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Caribbean Overview The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. These islands curve southward from the bottom tip of Florida to the Northwest of Venezuela in South America. There are at least 7000 islands, islets, reefs and cayes in the region. They are organized into twenty-five territories including sovereign states, overseas departments and dependencies. The name "West Indies" originates from Christopher Columbus' idea that he had landed in the Indies (then meaning all of south and east Asia) when he had in fact reached the Americas. The Caribbean consists of the Greater and Lesser Antilles and is part of North America. At one time there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies composed of the English-speaking Caribbean islands of the region. The Caribbean area is also famous for its sea pirates. Historical groupings Most islands at some point were, or still are, colonies of European nations: * British West Indies / Anglophone_Caribbean - Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands * Danish West Indies - present-day United States Virgin Islands * Dutch West Indies - present-day Netherlands Antilles and Aruba * French West Indies - the French overseas departements of Guadeloupe Haiti and Martinique * Spain - Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico The British West Indies, were formerly united by the United Kingdom into a West Indies Federation. The independent countries which were once a part of the B.W.I. still have a unified composite cricket team that successfully competes in test matches and one-day internationals. The West Indies cricket team, includes the South American nation of Guyana, the only former British colony on that continent. In addition, these countries share the University of the West Indies as a regional entity. The university consists of three main campuses in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, a smaller campus in the Bahamas and Resident Tutors in other contributing territories. Present-day territories of the Caribbean * Anguilla (British dependency) * Antigua and Barbuda o Antigua o Barbuda * Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) * Bahamas o Abaco o Andros o Cat Island o Eleuthera o Grand Bahama o New Providence, with the capital Nassau. * Barbados * British Virgin Islands (British dependency, shares the Virgin Islands with the U.S. Virgin Islands.) * Cayman Islands (British dependency) o Cayman Brac o Grand Cayman, with the capital George Town o Little Cayman * Colombia is not a Caribbean country, but has some islands in the Caribbean sea: o San Andres and Providencia * Cuba * Dominica * Grenada (shares the Grenadines group with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) o Petite Martinique o Carriacou * Guadeloupe (overseas department of France) o Basse-Terre o Grande-Terre o Iles des Saintes + Terre de Haut + Terre de Bas o Marie-Galante o Iles de la Petite Terre o La Désirade o Saint-Barthélemy, also Saint Barts o Saint-Martin (part of the island Saint Martin shared with the Netherlands Antilles; note the dash) * Hispaniola o Dominican Republic o Haiti * Honduras is not a Caribbean country, but has some islands in the Caribbean sea: o Islas de Bahia department + Guanaja + Roatan o Swan Islands * Jamaica * Martinique (overseas department of France) * Mexico is not a Caribbean country, but has some islands in the Caribbean sea: o Cancún o Isla Mujeres o Isla Cozumel * Montserrat (British dependency) * Navassa Island (US insular area) * Netherlands Antilles (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) o Bonaire o Curaçao o Saba o Sint Eustatius o Sint Maarten (part of the island Saint Martin shared with Guadeloupe) * Nicaragua is not a Caribbean country, but has some islands in the Caribbean sea: o Corn Islands * Puerto Rico (commonwealth associated with US) * Saint Kitts and Nevis o Saint Kitts o Nevis * Saint Lucia * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (shares the Grenadines group with Grenada) o Bequia o Canouan Island o Mustique o Palm Island o Saint Vincent o Union Island o Young Island * Trinidad and Tobago o Tobago o Trinidad * Turks and Caicos Islands (British dependency) o Grand Turk o Providenciales * U.S. Virgin Islands (territory of the USA, shares the Virgin Islands with the British Virgin Islands) The nations of Belize and Guyana, although on the mainland of Central America and South America respectively, were former British colonies and maintain many cultural ties to the Caribbean and are members of CARICOM. The Turneffe islands (and many other islands and reefs) are part of Belize and lie in the Caribbean Sea. For More Caribbean Details Click Here |
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