SSS islands

The SSS islands (Template:Langx), locally also known as the Dutch Windward Islands (Template:Lang or Template:Lang), is a collective term for the three territories of the Dutch Caribbean (formerly the Netherlands Antilles) that are located within the Leeward Islands group of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In order of population size, they are: Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. In some contexts, the term is also used to refer to the entire island of Saint Martin (which also includes the Collectivity of Saint Martin), alongside Sint Eustatius and Saba.

The SSS islands were island territories of the Netherlands Antilles, until its dissolution in 2010. Since then, Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while Sint Eustatius and Saba are special municipalities of the Netherlands. "SSS" is an acronym of the islands' names, and is analogous to the ABC, CAS, and BES islands, which are other commonly used subdivisions of the Dutch Caribbean.

History

The island of Saint Martin was split between France and the Netherlands in 1648.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The Dutch part, together with Sint Eustatius and Saba, became a single Dutch colony in 1815 as Sint Eustatius and Dependencies (Template:Lang).<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> In 1828, this colony was merged with the colonies Curaçao and Dependencies (the ABC islands) and Surinam, with Paramaribo as its capital.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> When this merger was partly reversed in 1845, the Dutch part of the SSS islands became part of Curaçao and Dependencies, with Willemstad as its capital.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> This colony became the Netherlands Antilles in 1954.

As part of the Netherlands Antilles, the SSS islands initially formed a single island territory (Template:Lang) as the Windward Islands.<ref name="VanAller259">Template:Harvnb</ref> In 1983, it was split up into three separate island territories, each with a separate island council.<ref name="VanAller259"/> After the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010, Sint Eustatius and Saba became special municipalities of the Netherlands, while Sint Maarten became an independent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Composition

Political composition

Flag	Territory	Political status	Capital	Area	Population (Jan 2019)	Population density
Template:Flagicon	Saba	Special municipality of the Netherlands	The Bottom	Template:Convert	1,915	Template:Convert
Template:Flagicon	Sint Eustatius	Special municipality of the Netherlands	Oranjestad	Template:Convert	3,138	Template:Convert
Template:Flagicon	Sint Maarten	Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands	Philipsburg	Template:Convert	41,486	Template:Convert
Total				Template:Convert	46,539	Template:Convert

Geographical composition

Map	Island	Country	Largest town	Area	Population (Jan 2019)	Population density
File:Saba travel map.png	Saba	Template:Flag	The Bottom	Template:Convert	1,915	Template:Convert
File:Saint martin map.PNG	Saint Martin	Template:Flag (north) Template:Flag (south)	Lower Prince's Quarter	Template:Convert	73,666	Template:Convert
File:Sint Eustatius travel map.png	Sint Eustatius	Template:Flag	Oranjestad	Template:Convert	3,138	Template:Convert
Total				Template:Convert	78,719	Template:Convert

See also

• Windward Islands People's Movement

References

Bibliography

• Template:Cite thesis