Bonaire Dutch: Bonaire, Papiamentu: Boneiru) is a Caribbean island that, with the uninhabited islet of Klein Bonaire
Bonaire (/bɒˈnɛər/; Dutch: Bonaire, Papiamentu: Boneiru) is a Caribbean island that, with the uninhabited islet of Klein Bonaire nestled in its western crescent, forms a special municipality (officially public body) of the Netherlands.[4] Together with Aruba and Curaçao it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles. The name Bonaire is thought to have originally come from the Caquetio word 'Bonay'. The early Spanish and Dutch modified its spelling to Bojnaj and also Bonaire, which means "Good Air". Bonaire's capital is Kralendijk. Bonaire was part of the Netherlands Antilles until the country's dissolution on 10 October 2010,[5] when the island (including Klein Bonaire) became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands. Original inhabitants[edit]Bonaire's earliest known inhabitants were the Caquetio Indians, a branch of the Arawak who came by canoe from Venezuela in about 1000 CE. Archeological remains of Caquetio culture have been found at certain sites northeast of Kralendijk and near Lac Bay. Caquetio rock paintings and petroglyphs have been preserved in caves at Spelonk, Onima, Ceru Pungi, and Ceru Crita-Cabai. The Caquetios were apparently a very tall people, for the Spanish name for the ABC Islands was 'las Islas de los Gigantes' or 'the islands of the giants.'[6] European arrival[edit]In 1499, Alonso de Ojeda arrived in Curaçao and a neighbouring island that was almost certainly Bonaire. Ojeda was accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci and Juan de la Cosa. De La Cosa's Mappa Mundi of 1500 shows Bonaire and calls it Isla do Palo Brasil or "Island of Brazilwood." The Spanish conquerors decided that the three ABC Islands were useless, and in 1515 the natives were forcibly deported to work as slaves in the copper mines of Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola.[6] Spanish period[edit]In 1526, Juan de Ampies was appointed Spanish commander of the ABC Islands. He brought b
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Location: Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands
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Keywords: 10, 2010, abc, air., antilles, antilles., aruba, bojnaj, bonaire, bonay., capital, caquetio, chain, country, curaçao, dissolution, dutch, early, forms, good, group, island, islands, kralendijk. bonaire, leeward, lesser, means, modified, netherlands, netherlands., october, originally, part, referred, southern, spanish, spelling, thought, word
