Caribbean
Islands and coastal region surrounded by the Caribbean Sea From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Caribbean (/ˌkærɪˈbiːən, kəˈrɪbiən/ KARR-ib-EE-ən, kə-RIB-ee-ən, locally /ˈkærɪbiæn/ KARR-ib-ee-an;[4] Spanish: el Caribe; French: les Caraïbes; Dutch: de Caraïben), is a subregion in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America to the west, and South America to the south, it comprises numerous islands, cays, islets, reefs, and banks. It includes the Lucayan Archipelago, Greater Antilles, and Lesser Antilles of the West Indies; the Quintana Roo islands and Belizean islands of the Yucatán Peninsula; and the Bay Islands, Miskito Cays, Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, and Corn Islands of Central America. It also includes the coastal areas on the continental mainland of the Americas bordering the region from the Yucatán Peninsula in North America through Central America to the Guianas in South America.[5][6]
Caribbean as seen from space at night, 2012
 | |
| Area | 269,681 km2 (104,124 sq mi) |
|---|---|
| Population | 44,182,048[1][2] |
| Population density | 151.5/km2 (392/sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | Afro-Caribbean, Latino or Hispanic, (Spanish, Portuguese, Criollo, Mestizo, Mulatto, Pardo, and Zambo), Indian, European, Chinese, Jewish, Arab, Amerindian, Javanese,[3] Hmong, Multiracial |
| Religions | Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Afro-American religions, Traditional African religions, Rastafari, Native American religions, Judaism, Buddhism, Chinese folk religions (incl. Confucianism and Taoism), Baháʼí, Kebatinan, Sikhism, Irreligion, others |
| Demonym | Caribbean, West Indian |
| Countries | 16 |
| Dependencies | 12 |
| Languages | |
| Time zones | UTC−05:00 to UTC−04:00 |
| Internet TLD | Multiple |
| Calling code | Multiple |
| Largest cities | |
| UN M49 code | 029 – Caribbean419 – Latin America and the Caribbean019 – Americas001 – World |
Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region has thousands of islands, islets, reefs, and cays.[7] Island arcs delineate the northern and eastern edges of the Caribbean Sea:[7] 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.[8][9]
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 North and South Caribbean Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua, the Limón Province of Costa Rica, Cartagena and Barranquilla in Colombia, Maracaibo and Cumaná in Venezuela, are considered part of Caribbean.[10] As with the coastal areas of the mainland, Belize, Panama, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana 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.[11][12] The Caribbean is sometimes considered alongside Latin America as a region.[13]
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.[14] 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 colonization by the Spanish, English, Dutch, and French; the Atlantic slave trade from Sub-Saharan Africa; indentured servitude from the Indian subcontinent and Asia; as well as modern immigration from around the world.
The region takes its name from the Caribs, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Americas.[15]
The two most prevalent pronunciations of "Caribbean" outside the Caribbean are /ˌkærɪˈbiːən/ (KARR-ə-BEE-ən), with the primary stress on the third syllable, and /kəˈrɪbiən/ (kə-RIB-ee-ən), with the stress on the second. Most authorities of the last century preferred the stress on the third syllable.[16] This is the older of the two pronunciations, but the stressed-second-syllable variant has been established for over 75 years.[17] It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer /ˌkærɪˈbiːən/ (KARR-ə-BEE-ən) while North American speakers more typically use /kəˈrɪbiən/ (kə-RIB-ee-ən),[18] but major American dictionaries and other sources list the stress on the third syllable as more common in American English too.[19][20][21][22] 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".[23]
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, /ˈkærɪbiæn/ (KARR-ih-bee-an).[4][23]
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.
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."[32]
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 Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Trinidad, were inhabited by both Carib-speaking and Arawak-speaking groups.
European contact
Soon after Christopher Columbus came to the Caribbean, 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 cockpit for European wars for centuries.
Columbus, and the early colonists of Hispaniola, treated the indigenous peoples brutally, even enslaving children.[33] 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,[34] so starting in 1503, slaves from Africa were imported to the colony.
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.[35] 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 (now 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.
Decolonisation and modern period
Between the 1960s and 80s, most of the British holdings in the Caribbean achieved political independence, starting with Jamaica in 1962, then Trinidad and Tobago (1962), British Guiana (1966), Barbados (1966), the Bahamas (1973), Grenada (1974), Dominica (1978), St. Lucia (1979), St. Vincent (1979), Antigua and Barbuda (1981), and St. Kitts and Nevis (1983). Presently, the United States, Britain, France and the Netherlands still have some Caribbean possessions.
The decline of the export industries meant a need to diversify the economies of the Caribbean territories. The tourism industry started developing in the early 20th century, rapidly developing in the 1960s when regular international flights made vacations affordable and is now a $50 billion industry. Another industry that developed in the early 20th century was offshore banking and financial services, particularly in The Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, as the proximity of the Caribbean islands to North America made them an attractive location for branches of foreign banks seeking to avail themselves of less complicated regulations and lower tax rates.
US interventions
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2024) |
The United States has conducted military operations in the Caribbean for at least 100 years.[36]
Since the Monroe Doctrine, the United States gained a major influence on most Caribbean nations. In the early part of the 20th century this influence was extended by participation in the Banana Wars. Victory in the Spanish–American War and the signing of the Platt Amendment in 1901 ensured that the United States would have the right to interfere in Cuban political and economic affairs, militarily if necessary. After the Cuban Revolution of 1959, relations deteriorated rapidly leading to the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and successive US attempts to destabilize the island, based upon Cold War fears of the Soviet threat. The US invaded and occupied Hispaniola for 19 years (1915–34), subsequently dominating the Haitian economy through aid and loan repayments. The US invaded Haiti again in 1994. After the 2004 Haitian coup d'état, the US were accused by CARICOM of arranging it to remove elected Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In 1965, 23,000 US troops were sent to the Dominican Republic to quash a local uprising against military rule (see Dominican Civil War). President Lyndon Johnson had ordered the invasion to stem what he deemed to be a "Communist threat." However, the mission appeared ambiguous and was roundly condemned throughout the hemisphere as a return to gunboat diplomacy. In 1983, the US invaded Grenada to remove populist left-wing leader Maurice Bishop. The US maintains a naval military base in Cuba at Guantanamo Bay. The base is one of five unified commands whose "area of responsibility" is Latin America and the Caribbean. The command is headquartered in Miami, Florida.
Counter-attack by Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces supported by T-34 tanks near Playa Giron during the Bay of Pigs Invasion, 19 April 1961.
A Marine heavy machine gunner monitors a position along the international neutral corridor in Santo Domingo, 1965.
A Soviet-made BTR-60 armored personnel carrier seized by US forces during Operation Urgent Fury (1983)
US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, Bell AH-1 Cobra and Bell OH-58 Kiowa helicopters on deck of the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) off Haiti, 1994.
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_off_Haiti_in_1994.JPEG)
The Caribbean Plate is the reason islands exist here. On the north, obduction has scraped rocks onto the North American Plate (such as in western Cuba). On the east, the Lesser Antilles subduction zone produces volcanism and an island arc. Complex interactions with the South American Plate has created islands along the southern boundary. Coral islands are found in insular Colombia near the east coast of Central America.
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. The Virgin Islands as part of the Puerto Rican bank 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.[37]
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 Curacao, 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 only 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 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. 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 only 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.
Aruba: Latitude 12°N
| Climate data for Oranjestad, Aruba (1981–2010, extremes 1951–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 32.5 (90.5) |
33.0 (91.4) |
33.9 (93.0) |
34.4 (93.9) |
34.9 (94.8) |
35.2 (95.4) |
35.3 (95.5) |
36.1 (97.0) |
36.5 (97.7) |
35.4 (95.7) |
35.0 (95.0) |
34.8 (94.6) |
36.5 (97.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.0 (86.0) |
30.4 (86.7) |
30.9 (87.6) |
31.5 (88.7) |
32.0 (89.6) |
32.2 (90.0) |
32.0 (89.6) |
32.6 (90.7) |
32.7 (90.9) |
32.1 (89.8) |
31.3 (88.3) |
30.4 (86.7) |
31.5 (88.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.7 (80.1) |
26.8 (80.2) |
27.2 (81.0) |
27.9 (82.2) |
28.5 (83.3) |
28.7 (83.7) |
28.6 (83.5) |
29.1 (84.4) |
29.2 (84.6) |
28.7 (83.7) |
28.1 (82.6) |
27.2 (81.0) |
28.1 (82.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 24.5 (76.1) |
24.7 (76.5) |
25.0 (77.0) |
25.8 (78.4) |
26.5 (79.7) |
26.7 (80.1) |
26.4 (79.5) |
26.8 (80.2) |
26.9 (80.4) |
26.4 (79.5) |
25.8 (78.4) |
25.0 (77.0) |
25.9 (78.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 21.3 (70.3) |
20.6 (69.1) |
21.4 (70.5) |
21.5 (70.7) |
21.8 (71.2) |
22.7 (72.9) |
21.2 (70.2) |
21.3 (70.3) |
22.1 (71.8) |
21.9 (71.4) |
22.0 (71.6) |
20.5 (68.9) |
20.5 (68.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 39.3 (1.55) |
20.6 (0.81) |
8.7 (0.34) |
11.6 (0.46) |
16.3 (0.64) |
18.7 (0.74) |
31.7 (1.25) |
25.8 (1.02) |
45.5 (1.79) |
77.8 (3.06) |
94.0 (3.70) |
81.8 (3.22) |
471.8 (18.58) |
| Source: DEPARTAMENTO METEOROLOGICO ARUBA,[38] (extremes)[39] | |||||||||||||
Puerto Rico: Latitude 18°N
| Climate data for San Juan, Puerto Rico | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 33 (92) |
36 (96) |
36 (96) |
36 (97) |
36 (96) |
36 (97) |
35 (95) |
35 (95) |
36 (97) |
36 (97) |
37 (98) |
36 (96) |
34 (94) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28 (83) |
29 (84) |
29 (85) |
30 (86) |
31 (87) |
32 (89) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
32 (89) |
31 (88) |
30 (86) |
29 (84) |
30 (86) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22 (72) |
22 (72) |
23 (73) |
23 (74) |
24 (76) |
26 (78) |
26 (78) |
26 (78) |
26 (78) |
25 (77) |
24 (75) |
23 (73) |
24 (75) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 16 (61) |
17 (62) |
16 (60) |
18 (64) |
18 (64) |
19 (66) |
21 (69) |
20 (68) |
21 (69) |
19 (67) |
18 (65) |
17 (62) |
16 (61) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 95 (3.7) |
60 (2.4) |
49 (1.9) |
118 (4.6) |
150 (5.9) |
112 (4.4) |
128 (5.0) |
138 (5.4) |
146 (5.7) |
142 (5.6) |
161 (6.3) |
126 (5.0) |
1,431 (56.3) |
| Source: The National Weather Service [40] | |||||||||||||
Cuba: at Latitude 22°N
| Climate data for Havana | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 32.5 (90.5) |
33.0 (91.4) |
35.9 (96.6) |
36.4 (97.5) |
36.9 (98.4) |
37.2 (99.0) |
38.0 (100.4) |
36.1 (97.0) |
37.5 (99.5) |
35.4 (95.7) |
35.0 (95.0) |
34.8 (94.6) |
38.0 (100.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 25.8 (78.4) |
26.1 (79.0) |
27.6 (81.7) |
28.6 (83.5) |
29.8 (85.6) |
30.5 (86.9) |
31.3 (88.3) |
31.6 (88.9) |
31.0 (87.8) |
29.2 (84.6) |
27.7 (81.9) |
26.5 (79.7) |
28.8 (83.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 22.2 (72.0) |
22.4 (72.3) |
23.7 (74.7) |
24.8 (76.6) |
26.1 (79.0) |
27.0 (80.6) |
27.6 (81.7) |
27.9 (82.2) |
27.4 (81.3) |
26.1 (79.0) |
24.5 (76.1) |
23.0 (73.4) |
25.2 (77.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.6 (65.5) |
18.6 (65.5) |
19.7 (67.5) |
20.9 (69.6) |
22.4 (72.3) |
23.4 (74.1) |
23.8 (74.8) |
24.1 (75.4) |
23.8 (74.8) |
23.0 (73.4) |
21.3 (70.3) |
19.5 (67.1) |
21.6 (70.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 5.1 (41.2) |
5.6 (42.1) |
5.4 (41.7) |
11.5 (52.7) |
16.8 (62.2) |
19.7 (67.5) |
18.2 (64.8) |
19.3 (66.7) |
19.1 (66.4) |
11.9 (53.4) |
10.0 (50.0) |
7.5 (45.5) |
5.1 (41.2) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 64.4 (2.54) |
68.6 (2.70) |
46.2 (1.82) |
53.7 (2.11) |
98.0 (3.86) |
182.3 (7.18) |
105.6 (4.16) |
99.6 (3.92) |
144.4 (5.69) |
180.5 (7.11) |
88.3 (3.48) |
57.6 (2.27) |
1,189.2 (46.84) |
| Source: World Meteorological Organisation (UN),[41] Climate-Charts.com[42] | |||||||||||||
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Island groups
The Bahamas
Turks and Caicos Islands (United Kingdom)
Cayman Islands (United Kingdom)
Cuba- Hispaniola
Jamaica
Puerto Rico (U.S. Commonwealth)
Navassa Island
- Leeward Islands
United States Virgin Islands (U.S.)
British Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
Anguilla (United Kingdom)
Antigua and Barbuda
- Saint Martin, politically divided between
Saint Martin (France)
Sint Maarten (Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Saba (Caribbean Netherlands, Netherlands)
Sint Eustatius (Caribbean Netherlands, Netherlands)- Saint Barthélemy (French Antilles, France)
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Montserrat (United Kingdom)- Guadeloupe (French Antilles, France) including
- Windward Islands
- Leeward Antilles
Aruba (Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Curaçao (Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Bonaire (Caribbean Netherlands, Netherlands)
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, 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, 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, Bay Islands (briefly), Saint Croix (briefly), Tobago, Surinam 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