Sint Eustatius

The dormant volcano Quill in Sint Eustatius
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quill_dormant_vulcano.jpg
Author: Walter Hellebrand


Sint Eustatius is an island in the Caribbean that belongs to the Netherlands. Popularly known as Statis, it covers 21 sq km (8.1 sq mi) and has a population of 3,500 people (2012 estimate). Both Dutch and English are official languages here. The capital and largest city is Oranjestad.

Sint Eustatius was named after the Christian martyr Saint Eustace. It was sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1493, and was claimed by the Spanish, British and French until the Dutch colonized it in 1636. Along with Sint Maarten and Saba, it came under the command of the Dutch West India Company.

In the early stage of Dutch rule, Sint Eustatius was an important producer of tobacco and sugar. By the 18th century, it has developed into a trading port. Located in the neighborhood of islands under Danish, English, French and Spanish control, St Eustatius had no qualms trading with all of them, despite trade embargoes between the major powers. This helped its economy to prosper.

Lower Town, Sint Eustatius
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lower_Town_Sint_Eustatius.jpg
Author: Walter Hellebrand


Fort Oranje, Sint Eustatius
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Salute_from_Fort_Oranje_Sint_Eustatius.JPG
Author: Walter Hellebrand


Sint Eustatius also sold arms and ammunition to any military willing to pay for it. And this included the Thirteen Colonies that bought weaponry from it to fight the British in the American Revolutionary War. It later was the first to recognize the independent United States. This however, brought the wrath of the British on the Dutch, leading to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, which was disastrous to the Netherlands.

Sint Eustatius was part of the Netherlands Antilles until that was dissolved on 10 October, 2010. Since then it is a special municipality of the Netherlands proper. The island is eager to develop its tourism industry which is not as developed as elsewhere in the Caribbean. Most visitors come here for its dive sites. The island also has a dormant volcano, The Quill, and its capital Oranjestad is a historic city worth exploring.

Planning your visit to Sint Eustatius

The F.D. Roosevelt Airport (EUX) is the airport serving Sint Eustatius. It receives flights from Saba and Sint Maarten.

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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