Aruba is the westernmost of the Lesser Antilles, and of all the islands just off the coast of Venezuela. The three westernmost are associated states federated with the Netherlands, and had been Dutch possessions since the 1600s. Aruba was part of the six-island country called Netherlands Antilles until 1 June 1986, when it became a separate country with the same status (partner in the Kingdom of the Netherlands) as the remaining five-member Antilles. It was planned to achieve full independence in ten years but this was subsequently dropped.
The capital is Oranjestad on the west coast, population about 17 000, and another town of the same size is St Nicolaas at the southern tip. Aruba is a longish strip running around 30 km from the north-western promontory Kudarebe to the south-eastern Punt Basora. It is a short distance north of Cap San Román, the tip of the Peninsula de Paraguana that sticks out of Venezuela.
Aruba's separation might have been influenced by the desire of the Mafia to set up a country of their own: there were strong allegations of Mafia control there. A noticeably high fraction of the world's Scotch whisky exports are to Aruba (and neighbouring Venezuela gets a lot too).
A Dutch colony since 1634, apart from British rule 1805-1816, it was attached to Dutch Guiana (now Suriname) from 1828 till 1848 as the Dutch West Indies colony; then in 1848 the Netherlands Antilles were separated from Guiana.
Prime ministers since the recent separation have been Henny Eman 1986-1989 and 1994-2001, and Nelson Oduber 1989-1994 and since October 2001.