Oranjestad is the administrative center and the largest city of Aruba, located on the southern coast near the western tip of the island. According to the census conducted in late 2010, the population of Oranjestad is 29 998 people.
The city was founded by Fort Zoutman, built in 1796. Originally, the city had no official name; it was known as the “city of the horse beach,” since horses were bred there and later transported to neighboring Curaçao. By that time, the city was already the island’s capital. The city is named after Willem of Orange-Nassau, the first king of the Netherlands of the House of Orange-Nassau. It received this name in the 1820s, when Dutch interest in Aruba increased due to the discovery of gold deposits.
Aruba is a small island located in the south of the Caribbean Sea near the coasts of Venezuela. The westernmost island among the Lesser Antilles. It is a federation subject within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Land area is 193 km².
Oranjestad is a doll-like town, a town with a signboard look-festive, neat, and almost exclusively geared toward passengers of cruise liners that call at the port nearly every day. Besides the delightful colonial architecture, the main attractions of this region, of course, include the most beautiful nature of Aruba. Here you can enjoy magnificent beaches and swim in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea. It is beach holidays that attract, year after year, many tourists from all over the world to Oranjestad. People come here to bask in the sun in peaceful quiet, to swim in the gentle sea, and simply to take a break from the hustle and bustle of big cities.
КлиматOranjestad has a fairly warm tropical maritime climate. No matter when you arrive here, it is always +29 degrees, and the water temperature never drops below +27. The most rainfall in Aruba occurs from October to December, when the island is affected by a strong easterly wind.