Bonaire Genealogy

CaribbeanNetherlandsNetherlands Antilles BonaireGuide to Bonaire ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Country Information
Bonaire is a special municipality of the Netherlands, and is a part of the Caribbean Netherlands, together with Sint Eustatius, and Saba (BES Islands). The United Nations recognizes these three islands as one governmental unit. Before 1910 they were part of the Netherlands Antilles. Bonaire's first inhabitants were the Caquetios Indians, a branch of the Arawak who, around 1000 AD, sailed from what is now Venezuela.

Both the windward (Christopher Columbus, 1493) and leeward (Alonso de Ojeda, 1499) island groups were discovered and initially settled by Spain. In the 17th century, the islands were conquered by the Dutch West Indies Company and were used as military outposts and trade bases, most prominent the slave trade. Slavery was abolished in 1863.

The oldest citizen of Bonaire Catalina Elisabeth Francisca Paula-Frans, better known as ‘Chabe,’ celebrated her 104th birthday March 16 to March 23, 2007, according to the Bonaire Reporter.



Bonaire Clickable Map
(Need Clickable Map) You can find areas and towns on Bonaire Map

Jurisdictions
Spain 1526, Netherlands 1636, Great Britain 1800, Netherlands 1803, Great Britain 1807, Netherlands 1816. Bonaire's Capital City is (Kralendijk)

Note: Several smaller towns had existed in the national park, but are now abandoned. They were: Labra, Ishiri, Kokorobi, Jan Doran, Vlijt, Rigot, Porto Spano, and Kunchi.

More Bonaire Research Strategies
Research strategies give guidance on how to research or what records to search for first. Below are additional research strategy Wiki articles for Bonaire.

More Bonaire Research Tools
Research tools can include resources that assist in locating correct records to search and determining the correct locality to search in. Below are links and Wiki articles to research tools in the Bonaire.

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in resourcing your family.
 * Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
 * Learning Center - Online genealogy courses
 * Historical Records
 * Family History Center locator map