Netherlands Antilles stamps

The Netherlands Antilles are islands of the West Indies comprising two groups of three islands at a dist0ance of 1000 kms: the "Leeward" islands close to Venezuela and comprising Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba; the "Windward Islands" near Puerto Rico, including Saba, Statia and the southern part of Saint-Martin (the northern part is French).

All these islands were designated by the alone name of Curaçao until 1948.

The Netherlands Antilles is an autonomous region of the Netherlands since 1954.

In 1986, the island of Aruba obtained a separate status of autonomy and has since issued its own stamps. These are grouped together on behalf of Aruba.

The dissolution of the Federation of the Netherlands Antilles is effective in 2010.

As a result Curaçao and Saint-Martin become new autonomous territories within the kingdom and emit since their own stamps. The stamps are grouped in the corresponding names (concerning Curaçao, not to be confused with the stamps before 1948 which represented all the Netherlands Antilles).

The islands of Bonaire, Statia and Saba have become municipalities of particular character in the Netherlands and are grouped under the name Caribbean Netherlands. The stamps issued from 2010 are under this name.