When is Curaçao Independence Day?
Curaçao Day is a public holiday in Curaçao observed on October 10th.
It marks the island's anniversary of becoming a country within the Dutch Kingdom on 10 October 10th 2010.
History of Curaçao Day
Curaçao was first visited by Europeans when the Spanish explorers Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci visited the island in 1499.
The Spanish decided that the island didn't have enough natural resources to warrant establishing the island and the main legacy they have left today is the name Curaçao, which is thought to be a Portuguese spelling of the Spanish word for heart, 'Curazon'.
The Dutch West India Company claimed the island in 1634, establishing the capital, of Willemstad. Willemstad's natural harbour made it an important port for trade and the slave trade and piracy.
The 18th and 19th centuries proved a turbulent time for the island as imperial struggles in the region meant it had periods under French and British control. Dutch control of the island was reinstated in 1815.
In 1954, Curaçao became part of the Netherland Antilles, an attempt to consolidate the several Dutch colonies in the Caribbean into one country.
With referendums showing little popular enthusiasm from the individual islands for this new country, the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles came into effect on October 10th 2010. Curaçao then became a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Celebrated since 2010, the holiday replaces both the previous Curacao Day of July 26th, which commemorated the arrival of de Ojeda and Vespucci in 1499; and Kingdom Day which was on December 15th and marked the 1954 charter with the Netherlands.
