Description : Oranjestad is the capital and largest city of Aruba, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country. In the local language, Papiamento, Oranjestad is often referred to as "Playa". In 2010, the population of the capital was 28,294. The town was built around Fort Zoutman shortly after it was built in 1796. Initially, the town had no official name, being known only as the town on the Bay of Horses (Paardenbaai in Dutch), a place from which native-bred horses were raised and exported to neighboring Curaçao. The town has ever since been the capital city of the island. The city is named after the first King William I of the Netherlands. The name was conferred on the city in the 1820s when interest in Aruba increased due to the discovery of alluvial gold deposits. Air Aruba once had its headquarters in Oranjestad. Air Aruba suspended its operations on October 23, 2000. Tiara Air has had its head office in Oranjestad since 2006, except between 2014 and 2016 when the company suspended services due to the Venezuelan Airline Crisis.
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