The first people to live on the island were the Arawak Indians, who left behind red cave paintings, clay pottery, and stone tools. Spain claimed Aruba in 1499, and it became a hotspot for piracy and smuggling. In 1636, the Dutch took control of the island, and it became part of the Dutch West India Company. During the Napoleonic Wars, Aruba briefly came under British rule but was returned to the Netherlands in 1816. The economy struggled until the 1920s, when an oil refinery was built in San Nicolas, greatly improving living standards. This led to an increase in population, with people moving from the Caribbean, the U.S., Venezuela, and Europe. Even though the economy grew stronger, Aruba was still politically tied to Curaçao, the main island of the Netherlands Antilles.
In 1986, Aruba gained more self-governance, driven by the People’s Electoral Movement, which sought independence from Curaçao’s influence rather than from the Netherlands. However, in 1994, the Aruban government, along with the governments of the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles, decided to put off plans for full independence indefinitely.
