Aruba - Country information


		Aruba	Population Government Economy Geography Communication Transportation

Population		Top of page

Inhabitants		Life expectancy
100,018		total population: 74.83 years male: 71.8 years female: 77.91 years (2007 est.)

Ethnic groups		Religions
mixed white/Caribbean Amerindian 80%, other 20%		Roman Catholic 82%, Protestant 8%, other (includes Hindu, Muslim, Confucian, Jewish) 10%

Languages		Literacy
Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) 66.3%, Spanish 12.6%, English (widely spoken) 7.7%, Dutch (official) 5.8%, other 2.2%, unspecified or unknown 5.3% (2000 census)		definition: NA total population: 97% male: NA% female: NA%

Government		Top of page

Government type		Capital
parliamentary democracy		Oranjestad

Independance		National day
none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)		Flag Day, 18 March (1976)

Constitution		Legal system
1 January 1986		based on Dutch civil law system, with some English common law influence

Economy		Top of page

GDP (purchasing power parity)		Growth rate
$2.258 billion (2005 est.)		2.4% (2005 est.)

GDP per inhabitant		Unemployment rate
$21,800 (2004 est.)		6.9% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line		Inflation rate
NA%		3.4% (2005)

Exports		Imports
$80 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)		$875 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		Currency
		Aruban guilder/florin (AWG)

Military expenditures

Geography		Top of page

Location		Area
Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, north of Venezuela		193 sq km

Climate		Natural resources
tropical marine; little seasonal temperature variation		NEGL; white sandy beaches

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