Due to the fact that not everybody in the world knows Curacao (strangely enough *g*) or where to even find it, we'd like to present you a little summary of all the well and not so well known facts about Curacao.
 
Location
Curacao is located in the southwestern Caribbean. Biggest of the Netherlands Antilles, it is 38 miles long and from 2 to 7.5 miles wide. It is located just 35 miles north of Venezuela, 42 miles east of Aruba and only 2 1/2 hours by air from Miami. Curacao is outside the hurricane belt, making Curacao it a sure holiday destination for good weather.

Curacao Attractions
Hospitable and always sunny, Curacao bids you a warm welcome. Curacao hasfriendly inhabitants, first class hotels, wonderful climate, crystal clear seawater, fascinating architecture, Curacao's floating market, pontoon bridge, secluded bays, rich fauna and flora, and the many possibilities for excursions and entertainment make Curacao the Caribbean tourist paradise.

Curacao Diving
Curacao is ranked among the Caribbeans best islands for diving: Curacao's "Mushroom Forest" is one of the top dives in the world. Shore diving is rated with the best in the Caribbean, and Curacao has been called one of the top destinations for new divers. An arid climate, deep water close to the shore, distance from major sediment sources such as rivers, and painstaking reef conservation ensure that underwater Curacao's pristine coral reefcuracaon home to a dazzling array of plant and animal life.
Whether you are an experienced certified diver, a beginner or a snorkeler, our wide range of sites -- wall, reef, wrecks, even a "Car Pile" -- balmy water temperatures and excellent visibility (averaging about 100 ft.) provide an extraordinary experience for everyone on Curacao. Boat diving with a recommended dive operator is the most comfortable and luxurious way to dive Curacao, and for beginners with CuracaorWater Certificate, this option gives the greatest feeling of security. Many experienced divers prefer to head out and explore the numerous shore diving sites with their buddies. Most shore diving sites are easily accessible: with a good map of Curacao and a rental car, visitors can reach almost all sites in less than half an hour. Curacao is also home to the largest air station in Caribbean, as well as two decompression chambers, one the largest in the Caribbean.

Curacao's Culture
Curacao's people spell the island Kursow, papiamentu word, indicating a strong cultural sensibility. While Curacao is still a member of the Netherland Antilles, and is tied to Holland through governmental functions, the island is more African and cosmopolitan, more Caribbean, in its culture than many. The society has strong ties to its African memories through language, music, and dance. One of Curacao's strongest manifestations of its African roots is "tambu", an ancient form of music and dance. Slaves carried the traditional, rhythmic structure of the form from Africa and passed it along, by ear, from generation to generation. Drumming is the foundation of tambu, and the first instruments used by slaves in Curacao were farm implements. Curacaoans converted small, hollow cargo containers covered with dried goatslun into rums.

Languages:
Curacaons are, by nature and necessity, masters of languages. Most native speakers will use Dutch, English, and Papiamentu with equal aplomb. Dutch is the official language, while Papiamentu is the most common. Spanish is also spoken by most Curacaons, and English is widly used.. Papiamentu, a multifaceted Creole language, is based on Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and several African dialects. It's spoken most often in the ABC Islands, and has been in use for 300 years. It is, in a way, the original language of Curacao, and was meant to be a spoken communication, not a written one.

Papiamentu
Papiamentu is a creole language spoken north of Venezuela on Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire--islands of the leeward Netherland Antilles. The language is primarily based on Portuguese and Spanish, though there are Dutch and English influences as well. The history of the region offers some insight into Papiamentu's diverse background: Originally inhabited by Amerindians speaking an Arawakan language, Curacao was settled by the Spanish in 1527.
It is believed that the Curacao natives learned Spanish to some degree from missionaries, but this was disrupted when the Dutch seized Curacao and Bonaire in 1634 and Aruba in 1688. As part of the Spanish Empire, many Dutch understood Spanish and Portuguese and had even used the latter to communicate with the Asian colonies they had acquired from Portugal earlier in the century. Papiamentu stabilized as a creole on Curacao around 1700. By the 18th century it spread from there to Bonaire and then to Aruba. Estimates from 1995 approximate the number of speakers around 200,000.
Papiamentu derived about two-thirds of its words from Iberian languages (Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician), a quarter from Dutch, and the rest from other languages including English, French, and various African languages. The phonemes (sounds) of Papiamentu include nearly all the American Spanish consonants and vowels, as well as a number of Dutch vowels. Not found in either of these languages is Papiamentu's use of high (´) and low (`) tones to distinguish between certain pairs of words (eg. sálà "living room", sàlá "to salt"; biàhá "to travel", biáhà "voyage").