Geography
The island of Saba is the smallest of the six Netherlands Antilles
(13 km2). Its capital is The Bottom.
Ma of Saba
History
In the pre-Columbian period the island was probably only sparsely
inhabited by Arawak Indians and perhaps later by Caribs. In 1493
the island was discovered by Columbus, who claimed it for Spain,
as he had St. Martin and St. Eustatius.
It is very likely that
the Zeeland patroon colony on St. Eustatius occupied Saba by
sending a group of colonists with orders to found a permanent settlement
on the island. Initially the WIC disputed the rights of the Zeeland
patroons to do this, but since they could prove their title they
were recognized by the WIC as the owners.
In 1679 the successors
of the original patroons sold half of their rights to St. Eustatius
and Saba to the WIC. In 1683 they sold the other half to the
Company
as well. Like St. Eustatius, throughout history the island
of Saba changed hands nearly 20 times between the French, English
and Dutch.
In 1795 the island was occupied by the French. Six
years later (1801) the English conquered the three Netherlands
Leeward
Islands and gave them back to France
in the Treaty of Amiens. In 1810 the islands were again captured by the
English. In the Treaty of London the islands were given back to
William I as the sovereign
ruler of the Netherlands. The transfer took place in early 1816.
On 15 December
1954 it was laid down in the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands
that from then on the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles
and
Surinam would
jointly constitute the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as equal administrative
units. Surinam became independent in 1975.
For other developments
see under Aruba.
Information about the other islands:
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