Why did Aruba have relatively few people of predominantly African descent compared with other Caribbean islands?

Aruba has a relatively small population of predominantly African descent compared to many other Caribbean islands primarily because it did not develop a plantation-based economy during the colonial era.1

While other islands in the region relied heavily on slave-based agriculture—such as sugarcane cultivation—to drive their economies, Aruba’s environmental conditions were not suitable for such large-scale farming. The island is characterized by barren soil and limited natural irrigation, which prevented the establishment of the extensive slave-based plantations that defined the demographic history of much of the Caribbean. Instead, colonial authorities historically utilized the island for activities like horse breeding, which required far less labor than the intensive agricultural systems found elsewhere.12