The original inhabitants of Curaçao were Arawak Amerindians. The first Europeans to see the island were the members of a Spanish expedition under the leadership of Alonso de Ojeda in 1499. The Spaniards decimated the Arawak. The island was occupied by the Dutch in 1634. The Dutch West India Company founded the capital of Willemstad on the banks of an inlet called the 'Schottegat'. Curaçao had been previously ignored by colonists because it lacked many things that colonists were interested in, such as gold deposits. However, the natural harbour of Willemstad proved quickly to be an ideal spot for trade. Commerce and shipping became Curaçao's most important economic activities, and Curaçao came to play a pivotal role in one of the most intricate international trade networks in history: the Atlantic slave trade. The Dutch West India Company made Curaçao a center for slave trade in 1662. Dutch merchants brought slaves from Africa to the trading area called Asiento. From there, slaves were sold and shipped to various destinations in South America and the Caribbean. At the height of the trade large numbers of slaves were traded here. Later both the English and the French briefly occupied the island, adding to the mix of languages spoken on the island. The Dutch abolished slavery in 1863. Curaçao features colonial architecture that blends various Dutch and Spanish colonial styles. The wide range of other historic buildings in and around Willemstad earned the capital a place on UNESCO's world heritage list. Landhouses (former plantation estates) and West African style 'kas di pal'i maishi' (former slave dwellings) are scattered all over the island and some of them have been restored and can be visited.The end of slavery caused economic hardships, causing many Curaçao people to emigrate to other islands, such as to Cuba to work in sugarcane plantations.

When in 1914 oil was discovered in the Maracaibo Basin town of Mene Grande, the fortunes of the island changed drastically. Royal Dutch Shell and the Dutch Government had built an extensive oil refinery installation on the former site of the slave-trade market at Asiento and thereby built a large employment scheme that provided work for most of the local population and fueled a wave of immigration from the surrounding nations. Curaçao was an ideal site for the refinery as it was away from the social and civil unrest in most of South America, but near enough to the Maracaibo Basin oil fields. It also had an excellent natural harbour that could accommodate large oil tankers. The company brought a degree of affluence to the island. Large housing was provided and Willemstad provided with an extensive infrastructure. However, discrepancies started to appear amongst the social groups of Curaçao. The discontent and the antagonisms between Curaçao social groups culminated in large scale rioting and protest on May 30th, 1969. The civil unrest fueled a social movement that resulted in the local Afro-Caribbean population attaining more influence over the political process (Anderson and Dynes 1975). The island also developed a tourist industry and low corporate taxes meant many companies set up holdings to avoid rigorous schemes elsewhere. In the mid 1980s Royal Shell sold the refinery for a symbolic amount to a local government consortium. Since then discussions have centered on changing the constitutional situation as well as finding new sources of income. The government consortium currently leases the refinery to the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. In recent years, the island is trying to capitalize on its peculiar history and heritage to expand its tourism industry.

Source: Wikipedia