Curaçao

Land Curaçao (Dutch)

Pais Kòrsou (Papiamento)

Note: In elections on October 19, 2012, the Sovereign People party (PS) won five seats with 22.7 percent of the vote, narrowly defeating the leading Movement for the Future of Curacao (MFK), which also won five seats but with 21.2 percent. After attempts to negotiate a coalition government, former prime minister and MFK leader Gerrit Schotte withdrew his party, effectively halting efforts to form the new leadership. A transitional government headed by Stanley Betrian ran the country until December 31, when new prime minister Daniel Hodge formally assumed the office; he was joined by a new cabinet on January 2, 2013.

Political Status: Former Dutch dependency; from 1948 a component of the Netherlands Antilles, which became autonomous in ...