Background
Aruba is a small island colony of 100,000 people that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and has been under Dutch control since the 1630s. The island lies in the southern Caribbean Sea just to north of Venezuela, and is near to the Dutch colonies of Curaçao and Bonaire. The colony originally was part of an autonomous union with those two islands in what was known as the Netherlands Antilles, but Aruba seceded from that union in 1986. The Netherlands continues to regulate all its foreign affairs. While the first Dutch Antilean delegation to the Olympics was sent during the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, the first uniquely Aruban delegation participated two years after the island's secession from the Netherlands Antilles at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Between then and the 2004 Athens Olympics, Aruba had sent a delegation to all five Summer Olympic games. The most substantial Aruban delegation was in 1988, when it included eight athletes. This delegation included more women and encompassed more sports than any Aruban delegation since then (including the Athens Olympics).
At the Athens Olympics, four athletes (three men and one woman) participated across three sports in four distinct events. Swimmer Roshendra Vrolijk was Aruba's flag bearer at the ceremonies.
Read more about this topic: Aruba At The 2004 Summer Olympics
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