Caribbean

West Indies redirects here. For the region's cricket squad see West Indian cricket team.
West Indian also redirects here. For the western part of India, see West India.

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

Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the area comprises more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cayes. 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 east, and the Bahamas which are northeast of the sea. Bermuda lies much further to the north in the Atlantic Ocean and is sometimes included in the West Indies. Geopolitically, the West Indies are organized into 28 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.
Caribbean Portal

The name "Caribbean" is named after the Caribs, one of the dominant Amerindian groups in the region at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. The analogous "West Indies" originates from Christopher Columbus' idea that he had landed in the Indies (then meaning all of south and east Asia) when he had actually reached the Americas. The Spanish term Antillas was commonly assigned to the newly discovered lands; stemming from this, "Sea of the Antilles" is a common alternate name for the Caribbean Sea in various European languages. After European discovery and into the early 18th century, piracy in the Caribbean was common.

[edit]

Historical groupings

Main article: History of the Caribbean

Most islands at some point were, or still are, colonies of European nations:

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 successfully 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 of 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, were former British colonies and maintain many cultural ties to the Caribbean and are members of CARICOM. The Turneffe Islands (and many other islands and reefs) are part of Belize and lie in the Caribbean Sea.

[edit]

Island territories near the Caribbean

Though not technically in the Caribbean Sea, the nearby Bahaman Archipelago is sometimes considered to be part of the Caribbean.

[edit]

Indigenous Tribes

[edit]

See also

Caribbean Portal
Find more information on Caribbean by searching Wikipedia's sister projects:
Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary

Textbooks from Wikibooks

 Quotations from Wikiquote

 Source texts from Wikisource

 Images and media from Commons

 News stories from Wikinews
[edit]

Regional Institutions

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

Many of the nations in the Caribbean play international cricket as one team called the West Indies.


Regions of the World
Africa Central Africa · Eastern Africa · Northern Africa · Southern Africa · Western Africa
Great Lakes · Guinea · Horn of Africa · Maghreb · Mediterranean · Middle East · Sahel · Sub-Saharan Africa · Sudan
Americas North America Caribbean · Central America · Northern America
Great Lakes · Great Plains · Latin America · Pacific Northwest · Pacific Rim</small>
South America Andean states · Guianas · Latin America · Patagonia · Pacific Rim · Southern Cone
Eurasia Asia Central Asia · Eastern Asia · Northern Asia · Southern Asia · Southeastern Asia · Western Asia
Anatolia · Arabia · Caucasus · Far East · East Indies · India · Levant · Middle East · Near East · Pacific Rim · Siberia
Europe Eastern Europe · Northern Europe · Southern Europe · Western Europe
Balkans · Baltic Region · Benelux · British Isles · Caucasus · Central Europe · Mediterranean · Nordic Region · Scandinavia
Oceania Australasia · Melanesia · Micronesia · Polynesia
Pacific Rim
Polar Arctic · Antarctica
ca:Carib

da:Caribien de:Westindische Inseln eo:Antiloj es:Islas Caribes et:Lääne-India fr:Antilles gl:Caribe id:Karibia he:האיים הקאריביים it:Antille ja:西インド諸島 ko:서인도 제도 nds:Karibik nl:Caribisch Gebied no:Karibien pl:Karaiby pt:Caribe ru:Вест-Индия simple:Caribbean fi:Länsi-Intia sv:Västindien th:แคริเบียน tr:Karayipler zh:加勒比海国家

Retrieved from "http://www.dictionpedia.com/en/Caribbean"