Caribbean

The Caribbean Islands are a group of over 7,000 islands lying in and around the Caribbean Sea, and generally accepted as consisting of all the islands between Florida and the north coast of South America, and the coastlines of the Yucatan in Mexico, all along Central America, and along northern South America to Tobago. The name of the region comes from one of the dominant native tribes, the Caribs, which were discovered by the Europeans. The region is also known as the West Indies (misnamed by Columbus, as he thought he’d discovered Asia, which was referred to as the Indies), and is divided into the Greater Antilles, the islands in the northern part of the chain, and the Lesser Antilles, those in the southern part. All in all, the islands are more than 2,500 miles long, stretching from the Bahamas to Tobago, just off the South American coast.

The climate of the region varies between tropical and subtropical, and during hurricane season, the islands north of Granada are at great risk. Likewise, the island group is bisected roughly through the middle-north of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, and south of Cuba-by the meeting of the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. Due to this, some islands in the region are seismically active, and suffer from earthquakes and volcanoes. Probably the most cataclysmic natural disaster in recent years was the eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano in 1995 on the tiny island of Montserrat. The eruption, while not resulting in a particularly large loss of life, did bury the capital of Plymouth under 40 feet of mud, and all left the southern half of the island uninhabitable.

Like all the Americas, the fate of the native peoples was forever changed by the arrival of the Europeans. Almost each European country has either held, or continues to hold territories in the Caribbean. The Spanish at one time or another held Cuba, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, and Puerto Rico, among others. The French held, or still hold Haiti, Saint Lucia, Martinique, Saint Martin, the Grenadines, and several other smaller islands. The British West Indies has consisted of the British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Grenada, and the Cayman Islands. The Portuguese, Dutch, Swedes, Danes, and Americans have all held, or still hold, territories in the Caribbean.

Many countries with a history of slavery, imported African slaves to their Caribbean territories to work the land-typically to work in the sugar cane industry-and the result changed the face and culture of the entire region. The resulting African influence, mixed with the native peoples, and the Europeans, has made for a dynamic mix of languages, religions, arts, architecture styles, and foods.

Since each island group has its own unique history, the evolution of individual economies and societies have differed greatly. To see the difference, one needs only to look at the island of Hispanola, which contains Haiti on one end, and the Dominican Republic on the other. Haiti is an ex-slave state, and has suffered for years from neglect, poor rule, and corruption, and is now the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The Dominican Republic has had many of the same problems, but has managed to overcome them to a certain degree, and now is a functional country. The region’s main economic industry is tourism, with private banking beginning to take hold.