 4 years who holds executive power with a Council of Ministers and is sustained by a 21-member parliament.
Judicial system: The safeguarding of the fundamental rights and freedoms, legal certainty and proper administration of the law is under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of the Netherlands with the cooperation of the Aruban Minister of Justice. Judges of the Common Court in Aruba are appointed by the Queen. Appeals may be made to the Supreme Court sitting in the Netherlands.
Defense and external affairs: The Kingdom of the Netherlands is responsible for the defense (hence, the Royal Marine Camp in Savaneta) and external political and diplomatic relations.
