Residents of Bonaire: who lives where?

07/05/2018 15:30

On 1 January 2017, the population of Bonaire was made up of 19.2 thousand residents. More than 7 thousand were native Bonairians. The other 12 thousand came from all over the world, including 2.8 thousand European Dutch nationals. This follows from population data on the Caribbean Netherlands which have been collected by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

Almost 40 percent of Bonaire’s residents were born on the island. The other 60 percent are mainly from the former Netherlands Antilles (4 thousand), South and Central America (3.7 thousand) and the European Netherlands (2.8 thousand). Residents from the other former Netherlands Antilles were mostly born on Curaçao (3.5 thousand) a small number on Aruba (0.5 thousand).

Residents of Bonaire, place of birth, 1 January 2017
	(% )
Bonaire	38.6
Other former Netherlands Antilles and Aruba	21.1
South and Central America	19.5
European Netherlands	14.4
Other	4.6
United States and Canada	1.9

Residents of Bonaire, place of birth, 1 January 2017
	(% )
Bonaire	38.6
Other former Netherlands Antilles and Aruba	21.1
South and Central America	19.5
European Netherlands	14.4
Other	4.6
United States and Canada	1.9

Rincon is the settlement with the largest share of native Bonairian residents (65 percent). Other places where many residents were born on Bonaire include Mexico (53 percent), Amboina (51 percent) and Noord Saliña (48 percent). Only small numbers of Bonairians live in Lagun Hill, Lima and Sabadeco.

The European Dutch nationals live distributed over the island with concentrations in Lagun Hill, where they make up over 60 percent of the population; Lima (54 percent), Sabadeco (53 percent) and Santa Barbara (52 percent). In absolute numbers, most of the European Dutch nationals (300) live in Nikiboko. However, they only represent 10 percent of its population.

Residents of Bonaire by place of birth, neighbourhood, 1 January 2017
	Born on Bonaire (% )	Born in the European Netherlands (% )
Sabadeco	4	53
Lima	6	55
Lagun Hill	8	62
Santa Barbara	16	52
Belnem	19	31
Playa Pariba	23	23
Nawati Noord	25	32
Hato	26	19
Playa Pabou	33	17
Playa	36	11
Nikiboko	38	10
Tera Kora	39	10
Entrejol Pabou	40	6
Entrejol Pariba	41	8
Sabana	43	10
Nawati Zuid	45	14
Noord Saliña	48	12
Amboina	51	5
Mexico	53	8
Rincon	65	5

Residents of Bonaire by place of birth, neighbourhood, 1 January 2017
	Born on Bonaire (% )	Born in the European Netherlands (% )
Sabadeco	4	53
Lima	6	55
Lagun Hill	8	62
Santa Barbara	16	52
Belnem	19	31
Playa Pariba	23	23
Nawati Noord	25	32
Hato	26	19
Playa Pabou	33	17
Playa	36	11
Nikiboko	38	10
Tera Kora	39	10
Entrejol Pabou	40	6
Entrejol Pariba	41	8
Sabana	43	10
Nawati Zuid	45	14
Noord Saliña	48	12
Amboina	51	5
Mexico	53	8
Rincon	65	5

Relatively young European newcomers

Playa Pariba, Playa Pabou, in the centre of Kralendijk, and Nikiboko are the neighbourhoods where many European Dutch newcomers took up residence. Newcomers settled relatively less often in the residential neighbourhood Sabadeco. On average, the newcomers are 32 years old. People in their forties and fifties mostly flock to Bonaire; the newcomers barely include pensioners. Among those who have recently taken up residence on the island, more than one-third live without a partner, while almost one-third live with a partner and without children. When children do move along, they are usually under the age of 15.