Aruba history
15th-16th centuries
Alonso de Ojeda discovers Aruba in 1499, claiming it for Spain, but the Spanish make little effort to exploit the island.
19th-20th centuries
The British occupy Aruba in 1805, finally returning it to the Dutch in 1816. Gold is discovered on the island in 1824, and more than 1,350,000 kg of it is taken from the mines until around 1915, when declining yields force them to close.
In 1929, a large oil refinery opens on the island, bringing renewed prosperity. Aruba and five other Dutch-speaking islands form the autonomous federation of the Netherlands Antilles in 1954. Aruba secedes from the federation in 1986 and remains an autonomous part of the kingdom of the Netherlands. Offshore banking and oil refining are big business on Aruba, but tourism has taken over as the first industry: the island is very popular with American honeymooners. The population numbers 90,000.
