Christopher Columbus first sighted the rugged terrain of Saba, which likely is a variant of the Dutch word “shoe,” during his second voyage to the Caribbean. At the time of the arrival of the Europeans to the region the island was uninhabited, but artifacts have been recovered that suggest that there may have been an Arawak settlement some 1,300 years ago.  The island was not colonized until the middle of the 17th century, when the Dutch sent a party of colonists from St. Eustatius to Saba in 1640 to found a permanent settlement. It was a favorable port island for various pirates, including the famous Saban native Hiriam Breakes.

The island was briefly occupied by the British during the Napoleonic Wars, but since that time has remained part of the Dutch Kingdom. Throughout much of the 17th and 18th centuries Saba was a major producer of sugar and rum, and later the production of the famous Saba lace became a major part of the island’s economy.

Until the 1940s the island’s various villages were connected only by footpaths, and roads have only been built by the locals during the last few decades. Saba was hit by Hurricane Georges in 1998, but the damage was light, and no one was killed.

Until 2005 Saba was part of the Netherlands Antilles, when Saba voted to become directly administered directly by the Netherlands.