After the recognition in 1949 of the independence of Indonesia (the former colony of Netherlands East Indies), a new constitutional frame work was constructed in 1954 for the remaining parts of the Dutch empire: the Netherlands, Surinam, and the Netherlands Antilles. Since the independence of Surinam in 1975, the statute now concerns the relations between only the Netherlands and the Antilles. Of this group of six Caribbean islands, Arubawas granted a status apartein 1986. In December 2008, the statute will be revised, because the co operation between the Netherlands Antilles will be ended.
Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands. EdwART. 2012.