Aruba is a 33-kilometer-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, 27 km north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visito...rs to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. It has a land area of 193 km2 and lies outside the hurricane belt. Temperature varies little from 28 °C, moderated by constant trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean. Yearly precipitation barely reaches 500 mm, most of it falling in late autumn.

As a Constituent Country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba's politics take place within a framework of a 21-member Parliament and an eight-member Cabinet. Aruba enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean region; the low unemployment rate is also positive for Aruba. About three quarters of the Aruban gross national product is earned through tourism or related activities. Most of the tourists are from Venezuela and the United States (predominately from eastern and southern states), Aruba's largest trading partner. Before the "Status Aparte", oil processing was the dominant industry in Aruba despite expansion of the tourism sector.

There are 68 schools for primary education, 12 schools for secondary education and 5 Universities.

Oranjestad (English: Orangetown), with a population of 106,050 as of 2008, is the capital and most important city of Aruba located on the southern coast near the western end of the island. In the local language, Papiamento, Oranjestad is often referred to simply as "Playa". The town was built around Fort Zoutman shortly after it was built in 1796 . Initially the town had no official name, being known only as the town on the Bay of Horses (Paardenbaai in Dutch) - a fitting designation for the place from which many native-bred and raised horses left for neighboring Curaçao. The town has ever since been the capital city of the island. The fort is still one of the town's attractions, others being the tax-free harbour and the Willem III Tower, located near the fort. The city is named after the first King Willem van Oranje-Nassau (William of Orange-Nassau) - the first heir to the Dutch House of Orange.