Aruba is a Dutch island in the Caribbean Sea, located off the coast of Venezuela, and is part of the Lesser Antilles. The island has been a fully-fledged autonomous state (constituent country) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the country of Aruba (Land Aruba in Dutch, Pais Aruba in Papiamento), since it separated from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986. In 2010, Aruba had a population of 115,120, of whom 29,998 lived in Oranjestad, the island’s capital.

The island of Aruba is located in the Caribbean Sea, north of the Venezuelan state of Falcón. It is part of the Antilles archipelago. The island is located 27 km north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, on the northern coast of Venezuela.

Aruba has little tropical vegetation, but its white-sand beaches make it popular with tourists. Like the mainland, Aruba is a flat country whose highest point is Mount Jamanota at 188 meters.

The island stretches 30 km from northwest to southeast. Aruba has an area of 193 km². Its coastline is 69 km long.

The main cities are Oranjestad (the capital), Sint Nicolaas, Santa Cruz, and Noord.

In 2010, 69.4% of the population spoke Papiamento, a Portuguese-based creole language; 13.7% spoke Spanish; 7.1% spoke English; 6.1% spoke Dutch; 1.5% spoke a Chinese language; and 2.1% spoke another language.