- West Indies redirects here. For the region's cricket squad see West Indian cricket team.
The Caribbean, (Spanish: Caribe; French: Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Dutch: Cariben or Caraïben, or more commonly Antillen) or the West Indies, is a group of islands and countries which are in or border the Caribbean Sea which lies on the Caribbean Plate. The countries and islands of the Caribbean are located to the south and east of Mexico and to the north and west of Venezuela, South America. There are at least 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cayes in the region. They are organized into 25 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 name "Caribbean" is named after the Caribs, one of the dominant Amerindian groups in the region at the time of European contact. The Caribbean consists of the Greater and Lesser Antilles, and is often considered part of North America.
At one time, there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies composed of ten of the English-speaking Caribbean territories of the region.
The Caribbean area is also famous for its sea pirates. See the article piracy in the Caribbean.
The region known as "Caribbean" is usually restricted to the islands of the Caribbean Sea, although sometimes the continental American coastline is included.
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, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica (also French Creole speaking), Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia (also French Creole speaking), 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 - Anguilla (briefly), Antigua and Barbuda (briefly), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Montserrat (briefly), Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius (briefly), St Kitts and Nevis (St Kitts, but not Nevis), Trinidad and Tobago (Tobago only), present-day U.S. Virgin Islands (Saint Croix only, briefly), and the current French overseas départements of Martinique and Guadeloupe (including Saint-Barthélemy and northern half of Saint Martin)
- 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 Indian 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 island territories of the Caribbean
- See also: Caribbean South America, Caribbean basin
Continental countries with Caribbean coastlines and 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.
Island territories near the Caribbean
Though not technically in the Caribbean Sea, the nearby Bahaman Archipelago is sometimes considered to be part of the Caribbean.
See also
Here are some of the bodies that several islands share in collaboration:
Many of the nations in the Caribbean play international cricket as one team called the West Indies.
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean under GFDL
