Aruba
- ISS006-E-30896
- 22 February 2003
- 21:27 UTC
A fully autonomous territory of the Netherlands, Aruba is located in the southern Caribbean 77 km northwest of Curaçao and 27 km north of Cape San Roman on the island-like Paraguaná Peninsula of Venezuela (see panoramic image). Together with Bonaire and Curaçao it is often unofficially referred to as part of the ABC Islands, although in a wider geographical sense it is the westernmost island of a long chain of islands, cays and reefs stretching from Aruba to Isla La Blanquilla in the east (600 km distant). Aruba was formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles but has had sovereign status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1986 (see notes at right).
Covering an area of 193 km², Aruba measures 32 km in length with a width of up to 10 km. The island is essentially a low limestone platform formation built over an ancient heart of volcanic rocks, producing a flat to rolling terrain with few areas of high elevation. Low hills are found in the east, where Yamonta Hill (188 m) rises to the islands highest point above sea level. Numerous rock outcrops and interesting rock formations are erosion-resistant reminders of the islands volcanic formation some 90 million years ago. The interior of Aruba is dry producing a desert-like rocky landscape of thin stony soils; coasts are lined by beaches of sand in the south and west, while northeastern coasts are rocky and often rugged. Most of the southeast, and western coasts are lined by a series of fringing reefs that cover an area of some 25 km².
Vegetation cover on the island is sparse, consisting of a cactus scrub dominated by tall columnar cacti and other succulent plants. Cactus scrub is replaced by a cactus-woodland mix on the western sides of the island where there is slightly higher rainfall. Drought-adapted trees such as the Divi Divi tree (Caesalpinia coriaria), Mesquite Tree (Prosopis juliflora), Twisted Acacia (Acacia tortuosa), and the Brazilwood tree (Haematoxyln brasiletto) are commonly found. Important animal species found on Aruba include the Aruban Whiptail lizard (Cnemidophorus arubensis), Aruban Burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia arubensis), and Aruban Parakeet (Aratinga pertinax arubensis). Aruba is home to two endemic snakes: the Cascabel (Crotalus thurissus unicolor), an endangered subspecies of rattlesnake, and the Aruba Cat-eyed snake (Leptodeira bakeri).
Like the neighbouring islands of Curaçao and Bonaire, Aruba lies in the rain shadow of the coastal mountain ranges of Venezuela. As a result, annual rainfall is very low — around 510 mm falling throughout the year but more often in a rainy season during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Constant trade winds from the northeast and east bring high levels of evaporation and add to the rain shadow effect producing a very arid climate.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
