St. Eustatius is now a special municipality of the Netherlands, but that’s a fairly recent development.

The island, which has existed under 22 flags and was probably sighted by Columbus on his second voyage in 1493, joined the Netherlands Antilles when that group was created in 1954.

Between 2000 and 2005, the member islands of the Netherlands Antilles voted on their status. In a referendum on April 8, 2005, 77% of St. Eustatians voted to remain a member.

In 2010, the island council opted to become a special municipality of the Netherlands, as Saba and Bonaire had already done. In 2011, St. Eustatius adopted the U.S. dollar as its currency. 

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