Its climate has helped tourism to become a principle source of income for the 33 kilometer-long island where warm sunny weather is assured and water sports are very much to the fore.

However, the sport of table tennis is also making positive strides and one player, in particular, leads the way.

The player's name is Mario Lobo, and he recently claimed the Men's Singles crown at the Table Tennis Championships held in the island's capital, Oranjestad (in English: 'Orangetown').

Not only did he win the title but did so for the sixteenth time. In the championship he beat Andy Gomes with Remy de Lange coming in third.

All three contestants were present in 2007 at the Latin American Championships held in Guarulhos, near São Paulo in Brazil and all have announced their intension to be present in the Dominican Republic, where the Latin American Olympic Qualification Tournament will take place in March 2008.

Aruba is included in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. As such, the country has no administrative subdivisions. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba possesses a dry climate and an arid landscape. This weather has helped tourism as tourists can reliably expect warm, sunny weather.

Aruba boasts one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean region and the lowest crime rate, and low poverty and unemployment rates. About half of the Aruban GNP is made through tourism or related activities. Many of the visitors are from Venezuela, the European Union (The Netherlands, Spain, England) and the United States, which is Aruba's biggest trading partner.

Dave Elliott owns Caribbean Art and Prints, which proffers breathtaking art prints of Aruba, as well as other beautiful Caribbean islands.