As of 10 October 2010, the Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four countries: The Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten.
Curaçao and St Maarten are new countries within the Kingdom. With a 'separate status', Curaçao and St Maarten have become autonomous countries, similar to Aruba. These three countries thus have independent governance and no longer depend on the Netherlands.The islands of Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba are collectively called The Caribbean Netherlands and belong to the Netherlands as 'special municipalities'.
The six islands collectively named the (former) Netherlands Antilles, i.e., Aruba, Curaçao, St Maarten, Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, are also referred to as the Dutch Caribbean.
