Caribbean

The

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 India when he had in fact reached the_Americas. The Caribbean consists of the Antilles and the Bahamas 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.

Present-day territories of the Caribbean

Anguilla (British dependency)

Antigua_and_Barbuda

Antigua

Barbuda

Aruba (part of the Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands)

New_Providence, with the capital Nassau.

Barbados

Bermuda (British dependency)

British_Virgin_Islands (British dependency, shares the Virgin_Islands with the U.S. Virgin_Islands.)

Cayman_Islands (British dependency)

Cayman_Brac

Grand_Cayman, with the capital George Town

Little_Cayman

Cuba

Dominica

Grenada (shares the Grenadines group with Saint_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines)

Petite_Martinique

Carriacou

Guadeloupe (overseas ''department'' of France)

Guadeloupe_proper (Basse-Terre)

La_Desirade

Grande-Terre

Marie-Galante

Iles_de_la_Petite_Terre

Iles_des_Saintes

Terre_de_Haut

Terre_de_Bas

Saint-Barthelemy, also ''Saint Barts''

Saint-Martin (part of the island Saint_Martin shared with the Netherlands Antilles; note the dash)

Hispaniola

Dominican_Republic

Haiti

Jamaica

Martinique (overseas department of France)

Mexico is not a Caribbean country, but has some islands in the Caribbean sea:

Cancún

Isla_Mujeres

Isla_Cozumel

Montserrat (British dependency)

Netherlands_Antilles (part of the Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands)

Bonaire

Curaçao

Saba

Sint_Eustatius

Sint_Maarten (part of the island Saint_Martin shared with Guadeloupe)

Puerto_Rico (commonwealth associated with US)

Saint_Kitts_and_Nevis

Saint_Kitts

Nevis

Saint_Lucia

Saint_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines (shares the Grenadines group with Grenada)

Bequia

Tobago

Turks_and_Caicos_Islands (British dependency)

Grand_Turk

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.

Historical groupings

Most islands at some point were, or still are, colonies of European nations:

British_West_Indies - 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 and Martinique

Spain - Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican_Republic and Haiti), Puerto_Rico The British West Indies, formerly united in the West_Indies_Federation, still make up a composite cricket team that successfully competes in test matches and one-day internationals. The West Indies cricket team also includes the South_American nation of Guyana, a former British colony.

Native_American Tribes

Arawak

Carib

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