Aruba Tourist Information |
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General Information
- Aruba has a land area of 77 square miles. Aruba is 19.6 miles long and 6 miles wide.
- Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda found Aruba in 1499 but wasn’t impressed and didn’t settle the island, considering in valueless. Although in 1515 the Spanish did take all the male Arawak Indians to work on their farms and salt mines on Hispaniola. Later the Spanish did start to colonize Aruba but by 1636 the Dutch settled Aruba 1636 and from 1792 to 1816 fought successfully for the island with the English.
- In 1824 Gold was discovered on Aruba.
- In the 1900’s Aruba exported over 90% of the world supply of Aloe Vera.
- In 1929 an oil refinery opened on Aruba. During World War II, 25 percent of the oil and 18 percent of the aviation gas used in the Allied effort was refined in Aruba.
- By the mid 1980’s oil was replaces by tourism as Aruba’s main income earned.
- In 1954, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao were made equal self-governing partners in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1986 Aruba was granted autonomy, thanks in large part to the efforts of their greatest statesman, Betico Croes.
- Aruba’s population is around 100,000
- Aruba promotes itself as the Caribbean’s Honeymoon island and is full of luxury resorts catering to the recently hitched.
- The white sand beaches around the island are superb but Aruba has much more to offer than just chilling on the beach.
Aruba Diving Special Offers
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