While Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao remain strongholds of Papiamentu, new data from the Dutch Caribbean Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) shows that English is by far the dominant language on Saba and St. Eustatius—and even more so than many might assume.
According to the latest figures, 83 percent of Saba’s residents primarily speak English, making it the most English-dominant island in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. On St. Eustatius, 81 percent of the population uses English as their main language, followed by 71 percent on St. Maarten.
The picture is very different on the ABC-islands. On Curaçao, nearly 80 percent of the population speaks Papiamentu, while on Bonaire that figure stands at 62 percent. Despite claims in recent years that Papiamentu would be losing ground on Bonaire, the CBS data contradicts that perception: the language remains clearly dominant, alongside Dutch, Spanish and English, which are also widely spoken on the island.
On Aruba, Papiamento—a closely related variant of Papiamentu with a different spelling tradition—remains the most widely used language.
Divide
The new CBS findings underline the sharp linguistic divide within the Caribbean Netherlands, with English firmly rooted as the everyday language of Saba and St. Eustatius, while Papiamentu continues to define daily life on the ABC-islands.
