The Vegetation of the Netherlands Antilles

The islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form part of a row of small islands off the north coast of Venezuela. Aruba lies 27 km north of the peninsula of Paraguaná and 76 km west of Curaçao; it is separated from the former by a stretch of sea with a maximum depth of 180 m, and from the latter by a channel 1,300 m deep. Bonaire lies 40 km east of Curaçao and 87 km from the South American continent; it is separated from the former by a stretch of sea with a maximum depth of 1,500 m, and from the latter by a stretch of sea with a maximum depth of 1,700 m. Curaçao lies 64 km from the peninsula of Paraguaná and is separated from it by a stretch of sea with a maximum depth of 1,400 m.