Caribbean

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For other uses, see Caribbean (disambiguation).
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Caribbean

Size An 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]
Demonym Caribbean person, West Indian
Government 13 sovereign states; also, 2 overseas departments and 12 dependent territories, the majority tied to the European Union
Internet TLD Multiple
Calling Code Multiple
Central America and the Caribbean
Central America and the Caribbean
Detail of tectonic plates from: Tectonic plates of the world
Detail of tectonic plates from: Tectonic plates of the world

The Caribbean (Dutch: Cariben or Caraïben; French: Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Spanish: Caribe) is a region of the Americas consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of North America, east of Central America, and to the north and west of South America.

Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the area comprises more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays. The West Indies consist 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. Geopolitically, the West Indies are usually reckoned as a subregion of North America and are organised 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.

The Caribbean islands are an island chain 4,020 kilometres (2,500 mi) long and no more than 257 kilometres (160 mi) wide at any given point. They enclose the Caribbean Sea.[2]

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.[3] In the English-speaking Caribbean, someone from the Caribbean is usually referred to as a "West Indian," although the phrase "Caribbean person" is sometimes used.

Contents

[edit] Definition

The term 'Caribbean' has multiple uses. Its principal ones are geographical and political.

[edit] Demographics

Immediately prior to European contact, the population of the Caribbean is estimated to have been around 750,000, although some give higher figures. After contact, war and disease led to a decline in the Native American population.[4] From 1500 to 1800, the population rose owing to the arrival of slaves from West Africa and immigrants from Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark, although mortality was high for both groups.[5] The population is estimated to have reached 2.2 million by 1800.[6] The 19th century saw the arrival of migrants from India, China, and other countries.[7] After the ending of the Atlantic slave trade, population continued to grow via natural increase,[8] and was estimated at 37.5 million as of 2000.[1]

[edit] Geography and climate

A street in Barbados
A street in Barbados
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico

The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies from one place to another. Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin. Such islands include Aruba (possessing only minor volcanic features), Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands 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, and Trinidad.

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.[9]

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.

[edit] Biodiversity

Saona Island, Dominican Republic
Saona Island, Dominican Republic
Ile a Vache, Haiti
Ile a Vache, Haiti

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 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 Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), as well as the Cuban crocodile. The hotspot is also remarkable for the diminutive nature of much of its fauna.

[edit] Historical groupings

Main article: History of the Caribbean

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 mostly Spanish-controlled Caribbean in the sixteenth century

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 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.

[edit] Present-day island territories

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

[edit] Continental countries with Caribbean coastlines and islands

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 and are members of CARICOM. Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast, often referred to as the Mosquito Coast was also a former British colony and maintains many cultural ties to the Caribbean distinct to 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.

[edit] Indigenous tribes

Aruba

Anguilla

Barbados

Bonaire

British Virgin Islands

Dominica

Rastafarian from Jamaica

Montserrat

[edit] Regionalism

Caribbean societies are very different from other western societies in terms of size, culture, and degree of mobility of their citizens.[10] The current economic and political problems that the states of the Caribbean face individually are common to all Caribbean states. Regional development has contributed in attempts to halt current problems and avoided projected problems. Regionalism in the Caribbean from a political economic perspective is an attempt to portray Caribbean states as active participants in current international affairs through collective coalitions. In 1973, the first true orientation of regionalism in the Caribbean Basin was created on the advances of the English-speaking Caribbean nations through the institutional vehicle known as the Caribbean Common Market and Community (CARICOM).[11] 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 like Cuba to Westminster-style parliamentary systems like 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 therefore 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.”[12] 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 could 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 which would suggest that regionalism exists. “Proximity as well as historical ties among the Caribbean nations has led to cooperation as well as a desire for collective action.”[13] These general attempts at regionalization owe a great deal to where the Caribbean stands in the international system and a desire to reposition itself to compete in the international economic system.[13] Furthermore, a lack of interest from the 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.”[14] The lack of international support for the Caribbean which was comprised of small, relatively poor states, helped regionalism prospers through the creation of regional associations. One of the most important associations that deal with regionalism amongst the nations of the Caribbean Basin is the Association of Caribbean States. Proposed by CARICOM in 1992, the ACS soon won the support of the other countries of the region and in July of 1994, the association came into existence. The ACS is concerned with attempting to maintain 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.

[edit] Regional institutions

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

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes and 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. ^ Asan, Ridvan (2007). A Brief History of the Caribbean, Revised, New York: Facts on File, Inc., p. 3. ISBN 0-8160-3811-2. 
  3. ^ Carib, Encyclopedia Brittanica; accessed on line February 20, 2008.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ pp. 488–492, Engerman.
  6. ^ Figure 11.1, Engerman.
  7. ^ pp. 501–502, Engerman.
  8. ^ pp. 504, 511, Engerman.
  9. ^ Uri ten Brink. Puerto Rico Trench 2003: Cruise Summary Results. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  10. ^ Gowricharn, Ruben. Caribbean Transnationalism: Migraton, Pluralization, and Social Cohesion. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2006. pp. 5
  11. ^ Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean. London: Lynne Rienner, 2003. pp. 150
  12. ^ Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean. London: Lynne Rienner, 2003. pp. 165
  13. ^ a b Serbin, Andres. "Towards an Association of Caribbean States: Raising Some Awkward Questions." Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs (2004): pp. 1
  14. ^ Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean. London: Lynne Rienner, 2003. pp. 123

[edit] Further reading

  • de Kadt, Emanuel, (editor). Patterns of foreign influence in the Caribbean, London, New York, published for the Royal Institute of International Affairs by Oxford University Press, 1972.
  • Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny. Addison-Wesley Publishing. ISBN 0-201-52396-5.
  • Digital Library of the Caribbean
  • Eastern Caribbean Islands
  • Develtere. Patrick, 1994. "Cooperation and Development, with special reference to the Commonwealth Caribbean" ACCO, Leuven, ISBN 90-334-3181-5
  • 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 P, 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.
  • Knight, Franklin W.. The Modern Caribbean. na: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
  • Langley, Lester D. The United States and the Caribbean in the Twentieth Century. London: University of Georgia P, 1989.
  • Maingot, Anthony P. The United States and the Caribbean: Challenges of an Asymmetrical Relationship. San Francisco: Westview P, 1994.
  • 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)
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