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BQ

Caribbean Netherlands

Summary

Official Name
Sovereignty Status
Former members of the Netherlands Antilles; since October 2010, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba are special municipalities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Population
26,000
Principal Languages
Dutch, English, Papiamentu
Language Counts
The number of established languages listed for Caribbean Netherlands is 6. All are living languages. Of these, 0 are indigenous and 6 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 4 are institutional, 1 is developing, and 1 is in trouble.

Languages

Dutch nld
Users: 1,070 in Caribbean Netherlands (2001 census). Bonaire 950, Sint Eustatius 100, Saba 20. Status: 1 (National). Statutory national language (2010, Provisional Official Languages Law, BWBW0028827, Article 2). Alternate Names: Nederlands Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Saxon-Low Franconian, Low Franconian
English eng
Users: 3,390 in Caribbean Netherlands (2001 census). Bonaire 300, Sint Eustatius 1,900, Saba 1,190. Status: 1 (National). Statutory national language (2010, Provisional Official Languages Law, BWBR0028827, Article 2). Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
Papiamentu pap
Bonaire. Users: 8,100 in Caribbean Netherlands (2001 census). 8,060 on Bonaire. Status: 1 (National). Statutory national language (2010, Provisional Official Languages Law, BWBR0028827, Article 2). Alternate Names: Papiamen, Papiamento, Papiamentoe Classification: Creole, Iberian based
Sign Language of the Netherlands dse
Scattered. Users: 200 in Caribbean Netherlands (Parks and Williams 2011). Estimated, assuming 0.1% of total population. Status: 5* (Developing). Alternate Names: Nederlandse Gebarentaal, SLN Classification: Sign language, Deaf community sign language
Spanish spa
Bonaire. Users: 1,480 in Caribbean Netherlands (2001 census). Bonaire 1,270, Sint Eustatius 130, Saba 70. Status: 3 (Wider communication). Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Castilian
Virgin Islands English Creole vic
Saba and Sint Eustatius. Users: 4,500 in Caribbean Netherlands (2011 SIL). Status: 6b* (Threatened). Alternate Names: Netherlands Antilles Creole English Classification: Creole, English based, Atlantic, Eastern, Southern

Languages by Status

    Dutch
    [nld] 1 (National). Statutory national language (2010, Provisional Official Languages Law, BWBW0028827, Article 2). 1,070 in Caribbean Netherlands (2001 census). Bonaire 950, Sint Eustatius 100, Saba 20.
    English
    [eng] 1 (National). Statutory national language (2010, Provisional Official Languages Law, BWBR0028827, Article 2). 3,390 in Caribbean Netherlands (2001 census). Bonaire 300, Sint Eustatius 1,900, Saba 1,190.
    Papiamentu
    [pap] 1 (National). Statutory national language (2010, Provisional Official Languages Law, BWBR0028827, Article 2). 8,100 in Caribbean Netherlands (2001 census). 8,060 on Bonaire.
    Spanish
    [spa] 3 (Wider communication). 1,480 in Caribbean Netherlands (2001 census). Bonaire 1,270, Sint Eustatius 130, Saba 70.
    Sign Language of the Netherlands
    [dse] 5* (Developing). 200 in Caribbean Netherlands (Parks and Williams 2011). Estimated, assuming 0.1% of total population.
    Virgin Islands English Creole
    [vic] 6b* (Threatened). 4,500 in Caribbean Netherlands (2011 SIL).

Maps

  • Creole Languages of the Eastern Caribbean

Graphs

  • Language Vitality Profile

  • Language Status Profile