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Caribbean

Coordinates: 14°31′32″N 75°49′06″W / 14.52556°N 75.81833°W / 14.52556; -75.81833
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"West Indian" redirects here. For the western part of India, see West India.
"West Indies" redirects here. For other uses of the phrase, see West Indies (disambiguation).
For other uses, see Caribbean (disambiguation).
Caribbean
SizeAn archipelago, 4,020 kilometres (2,500 mi) in length, and up to 257 kilometres (160 mi) wide; region contains more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays
Population (2000)37.5 million[1]
Ethnic groupsAfricans (notably Igbo, Akan, Yoruba, Fon, Kongo),[2] Native Americans (Arawak, Caribs, Tainos), Europeans (Spanish, French, British, Portuguese, Dutch), Asian (Chinese, Indian)
DemonymWest Indian, Caribbean, American
Government13 sovereign states; also, 2 overseas departments and 14 dependent territories, tied to the European Union or to the United States
Largest citiesHavana
Santo Domingo
Port-au-Prince
Kingston
San Juan
Port of Spain
Internet TLDMultiple
Calling codeMultiple
Time ZoneUTC-5 to UTC-4
Central America and the Caribbean
Detail of tectonic plates from: Tectonic plates of the world

The Caribbean[3] is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America.

Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays. These islands, called the West Indies, generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea.[4] These islands are called the West Indies because when Christopher Columbus landed there in 1492 he believed that he had reached the Indies (in Asia).

The region consists of the Antilles, divided into the larger Greater Antilles which bound the sea on the north and the Lesser Antilles on the south and east (including the Leeward Antilles), and the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, which are in fact in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba, not in the Caribbean Sea.

Geo-politically, the West Indies are usually regarded as a sub-region of North America[5][6][7][8] and are organized into 27 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. At one time, there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies composed of ten English-speaking Caribbean territories, all of which were then UK dependencies.

The region takes its name from that of the Carib, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of European contact.[9]

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 slavery, European colonisation and the plantation system.

Demographics

Beach in Tobago

The population of the Caribbean is estimated to have been around 750,000 immediately before European contact, although lower and higher figures are given. After contact, genocide and disease led to a decline in the Native American population.[11][12] From 1500 to 1800 the population rose as slaves arrived from West Africa[13] such as the Kongo, Igbo, Akan, Fon and Yoruba as well as military prisioners and captured slaves from Ireland, who were deported during the Cromwellian reign in England. [14] Immigrants from Britain, Italy. France, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark also arrived, although the mortality rate was high for both groups.[15]

The population is estimated to have reached 2.2 million by 1800.[16] Immigrants from India, China, and other countries arrived in the 19th century.[17] After the ending of the Atlantic slave trade, the population increased naturally.[18] The total regional population was estimated at 37.5 million by 2000.[1]

File:IMG 2908.JPG
Puerto Cruz beach in Margarita Island, Venezuela

The majority of the Caribbean has populations of mainly Africans in the French Caribbean, Anglophone Caribbean and Dutch Caribbean, there are minorities of mixed-race and European peoples of Dutch, English, French, Italian, and Portuguese ancestry. Asians, especially those of Chinese and Indian descent, form a significant minority in the region and also contribute to multiracial communities. Many of their ancestors arrived in the 19th century as indentured laborers.

The Spanish-speaking Caribbean have primarily mixed race, African, or European majorities. The Dominican Republic has mixed majority of African, European, and Native; Puerto Rico and Cuba have a European majority. The mixtures are those who are primarily descended from West Africans, Native Americans, and Spaniards.

Trinidad and Tobago has a multi-racial cosmopolitan society due to the arrival of the Africans, Indians, Chinese, Syrians, Lebanese and Europeans. This multi-racial mix has created sub-ethnicities that often straddle the boundaries of major ethnicities and include Chindian and Dougla.

Indigenous tribes

Language

Spanish, Italian, English, French, Dutch, Haitian Creole and Papiamento are the predominant official languages of various countries in the region, though a handful of unique Creole languages or dialects can also be found from one country to another.

Religion

See also: Category:Religion in the Caribbean

The largest religious groups in the region are: Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Rastafari, Santería, and Voodoo among others.

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of the Caribbean
San Juan, Puerto Rico

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 (possessing only minor volcanic features), Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, The Bahamas or Antigua. Others possess rugged towering mountain-ranges like the islands of Cuba, Dominica, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Guadeloupe, and Trinidad & Tobago.

The climate of the region is tropical but rainfall varies with elevation, size and water currents (cool upwellings keep the ABC islands arid). Warm, moist tradewinds blow consistently from the east creating rainforest/semidesert divisions on mountainous islands. Occasional northwesterlies affect the northern islands in the winter. Winters are warm, but drier.

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.[19]

Hurricanes, which at times batter the region, usually strike northwards of Grenada, and to the west of Barbados. The principal hurricane belt arcs to northwest of the island of Barbados in the Eastern Caribbean.

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

Historical groupings

Main article: History of the Caribbean
Political Evolution of Central America and the Caribbean from 1700 to present

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

The mostly Spanish-controlled Caribbean in the sixteenth century

The British West Indies were united by the United Kingdom into a West Indies Federation between 1958 and 1962. The independent countries formerly part of the B.W.I. still have a joint cricket team that 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.

Modern day island territories

Islands in and near the Caribbean
Main article: List of islands in the Caribbean
See also: Caribbean South America and Caribbean basin

Continental countries with Caribbean coastlines and islands

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The nations of Belize and Guyana, although on the mainland of Central America and South America respectively, are former British colonies and maintain many cultural ties to the Caribbean. They are members of CARICOM. Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast, often referred to as the Mosquito Coast, was also a former British colony. It maintains many cultural ties to the Caribbean as distinct from the Pacific coast. Guyana participates in West Indies cricket tournaments and many players from Guyana have been on the West Indies Test cricket team. The Turneffe Islands (and many other islands and reefs) are part of Belize and lie in the Caribbean Sea. The nation of Suriname, on the mainland of South America, is a former Dutch colony and also a member of CARICOM.

Biodiversity

The Caribbean islands are classified as one of Conservation International's biodiversity hotspots because they support exceptionally diverse ecosystems, ranging from montane cloud forests to cactus scrublands. These ecosystems have been devastated by deforestation and human encroachment. The arrival of the first humans is correlated with extinction of giant owls and dwarf ground sloths.[20] The hotspot contains dozens of highly threatened species, ranging from birds, to mammals and reptiles. Popular examples include the Puerto Rican Amazon, two species of solenodon (giant shrews) in Cuba and Haiti, and the Cuban crocodile. The hotspot is also remarkable for the decimation of its fauna.

Saona Island, Dominican Republic

Politics

Regionalism

Caribbean societies are very different from other western societies in terms of size, culture, and degree of mobility of their citizens.[21] The current economic and political problems which 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 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).[22]

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 communist systems such as Cuba toward more capitalist Westminster-style parliamentary systems as in the Commonwealth Caribbean. 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.”[23] 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 not 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.”[24] These attempts at regionalization reflect the nations' desires to compete in the international economic system.[24]

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.”[25] The lack of international support for these small, relatively poor states, helped regionalism prosper.

Following the Cold War another issue of importance in the Caribbean has been the reduced economic growth of some Caribbean States due to the United States and European Union's allegations of special treatment toward the region by each other.

United States effects on regionalism

The United States under President Bill Clinton launched a challenge in the World Trade Organization against the EU over Europe's preferential program, known as the Lomé Convention, which allowed banana exports from the former colonies of the Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP) to enter Europe cheaply.[26] The World Trade Organization sided in the United States' favour and the beneficial elements of the convention to African, Caribbean and Pacific states has been partially dismantled and replaced by the Cotonou Agreement.[27]

During the US/EU dispute the United States imposed large tariffs on European Union goods (up to 100% on some imports) from the EU in order to pressure Europe to change the agreement with the Caribbean nations in favour of the Cotonou Agreement.[28]

Farmers in the Caribbean have complained of their falling profits and rising costs. Some farmers have faced increased pressure to turn towards the cultivation of illegal-drugs which has a higher profit margin and fills the sizable demand for illegal drugs in other parts of North America and Europe.[29][30]

European Union effects on regionalism

The European Union has also taken issue with US based taxation extended to US companies via the Caribbean countries. The EU instituted a broad labeling of many nations as tax havens by the France-based OECD. The United States has not been in favor of shutting off the practice yet, mainly due to the higher costs that would be passed on to US companies via taxation. Caribbean countries have largely countered the allegations by the OECD by signing more bilateral information sharing deals with OECD members, thus reducing the dangerous aspects of secrecy, and they have strengthened their legislation against money laundering and on the conditions under which companies can be based in their nations. The Caribbean nations have also started to more closely cooperate in the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and other instruments to add oversight of the offshore industry.

One of the most important associations that deal with regionalism amongst the nations of the Caribbean Basin has been the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). Proposed by CARICOM in 1992, the ACS soon won the support of the other countries of the region. It was founded in July 1994. The ACS maintains regionalism within the Caribbean on issues which are unique to the Caribbean Basin. Through coalition building, like the ACS and CARICOM, regionalism has become an undeniable part of the politics and economics of the Caribbean. The successes of region-building initiatives are still debated by scholars, yet regionalism remains prevalent throughout the Caribbean.

Regional institutions

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

Culture

Cuisine

Main article: Caribbean cuisine

Favorite or National dishes

See also: National_dish § Country-Dish.2FFood

See also

Main article: List of Caribbean-related topics

References

  1. ^ a b Table A.2, Database documentation, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Population Database, version 3, International Center for Tropical Agriculture et al., 2005. Accessed on line February 20, 2008.
  2. ^ Defining Creole. Oxford University Press US. 2005. p. 379. ISBN 0195166701. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Last= ignored (|last= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |firt= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Pronounced /ˌkærɨˈbiːən/ or /kəˈrɪbiən/. Both pronunciations are equally valid; indeed, they see equal use even within areas of the Caribbean itself. Cf. Royal Caribbean, which stresses the second syllable, and Pirates of the Caribbean, which stresses the first and third. In each case, as a proper noun, those who would normally pronounce it a different way may use the pronunciation associated with the noun when referring to it. More generic nouns such as the Caribbean Community are generally referred to using the speaker's preferred pronunciation.
    Template:Lang-es; Dutch Caraïbenⓘ; Template:Lang-fr or more commonly Antilles
  4. ^ Asann, Ridvan (2007). A Brief History of the Caribbean (Revised ed.). New York: Facts on File, Inc. p. 3. ISBN 0816038112.
  5. ^ Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49), United Nations Statistics Division
  6. ^ North America AtlasNational Geographic
  7. ^ "North America" Atlas of Canada
  8. ^ "North America". Britannica Concise Encyclopedia; "... associated with the continent is Greenland, the largest island in the world, and such offshore groups as the Arctic Archipelago, the Bahamas, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Queen Charlotte Islands, and the Aleutian Islands."
  9. ^ "Carib". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2008-02-20. inhabited the Lesser Antilles and parts of the neighbouring South American coast at the time of the Spanish conquest.
  10. ^ Background of the business forum of the Greater Caribbean of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
  11. ^ p. 486, A Population History of the Caribbean, Stanley L. Engerman, pp. 483–528 in A Population History of North America, edited by Michael R. Haines and Richard Hall Steckel, Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN 0521496667.
  12. ^ Stacy Goodling, "Effects of European Diseases on the Inhabitants of the New World", Millersville University
  13. ^ The Sugar Revolutions and Slavery, U.S. Library of Congress
  14. ^ 'To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland', O'Callaghan S, Brandon Press, 2001, ISBN-10: 0863222870.
  15. ^ pp. 488–492, Engerman.
  16. ^ Figure 11.1, Engerman.
  17. ^ pp. 501–502, Engerman.
  18. ^ pp. 504, 511, Engerman.
  19. ^ Uri ten Brink. "Puerto Rico Trench 2003: Cruise Summary Results". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  20. ^ North American Extinctions v. World
  21. ^ Gowricharn, Ruben. Caribbean Transnationalism: Migraton, Pluralization, and Social Cohesion, Lanham: Lexington Books, 2006. pp. 5
  22. ^ Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean, London: Lynne Rienner, 2003. pp. 150
  23. ^ Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean, London: Lynne Rienner, 2003. pp. 165
  24. ^ a b Serbin, Andres. "Towards an Association of Caribbean States: Raising Some Awkward Questions", Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs (2004): pp. 1
  25. ^ Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean, London: Lynne Rienner, 2003. pp. 123
  26. ^ The U.S.-EU Banana Agreement See also: "Dominica: Poverty and Potential". BBC. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  27. ^ WTO rules against EU banana import practices
  28. ^ No truce in banana war
  29. ^ World: Americas St Vincent hit by banana war
  30. ^ Concern for Caribbean farmers
  31. ^ CAIC
  32. ^ "CANTO Caribbean portal". Canto.org. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  33. ^ "Caribbean Educators Network". CEN. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  34. ^ "Carilec". Carilec.com. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  35. ^ http://www.caribbeanhotels.org
  36. ^ "Caribbean Regional Environmental Programme". Crepnet.net. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  37. ^ "Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism". Caricom-fisheries.com. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  38. ^ "Official website of the RNM". Crnm.org. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  39. ^ http://www.c-t-u.org
  40. ^ "University of the West Indies". Uwi.edu. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  41. ^ "West Indies Cricket Board WICB Official Website". Windiescricket.com. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  42. ^ http://www.caribbeanamericanfoods.com/?page=island_dishes

"Diversity Amid Globalization" 4th edition. Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff.

Further reading

  • Develtere, Patrick. 1994. "Co-operation and development: With special reference to the experience of the Commonwealth Caribbean" ACCO, ISBN 9033431815
  • Gowricharn, Ruben. Caribbean Transnationalism: Migraton, Pluralization, and Social Cohesion. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2006.
  • Henke, Holger, and Fred Reno, eds. Modern Political Culture in the Caribbean. Kingston: University of West Indies Press, 2003.
  • Heuman, Gad. The Caribbean: Brief Histories. London: A Hodder Arnold Publication, 2006
  • Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean. London: Lynne Rienner, 2003.
  • de Kadt, Emanuel, (editor). Patterns of foreign influence in the Caribbean, Oxford University Press, 1972
  • Knight, Franklin W.. The Modern Caribbean. na: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
  • Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny. Addison-Wesley Publishing. ISBN 0201523965
  • Langley, Lester D. The United States and the Caribbean in the Twentieth Century. London: University of Georgia Press, 1989.
  • Maingot, Anthony P. The United States and the Caribbean: Challenges of an Asymmetrical Relationship. Westview P, 1994.
  • Ramnarine, Tina K., "Beautiful Cosmos: Performance and Belonging in the Caribbean Diaspora". London, Pluto Press, 2007
  • Serbin, Andres. "Towards an Association of Caribbean States: Raising Some Awkward Questions." Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs (2004): 1-19. (This scholar has many articles referencing the politics of the Caribbean)

14°31′32″N 75°49′06″W / 14.52556°N 75.81833°W / 14.52556; -75.81833

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