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Caribbean
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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]
Ethnic groups Africans (notably Igbo, Akan, Yoruba, Fon, Kongo),[2] Native Americans (Arawak, Caribs, Tainos), Europeans (Spanish, French, British, Portuguese, Dutch), Asian (Chinese, Indian)
Demonym West Indian, Caribbean, American
Government 13 sovereign states; also, 2 overseas departments and 14 dependent territories, tied to the European Union or to the United States
Largest cities Havana
Santo Domingo
Port-au-Prince
Kingston
San Juan
Port of Spain
Internet TLD Multiple
Calling code Multiple
Time Zone UTC-5 to UTC-4
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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.
- Physiographically, the Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea. To the north is the Caribbean Sea bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida, and the Northern Atlantic Ocean which lies to the East and Northeast; the coastline of the continent of South America lies to the south.
- Politically, "Caribbean" may be centred around socio-economic groupings found in the region. For example the block known as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) contains both the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Suriname found in South America, along with Belize in Central America as full members. Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands which are found in the Atlantic Ocean are Associate members of the Caribbean Community, and the same goes for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas which is a full member of the Caribbean Community.'
- Alternately the organisation known as the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) consists of almost every nation in the surrounding regions which lie on the Caribbean Sea plus El Salvador which lies solely on the Pacific Ocean. According to the ACS the total population of its member states is some 227 million people.[10]
Demographics
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 and immigrants from Ireland, Britain, Italy. France, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark, although the mortality rate was high for both groups.[14]
The population is estimated to have reached 2.2 million by 1800.[15] Immigrants from India, China, and other countries arrived in the 19th century.[16] After the ending of the Atlantic slave trade, the population increased naturally.[17] The total regional population was estimated at 37.5 million by 2000.[1]
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.