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Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda is regarded as the
first European to arrive in about 1499. The Spanish
garrison on Aruba dwindled following the Dutch capture
of nearby Bonaire and Curacao in 1634. The Dutch
occupied Aruba shortly thereafter, and retained control
for nearly two centuries. In 1805, during the Napoleonic
wars, the English briefly took control over the island,
but it was returned to Dutch control in 1816. A
19th-century gold rush was followed by prosperity
brought on by the opening in 1924 of an oil refinery.
The last decades of the 20th century saw a boom in the
tourism industry. In 1986 Aruba seceded from the
Netherlands Antilles and became a separate, autonomous
member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Movement
toward full independence was halted at Aruba's
prerogative in 1990. Aruba has a mixture of people from
South America and Europe, the Far East, and other
islands of the Caribbean. |
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