Saba & Saint Eustatius (BP 1)
The countries, Saba and Saint Eustatius, are two out of
three Caribbean Netherlands municipalities. The island of Saint Eustatius was
discovered by Christopher Columbus on his 1498 voyage. Originally, Saint
Eustatius was first colonized by the French and English in 1625. After their
short 7 year reign, the Dutch had taken control of Saba and Saint Eustatius. However, the Dutch control had not become permanent.
The island switched control roughly 10 times from 1664-1674. Eventually, the
island would completely return to Dutch control. By 1828, Saint Eustatius and
Saba would officially form a colony in the Dutch West Indies. In 1845, all the
other Dutch dependencies in the region were placed under collective
administration. By 1954, the dependencies became the Netherlands Antilles, with
each land gaining local autonomy. However, In 2006, the people of Saint Eustatius,
along with the other islands, agreed to dissolve the Netherlands
Antilles. In 2010, the Netherlands Antilles officially dissolved. After this, Saint
Eustatius and Saba became a special municipality of the Netherlands. Recently, In
February 2018, the Dutch removed Saint Eustatius’s government and imposed
direct rule due to corruption by the island council.
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| Saba |
| Saint Eustatius |
The many customs and traditions of Saba and Saint
Eustatius, as expected, are heavily influenced from the Netherlands. For example, the most popular sport played is
soccer, the Netherland’s national sport. Also, Dutch is the official language of the island. However, Saba and Saint Eustatius are home to
many other languages. English,
Spanish, and Papiamento are spoken as well. Along with the variety of languages
spoken, there is heavy influence from other countries such as America. For
example, in Saint Eustatius, the American influence can be seen regarding the (unofficial)
currency being the US dollar. However, in Saba, the Euro and the US dollar is used
as currency. Recently, in 2012, Saba changed the course of history by being the
first country in the Caribbean to legalize Gay marriage. Although, gay marriage
is legal in Saint Eustatius as well, the concept is not as accepted compared to
Saba.
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