| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
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| Willemstad |
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(v l´ mstät) (KEY) , city (1992 pop. 24,235), Curaçao, capital of the Netherlands Antilles. The city is the commercial and industrial center of the Netherlands Antilles as well as a free port and tourist center. It is important as a transshipment point and refining center for petroleum sent across the Gulf of Venezuela from Maracaibo; however, the petroleum demand declined in the mid-1980s. Willemstad has a distinctive Dutch character with streets lined by narrow, gabled houses. |
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| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
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