Caribbean

Overview

Situated largely on the Caribbean plate, the region has thousands of islands, islets, reefs, and cays. Island arcs delineate the northern and eastern edges of the Caribbean Sea: the Greater Antilles in the north and the Lesser Antilles, which includes the Leeward Islands, Windward Islands, and the Leeward Antilles, to the east and south. The nearby northwestern Lucayan Archipelago, comprising The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the island of Barbados in the Lesser Antilles, are considered to be a part of the Caribbean despite not bordering the Caribbean Sea. All the islands in the Antilles, including the Lucayan Archipelago, form the West Indies, a term often interchangeable with the Caribbean. The archipelago of Bermuda is not part of the Caribbean, as it lies in the Sargasso Sea to the north, but it is an associate member of the Caribbean Community.

On the continental mainland of the Americas, the Caribbean coasts of Mexico, Central America, and South America, including the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Bay Islands Department of Honduras, the Mosquitia region, Cartagena and Barranquilla in Colombia, Maracaibo and Cumaná in Venezuela, are considered part of the Caribbean. As with the coastal areas of the mainland, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, even if they do not border the Caribbean Sea, are often completely included within the Caribbean due to their strong political and cultural ties with the region.

Geopolitically, the islands of the Caribbean are often regarded as a subregion of North America, though sometimes they are included in Middle America, or regarded as its own subregion as the Caribbean. The Caribbean is sometimes considered alongside Central America as a region.

Generally, the Caribbean region is organized into 33 political entities, including 13 sovereign states, 12 dependencies, 7 overseas territories, and various disputed territories. From 15 December 1954 to 10 October 2010, there was a territory known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five islands, all of which were Dutch dependencies. From 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962, there was also a short-lived political union called the British West Indies Federation composed of ten English-speaking Caribbean territories, all of which were then British dependencies.

The modern Caribbean is one of the most ethnically diverse regions on the planet, as a result of European colonization by the Spanish, English, Dutch, and French; the Atlantic slave trade from Africa; indentured servitude from the Indian subcontinent and East Asia; as well as modern immigration from around the world.

Etymology and pronunciation

The region takes its name from the Caribs, an Amerindian ethnic group historically present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America that the Spanish colonists named the region after at the time of the European conquest of the Americas.

The two most prevalent pronunciations of "Caribbean" outside the Caribbean are (KARR-ə-BEE-ən), with the primary stress on the third syllable, and (kə-RIB-ee-ən), with the stress on the second. Most authorities of the last century preferred the stress on the third syllable. This is the older of the two pronunciations, but the stressed-second-syllable variant has been established for over 75 years. It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer (KARR-ə-BEE-ən) while North American speakers more typically use (kə-RIB-ee-ən), but major American dictionaries and other sources list the stress on the third syllable as more common in American English too. According to the American version of Oxford Online Dictionaries, the stress on the second syllable is becoming more common in UK English and is increasingly considered "by some" to be more up to date and more "correct".

The Oxford Online Dictionaries claim the stress on the second syllable is the most common pronunciation in the Caribbean itself, but according to the Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, the most common pronunciation in Caribbean English stresses the first syllable instead, (KARR-ih-bee-an).

Definition

The word Caribbean has multiple uses. Its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to Africa, slavery, European colonisation and the plantation system.

The United Nations geoscheme for the Americas presents the Caribbean as a distinct region within the Americas.

Physiographically, the Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea. To the north, the region is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the east and northeast. To the south lies the coastline of the continent of South America.

History

The oldest evidence of humans in the Caribbean is in southern Trinidad at Banwari Trace, where remains have been found from 7,000 years ago. These pre-ceramic sites, which belong to the Archaic (pre-ceramic) age, have been termed Ortoiroid. The earliest archaeological evidence of human settlement in Hispaniola dates to about 3600 BC, but the reliability of these finds is questioned. Consistent dates of 3100 BC appear in Cuba. The earliest dates in the Lesser Antilles are from 2000 BC in Antigua. A lack of pre-ceramic sites in the Windward Islands and differences in technology suggest that these Archaic settlers may have Central American origins. Whether an Ortoiroid colonization of the islands took place is uncertain, but there is little evidence of one.

DNA studies changed some of the traditional beliefs about pre-Columbian indigenous history. According to National Geographic, "studies confirm that a wave of pottery-making farmers—known as Ceramic Age people—set out in canoes from the northeastern coast of South America starting some 2,500 years ago and island-hopped across the Caribbean. They were not, however, the first colonizers. On many islands they encountered a foraging people who arrived some 6,000 or 7,000 years ago ... The ceramicists, who are related to today's Arawak-speaking peoples, supplanted the earlier foraging inhabitants—presumably through disease or violence—as they settled new islands."

Between 400 BC and 200 BC, the first ceramic-using agriculturalists, the Saladoid culture, entered Trinidad from South America. They expanded up the Orinoco River to Trinidad, and then spread rapidly up the islands of the Caribbean. Some time after 250 AD another group, the Barancoid, entered Trinidad. The Barancoid society collapsed along the Orinoco around 650 AD and another group, the Arauquinoid, expanded into these areas and up the Caribbean chain. Around 1300 AD a new group, the Mayoid, entered Trinidad and remained the dominant culture until Spanish settlement.

At the time of the European discovery of most of the islands of the Caribbean, three major Amerindian indigenous peoples lived on the islands: the Taíno in the Greater Antilles, The Bahamas and the Leeward Islands; the Island Caribs and Galibi in the Windward Islands; and the Ciboney in western Cuba. The Taínos are subdivided into Classic Taínos, who occupied Puerto Rico and part of Hispaniola; Western Taínos, who occupied the Bahamian archipelago, Cuba, Jamaica, and part of Hispaniola; and the Eastern Taínos, who occupied the northern Lesser Antilles. The southern Lesser Antilles, including Martinique and Trinidad, were inhabited by both Carib-speaking and Arawak-speaking groups.

European contact

Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean on the island of Hispaniola in 1492. Soon afterward, both Portuguese and Spanish explorers began claiming territories in Central and South America. These early colonies brought gold to Europe; most specifically England, the Netherlands, and France. These nations hoped to establish profitable colonies in the Caribbean. Colonial rivalries made the Caribbean a battleground for European wars for centuries.

In 1512, after pressure from Dominican friars, the Laws of Burgos were introduced by the Spanish Crown to better protect the rights of the New World natives. The Spanish used a form of slavery called the Encomienda, where slaves would be awarded to the conquistadors, who were charged with protecting and converting their slaves. This had a devastating impact on the population, so starting in 1503, slaves from Africa were imported to the colony. Jamaica was ceded to England by Spain while both Martinique and the western third of Hispaniola were ceded to France.

While early slave traders were Portuguese and Spanish, known as the First Atlantic System, by the 17th century the trade became dominated by British, French, and Dutch merchants. This was known as the Second Atlantic System. 5 million African slaves would be taken to the Caribbean, and around half would be traded to the British Caribbean islands. Slavery was abolished first in the Dutch Empire in 1814. Spain abolished slavery in its empire in 1811, with the exceptions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo. Slavery was not abolished in Cuba until 1886. Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807, and slavery proper in 1833. France abolished slavery in its colonies in 1848.

The Caribbean was known for pirates, especially between 1640 and 1680. The term "buccaneer" is often used to describe a pirate operating in this region. The Caribbean region was war-torn throughout much of its colonial history, but the wars were often based in Europe, with only minor battles fought in the Caribbean. Some wars, however, were born of political turmoil in the Caribbean itself.

In 1791, a slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint-Domingue led to the establishment in 1804 of Haiti, the first republic in the Caribbean. Neighboring Santo Domingo (present-day Dominican Republic) would attain its independence on three separate occasions in 1821, 1844 and 1865. Cuba became independent in 1898 following American intervention in the War of Independence during the Spanish-American war. Following the war, Spain's last colony in the Americas, Puerto Rico, became an unincorporated territory of the United States. The U.S. also took control of Cuba. The U.S., since the Monroe Doctrine in the 19th century, has excerted a major influence over the Caribbean. The so-called Banana Wars in the early 20th century saw the temporary U.S. occupations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Geography

The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies: Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin. These islands include Aruba (which has minor volcanic features), Curaçao, Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, The Bahamas, and Antigua. Others possess rugged towering mountain-ranges like the islands of Saint Martin, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Dominica, Montserrat, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Saint Thomas, Saint John, Tortola, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago.

Definitions of the terms Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles often vary. As part of the Puerto Rico Bank and the Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands microplate, the Virgin Islands are sometimes included with the Greater Antilles. The term Lesser Antilles is often used to define an island arc that includes Grenada but excludes Trinidad and Tobago and the Leeward Antilles.

The waters of the Caribbean Sea host large, migratory schools of fish, turtles, and coral reef formations. The Puerto Rico Trench, located on the fringe of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea just to the north of the island of Puerto Rico, is the deepest point in all of the Atlantic Ocean.

The region sits in the line of several major shipping routes with the Panama Canal connecting the western Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean.

Climate

The climate of the area is tropical, varying from tropical rainforest in some areas to tropical monsoon and tropical savanna in others. There are also some locations that are arid climates with considerable drought in some years, and the peaks of mountains tend to have cooler temperate climates.

Rainfall varies with elevation, size and water currents, such as the cool upwellings that keep the ABC islands arid. Warm, moist trade winds blow consistently from the east, creating both rain forest and semi arid climates across the region. The tropical rainforest climates include lowland areas near the Caribbean Sea from Costa Rica north to Belize, as well as the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, while the more seasonal dry tropical savanna climates are found in Cuba, northern Colombia and Venezuela, and southern Yucatán, Mexico. Arid climates are found along the extreme northern coast of Venezuela out to the islands including Aruba and Curaçao, as well as the northwestern tip of Yucatán.

While the region generally is sunny much of the year, the wet season from May through November sees more frequent cloud cover (both broken and overcast), while the dry season from December through April is more often clear to mostly sunny. Seasonal rainfall is divided into 'dry' and 'wet' seasons, with the latter six months of the year being wetter than the first half. The air temperature is hot much of the year, varying from 25 to 33 C (77 F to 90 F) between the wet and dry seasons. Seasonally, monthly mean temperatures vary from about 5 C (7 F) in the northern most regions, to less than 3 C in the southernmost areas of the Caribbean.

Hurricane season is from June to November, but they occur more frequently in August and September and more common in the northern islands of the Caribbean. Hurricanes that sometimes batter the region usually strike northward of Grenada and to the west of Barbados. The principal hurricane belt arcs to northwest of the island of Barbados in the Eastern Caribbean. A great example being recent events of Hurricane Irma devastating the island of Saint Martin during the 2017 hurricane season.

Sea surface temperatures change little annually, normally running from 30 °C (87 °F) in the warmest months to 26 °C (76 °F) in the coolest months. The air temperature is warm year round, in the 70s, 80s and 90s, and varies from winter to summer about 2–5 degrees on the southern islands and about a 10–20 degrees difference on the northern islands of the Caribbean. The northern islands, like The Bahamas, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, may be influenced by continental masses during winter months, such as cold fronts.

Island groups

Lucayan Archipelago

The Bahamas

Turks and Caicos Islands (United Kingdom)

Greater Antilles

Cuba

Cayman Islands (United Kingdom)

Jamaica

Hispaniola

Haiti

Dominican Republic

Puerto Rico (U.S. Commonwealth)

Spanish Virgin Islands

Navassa Island

Lesser Antilles

Leeward Islands

United States Virgin Islands (U.S.)

Saint Croix

Saint Thomas

Saint John

Water Island

British Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)

Tortola

Virgin Gorda

Anegada

Jost Van Dyke

Anguilla (United Kingdom)

Saint Martin, politically divided between

Saint Martin (France)

Historical groupings

All islands at some point were, and a few still are, colonies of European nations; a few are overseas or dependent territories:

British West Indies/Anglophone Caribbean – Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bay Islands, Guyana, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Croix (briefly), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname (until 1667), Trinidad and Tobago (from 1797) and the Turks and Caicos Islands

Danish West Indies – Possession of Denmark-Norway before 1814, then Denmark, present-day United States Virgin Islands

Dutch West Indies – Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Bay Islands (briefly), Saint Croix (briefly), Tobago, and Virgin Islands

French West Indies – Anguilla (briefly), Antigua and Barbuda (briefly), Dominica, Dominican Republic (briefly), Grenada, Haiti (formerly Saint-Domingue), Montserrat (briefly), Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius (briefly), Sint Maarten, St. Kitts (briefly), Tobago (briefly), Saint Croix, the current French overseas départements of French Guiana, Martinique and Guadeloupe (including Marie-Galante, La Désirade and Les Saintes), the current French overseas collectivities of Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin

Portuguese West Indies – present-day Barbados, known as Os Barbados in the 16th century when the Portuguese claimed the island en route to Brazil. The Portuguese left Barbados abandoned years before the British arrived.

Spanish West Indies – Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic), Martinica (until 1635 to France), Haiti (until 1659, lost to France), Puerto Rico, Jamaica (until 1655, lost to Great Britain), the Cayman Islands (until 1670 to Great Britain) Trinidad (until 1797, lost to Great Britain) and Bay Islands (until 1643, lost to Great Britain), coastal islands of Central America (except Belize), and some Caribbean coastal islands of Panama, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela.

Biodiversity

The Caribbean islands have one of the world's most diverse ecosystems. The animals, fungi, and plants are Conservation International biodiversity hotspots because of their exceptionally diverse terrestrial and marine ecosystems, ranging from montane cloud forests to tropical rainforest to cactus scrublands. In the Caribbean, the area of forest increased by 55,500 hectares per year in 1990–2000, 64,200 ha per year in 2000–2015 and 14,200 ha per year in 2015–2025.

The region also contains about 8% (by surface area) of the world's coral reefs along with extensive seagrass meadows, often found in the shallow marine waters bordering the region's island and continental coasts.

For the fungi, there is a checklist based on nearly 90,000 records derived from specimens in reference collections, published accounts, and field observations. It includes more than 11,250 species of fungi recorded in the region. The checklist is not exhaustive, and it is likely that the true number of fungal species already known in the Caribbean is higher. The number of fungal species in the Caribbean, including species not yet recorded, is likely far higher, given the generally accepted estimate that only about 7% of all fungi worldwide have been discovered. Estimates have been made for endemic fungal species on some Caribbean islands. For Cuba, 2,200 species of fungi have been tentatively identified as possible endemics of the island; for Puerto Rico, the number is 789; for the Dominican Republic, 699; for Trinidad and Tobago, 407.

Many ecosystems in the Caribbean islands have been affected by deforestation, pollution, and human encroachment. The arrival of the first humans is correlated with extinction of giant owls and dwarf ground sloths. The hotspot contains dozens of highly threatened animals (birds, mammals, and reptiles), fungi, and plants. The threatened animals include the Puerto Rican amazon, two species of solenodon (giant shrews) in Cuba and Hispaniola, and the Cuban crocodile.

The region's coral reefs, which contain about 70 species of hard corals and 500 to 700 species of reef-associated fishes, have undergone rapid decline in ecosystem integrity and are considered vulnerable to global warming and ocean acidification. According to a UNEP report, the Caribbean coral reefs might go extinct in next 20 years due to human population explosion along the coastlines, overfishing, pollution of coastal areas, and global warming.

Politics

Regionalism

Caribbean societies are very different from other Western societies in terms of size, culture, and degree of mobility of their citizens. The current economic and political problems the states face individually are common to all Caribbean states. Regional development has contributed to attempts to subdue current problems and avoid projected problems. From a political and economic perspective, regionalism serves to make Caribbean states active participants in current international affairs through collective coalitions. In 1973, the first political regionalism in the Caribbean Basin was created by advances of the English-speaking Caribbean nations through the institution known as the Caribbean Common Market and Community (CARICOM), in Guyana.

Certain scholars have argued both for and against generalizing the political structures of the Caribbean. On the one hand the Caribbean states are politically diverse, ranging from socialist systems toward more capitalist Westminster-style parliamentary systems. Other scholars argue that these differences are superficial, and that they tend to undermine commonalities in the various Caribbean states. Contemporary Caribbean systems seem to reflect a "blending of traditional and modern patterns, yielding hybrid systems that exhibit significant structural variations and divergent constitutional traditions yet ultimately appear to function in similar ways". The political systems of the Caribbean states share similar practices.

The influence of regionalism in the Caribbean is often marginalized. Some scholars believe that regionalism cannot exist in the Caribbean because each small state is unique. On the other hand, scholars also suggest that there are commonalities amongst the Caribbean nations that suggest regionalism exists. "Proximity as well as historical ties among the Caribbean nations has led to cooperation as well as a desire for collective action". These attempts at regionalization reflect the nations' desires to compete in the international economic system.

Furthermore, a lack of interest from other major states promoted regionalism in the region. In recent years, the Caribbean has suffered from a lack of U.S. interest. "With the end of the Cold War, U.S. security and economic interests have been focused on other areas. As a result there has been a significant reduction in U.S. aid and investment to the Caribbean." The lack of international support for these small, relatively poor states, helped regionalism prosper.

Demographics

Life expectancy

Life expectancy in some countries of the Caribbean in 2023, according to estimation of the World Bank Group:

Indigenous groups

Arawak peoples

Igneri

Taíno

Caquetio people

Ciboney

Ciguayo

Garifuna

Kalina

Kalinago

Lucayan

Macorix

Raizal

At the time of European contact, the dominant ethnic groups in the Caribbean included the Taíno of the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles, the Island Caribs of the southern Lesser Antilles, and smaller distinct groups such as the Guanajatabey of western Cuba and the Ciguayo of eastern Hispaniola. The population of the Caribbean is estimated to have been about 750,000 before European contact. After contact, social disruption and epidemic diseases such as smallpox and measles (to which they had no natural immunity) led to a decline in the Amerindian population, who were replaced by groups such as the Kongo, Igbo, Akan, Fon, and Yoruba, as well as military prisoners from Ireland, who were deported during the Cromwellian reign in England. Immigrants from Britain, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Denmark also arrived, although the mortality rate was high for both groups.

The population is estimated to have reached 2.2 million by 1800. Immigrants from India, China, Indonesia, and other countries arrived in the mid-19th century as indentured servants. After the Atlantic slave trade ended, the population increased naturally. The regional population was estimated at 37.5 million by 2000.

In Haiti and most of the French, Anglophone and Dutch Caribbean, the population is predominantly of African origin; on many of the islands/nations there are also significant populations of mixed racial origin (including Mulatto-Creole, Dougla, Mestizo, Quadroon, Cholo, Castizo, Criollo, Zambo, Pardo, Chindian, Cocoa panyols, and Eurasian). On the Cayman Islands, Aruba and Belize mixed-race people form the majority of the population. There are also populations of European ancestry; English, French, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish ancestry. Asians, especially those of Chinese, Indian descent, and Javanese Indonesians, form a significant minority in parts of the region. Indians form a plurality of the population in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. Most of their ancestors arrived in the 19th century as indentured laborers.

Language

Spanish (64%), French (25%), English (14%), Dutch, Haitian Creole, and Papiamento are the predominant official languages of various countries in the region. Almost every Caribbean country has a distinct creole language or dialect that serves as its vernacular language. Most of these do not have official status, with the aforementioned Haitian Creole and Papiamento as notable exceptions. Other languages such as Caribbean Hindustani, Chinese, Javanese, Arabic, Hmong, Amerindian languages, other African languages, other European languages, and other Indian languages like Telugu are also spoken.

Religion

Christianity is the predominant religion in the Caribbean (84.7%). Other religions in the region are Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Rastafari, Buddhism, Chinese folk religion (incl. Taoism and Confucianism), Baháʼí, Jainism, Sikhism, Kebatinan, Traditional African religions, Yoruba (incl. Trinidad Orisha), Afro-American religions, (incl. Santería, Palo, Umbanda, Brujería, Hoodoo, Candomblé, Quimbanda, Orisha, Xangô de Recife, Xangô do Nordeste, Comfa, Espiritismo, Santo Daime, Obeah, Abakuá, Kumina, Winti, Sanse, Cuban Vodú, Dominican Vudú, Louisiana Voodoo, Haitian Vodou, and Vodun).

Culture

Cuisine

Anguilla – rice, peas and fish

Antigua and Barbuda – fungee and pepperpot

The Bahamas – Guava duff, Conch Salad, Peas n' Rice, and conch fritters

Barbados – Cou-cou and flying fish

Belize – rice and beans, stew chicken with potato salad; white rice, stew beans and fry fish with cole slaw

British Virgin Islands – fish and fungee

Cayman Islands – turtle stew, turtle steak, grouper, conch stew, Cayman-style beef with rice and beans, cassava cake

Colombian Caribbean – rice with coconut milk, arroz con pollo, sancocho, Arab cuisine (due to the large Arab population)

Cuba – platillo Moros y Cristianos, ropa vieja, lechon, maduros, ajiaco

Dominica – mountain chicken, rice and peas, dumplings, saltfish, dashin, bakes (fried dumplings), coconut confiture, curry goat, cassava farine, oxtail

Dominican Republic – arroz con pollo with stewed red kidney beans, pan fried or braised beef, salad/ ensalada de coditos, empanadas, mangú, sancocho

Grenada – oil down, Roti and rice & chicken

Guyana – roti and curry, pepperpot, cook-up rice, metemgee, pholourie

Haiti – griot (fried pork) served with du riz a pois or diri ak pwa (rice and beans)

Major sights and landmarks in the region

Harrisons Cave in Barbados - a natural cave complex

Dunns Falls in Jamaica - a famous water feature near Ocho Rios

The old city centers of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Willemstad (Curaçao), and San Juan (Puerto Rico)

St. Maarten's airport for landings over Maho Beach

The naturally occurring, strikingly pointed Piton peaks in St. Lucia

Regional institutions

Here are some of the bodies that several islands share in collaboration:

African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Guyana

Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Barbados

Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDERA), Barbados

Caribbean Educators Network

Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC), Saint Lucia

Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP), UN Environment Programme–administered Regional Seas Programme, secretariat located in Kingston, Jamaica

Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Barbados and Jamaica

Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Food Crops Society, Puerto Rico

Caribbean Football Union (CFU), Jamaica

Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), Florida and Puerto Rico