🇨🇼 Curaçao

Curaçao is a Caribbean island of 150,000 people and a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with a GDP of about $3.2 billion. The island's Willemstad waterfront — rows of colorful Dutch colonial buildings along the harbor — is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most photographed streetscapes in the Caribbean. Curaçao is the birthplace of the blue liqueur that bears its name, made from the dried peel of the laraha citrus fruit. The island has one of the largest oil refineries in the Caribbean (the Isla refinery, originally built by Shell in 1918), though it's been shut down and is being redeveloped. Curaçao is also a major hub for online gambling — it licenses more iGaming operators than almost any jurisdiction.

Tourism, oil refining (historically), financial services, and the iGaming licensing industry are the main sectors. The Netherlands provides some financial support. The island attracts about 1 million tourists annually, with the Netherlands, US, and Colombia as the main source markets. The Netherlands Antillean guilder is pegged to the US dollar. The refinery closure has been a major economic blow, and the island is pivoting toward tourism and tech services.

Curaçao's Hato Caves contain 1,500-year-old Arawak petroglyphs and a colony of long-nosed bats. The island has over 35 beaches, many with unusually clear water due to minimal river runoff. Curaçao's Floating Market features Venezuelan boats selling fresh produce directly from their vessels — a tradition dating back decades.

Curaçao is reinventing itself post-refinery, and the tourism and iGaming sectors provide growth paths. The Dutch connection provides stability. The island's challenge is competing with better-known Caribbean destinations for tourist dollars.