The Netherlands Antilles are a group of islands 800 km apart and are self-governing Netherlands. Initially they were discovered by the Spaniards, but since the 17th century they were Dutch. In 1954 the islands of colony status became part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and, since 1986, have a special status.

The Netherlands Antilles consist of the following groups of islands: Levant islands near Venezuela and Aruba including the islands - Bonaire, Klein Bonaire, Curaçao and Klein Curaçao; The windy islands are located east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which include the islands - Saba, Sint Eustatius and the southern part of the island of Sint Maarten.

Major industries of the Netherlands Antilles are tourism and petroleum processing, which account for more than 80% of the economy.