Caribbean
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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. See the article piracy in the Caribbean.
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Historical groupings
Main article: History of the Caribbean
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 - Haiti and the French overseas departements of Guadeloupe 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
See also: Caribbean South America, Caribbean_basin
- Template:AIA (British dependency)
- Template:ATG
- Template:ABW (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
- Template:BAH
- Abaco
- Andros
- Cat Island
- Eleuthera
- Grand Bahama
- New Providence, with the capital Nassau.
- Template:BAR
- Template:IVB (British dependency, shares the Virgin Islands with the U.S. Virgin Islands.)
- Template:CAY (British dependency)
- Cayman Brac
- Grand Cayman, with the capital George Town
- Little Cayman
- Template:COL is not a Caribbean country, but has some islands in the Caribbean sea:
- Template:CUB
- Template:DMA
- Template:GRD (shares the Grenadines group with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
- Template:GLP (overseas department of France)
- Basse-Terre
- Grande-Terre
- Iles des Saintes
- Marie-Galante
- Iles de la Petite Terre
- La Désirade
- Saint-Barthélemy, also Saint Barts
- Saint-Martin (part of the island Saint Martin shared with the Netherlands Antilles; note the dash)
- Hispaniola
- Template:HON is not a Caribbean country, but has some islands in the Caribbean sea:
- Template:JAM
- Template:MTQ (overseas department of France)
- Template:MEX is not a Caribbean country, but has some islands in the Caribbean sea:
- Template:MSR (British dependency)
- Navassa Island (US insular area)
- Template:ANT (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
- Bonaire
- Curaçao
- Saba
- Sint Eustatius
- Sint Maarten (part of the island Saint Martin shared with Guadeloupe)
- Template:NIC is not a Caribbean country, but has some islands in the Caribbean sea:
- Template:PRI (commonwealth associated with US)
- Template:SKN
- Template:LCA
- Template:VIN (shares the Grenadines group with Grenada)
- Template:TRI
- Template:TCA (British dependency)
- Template:VIR (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.
Indigenous Tribes
See also
- African diaspora
- British Afro-Caribbean community
- Caribbean English
- Caribbean medical education
- CONCACAF
- Council on Hemispheric Affairs
- History of the Caribbean
- Indo-Caribbean
- List of islands in the Caribbean
- Music of the Caribbean
- Politics of the Caribbean
- Tourism in Caribbean
- West Indies Federation
Regional Institutions
Here are some of the bodies that several islands share in collaboration:
- African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP)
- Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
- Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
- Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)
- Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA)
- Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA)
- Caribbean Regional Programme for Economic Competitiveness (CPEC)
- Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM)
- Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO)
- Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC)
- Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
- United Nations - Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
| Regions of the world | |
| Africa: | Central Africa | Congo | East Africa | Great Lakes | Guinea | North Africa | Northwest Africa | Northeast Africa | Sahel | Southern Africa | Sub-Saharan Africa | Sudan | West Africa |
| Americas: | Andean States | Caribbean | Central America | Great Lakes | Great Plains | Guianas | Latin America | Southern Cone |
| Asia: | Central Asia | East Asia | East Indies | Far East | Indian subcontinent / South Asia | North Asia | Southeast Asia | Southwest Asia (Middle East, Levant, Anatolia, Arabia) |
| Europe: | Balkans | Baltic region | Benelux | British Isles | Central Europe | Eastern Europe | Northern Europe | Scandinavia | Southern Europe | Western Europe |
| Other: | Eurasia: Caucasus | Post-Soviet states | Oceania: Australasia | Melanesia | Micronesia | Polynesia | Aleutia | Pacific Rim | Polar: Arctic | Antarctic |
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