Katana VentraIP

Caribbean

The Caribbean (/ˌkærɪˈbən, kəˈrɪbiən/ KARR-ih-BEE-ən, kə-RIB-ee-ən, locally /ˈkærɪbæn/ KARR-ih-bee-an;[4] Spanish: el Caribe; French: les Caraïbes; Dutch: de Caraïben) is a subregion of the Americas that includes the Caribbean Sea and its islands, some of which are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea[5] and some of which border both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean;[6] the nearby coastal areas on the mainland are sometimes also included in the region. The region is south-east of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and north of South America.

This article is about the group of islands. For the body of water surrounding them, see Caribbean Sea. For the Indigenous inhabitants of the Caribbean or people of Caribbean descent, see Caribbean people. For other uses, see Caribbean (disambiguation).

Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region has more than 700 islands, islets, reefs, and cays. 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 Antilles, in the east and south. The nearby Lucayan Archipelago, comprising The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, is considered to be a part of the Caribbean despite not bordering the Caribbean Sea. All the islands in the Antilles plus the Lucayan Archipelago form the West Indies, which is often interchangeable with the term Caribbean. On the mainland, Belize, the eastern and northern coasts of Central and South American countries such as the Bay Islands Department of Honduras, the North and South Caribbean Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua, the Limón Province of Costa Rica, and the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina of Colombia are also considered culturally Caribbean.[8] French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, and Suriname are often included as parts of the Caribbean due to their 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 left as a subregion of their own[9][10] alternately, the term "Caribbean" may have the intended exclusion, or even unintentional inclusion as part of Latin America. Generally the Caribbean area is organized into 33 political entities, including 13 sovereign states, 12 dependencies, historical disputed territories have existed, and seven other overseas 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.[11] 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.


Because of a history of waves of immigration brought by colonization by the Spanish, English, Dutch, and French, the Atlantic slave trade from Africa, and Indentured servitude from Asia, as well as modern immigration, the modern Caribbean is one of the most ethnically diverse regions on the planet with persons of all these ethnic backgrounds.

Etymology and pronunciation[edit]

The region takes its name from that of 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.[12]


The two most prevalent pronunciations of "Caribbean" outside the Caribbean are /ˌkærɪˈbən/ (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.[13] This is the older of the two pronunciations, but the stressed-second-syllable variant has been established for over 75 years.[14] It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer /ˌkærɪˈbən/ (KARR-ə-BEE-ən) while North American speakers more typically use /kəˈrɪbiən/ (kə-RIB-ee-ən),[15] but major American dictionaries and other sources list the stress on the third syllable as more common in American English too.[16][17][18][19] 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".[20]


The Oxford Online Dictionaries claim that 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][20]

The presents the Caribbean as a distinct region within the Americas.

United Nations geoscheme for 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 , 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.

Gulf of Mexico

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.

Counter-attack by Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces supported by T-34 tanks near Playa Giron during the Bay of Pigs Invasion, 19 April 1961.

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 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)

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.

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.

 

The Bahamas

  (United Kingdom)

Turks and Caicos Islands

Epiphytes (bromeliads, climbing palms) in the rainforest of Dominica

Epiphytes (bromeliads, climbing palms) in the rainforest of Dominica.

A green and black poison frog, Dendrobates auratus

A green and black poison frog, Dendrobates auratus

Caesalpinia pulcherrima, Guadeloupe

Caesalpinia pulcherrima, Guadeloupe.

Costus speciosus, a marsh plant, Guadeloupe.

An Atlantic ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata) in Martinique

An Atlantic ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata) in Martinique.

Crescentia cujete, or calabash fruit, Martinique

Crescentia cujete, or calabash fruit, Martinique.

Thalassoma bifasciatum (bluehead wrasse fish), over Bispira brunnea (social feather duster worms)

Thalassoma bifasciatum (bluehead wrasse fish), over Bispira brunnea (social feather duster worms).

Two Stenopus hispidus (banded cleaner shrimp) on a Xestospongia muta (giant barrel sponge)

Two Stenopus hispidus (banded cleaner shrimp) on a Xestospongia muta (giant barrel sponge).

A pair of Cyphoma signatum (fingerprint cowry), off coastal Haiti

A pair of Cyphoma signatum (fingerprint cowry), off coastal Haiti.

The Martinique amazon, Amazona martinicana, is an extinct species of parrot in the family Psittacidae.

The Martinique amazon, Amazona martinicana, is an extinct species of parrot in the family Psittacidae.

Anastrepha suspensa, a Caribbean fruit fly

Anastrepha suspensa, a Caribbean fruit fly.

Hemidactylus mabouia, a tropical gecko, in Dominica. Edited by: Taniya Brooks

Hemidactylus mabouia, a tropical gecko, in Dominica Edited by: Taniya Brooks.

Arawak peoples

Igneri

Caquetio people

Ciboney

Ciguayo

Garifuna

Kalina

Kalinago

Lucayan

Macorix

Raizal

African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

(ACS), Trinidad and Tobago

Association of Caribbean States

Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO), Trinidad and Tobago

[80]

(CARICOM), Guyana

Caribbean Community

(CDB), Barbados

Caribbean Development Bank

(CDERA), Barbados

Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency

Caribbean Educators Network

[81]

Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC), Saint Lucia

[82]

(CXC), Barbados and Jamaica

Caribbean Examinations Council

(CFATF), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Financial Action Task Force

Puerto Rico

Caribbean Food Crops Society

(CFU), Jamaica

Caribbean Football Union

Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), Florida and Puerto Rico

[83]

(Initiative of the IUCN)

Caribbean Initiative

(CPEC), Saint Lucia

Caribbean Programme for Economic Competitiveness

Caribbean Regional Environmental Programme (CREP), Barbados

[84]

Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), Belize

[85]

Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), Barbados and Dominican Republic

[86]

Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), Trinidad and Tobago

(CTO), Barbados

Caribbean Tourism Organization

(CELAC)

Community of Latin American and Caribbean States

Barbados

Foundation for the Development of Caribbean Children

(LACNIC), Brazil and Uruguay

Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre

Venezuela

Latin American and the Caribbean Economic System

(OECS), Saint Lucia

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

(ECLAC), Chile and Trinidad and Tobago

United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Antigua & Barbuda.[87] In addition, the fourth campus, the Open Campus was formed in June 2008 as a result of an amalgamation of the Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education, Schools of Continuing Studies, the UWI Distance Education Centres and Tertiary Level Units. The Open Campus has 42 physical sites in 16 Anglophone caribbean countries.

University of the West Indies

Antigua and Barbuda[88]

West Indies Cricket Board

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

– rice, peas and fish

Anguilla

fungee and pepperpot

Antigua and Barbuda

Guava duff, Conch Salad, Peas n' Rice, and conch fritters

Bahamas

cou-cou and flying fish

Barbados

– rice and beans, stew chicken with potato salad; white rice, stew beans and fry fish with cole slaw

Belize

– fish and fungee

British Virgin Islands

– turtle stew, turtle steak, grouper, conch stew, Cayman-style beef with rice and beans, cassava cake

Cayman Islands

Caribbean – rice with coconut milk, arroz con pollo, sancocho, Arab cuisine (due to the large Arab population)

Colombian

mountain chicken, rice and peas, dumplings, saltfish, dashin, bakes (fried dumplings), coconut confiture, curry goat, cassava farine, oxtail

Dominica

arroz con pollo with stewed red kidney beans, pan fried or braised beef, salad/ ensalada de coditos, empanadas, mangú, sancocho

Dominican Republic

oil down, Roti and rice & chicken

Grenada

roti and curry, pepperpot, cook-up rice, metemgee, pholourie

Guyana

– griot (fried pork) served with du riz a pois or diri ak pwa (rice and beans)

Haiti

Goat water

Montserrat

– yellow rice with green pigeon peas, saltfish stew, roasted pork shoulder, Puerto Rican style pasteles (root vegetable meat patties), chicken fricassée, pasteles, mofongo, tripe soup, tostones, alcapurria, codfish fritters, coconut custard, rice pudding, guava turnovers, Mallorca bread

Puerto Rico

goat water, coconut dumplings, spicy plantain, saltfish, breadfruit

Saint Kitts and Nevis

– roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

– brown beans and rice, roti and curry, peanut soup, battered fried plantain with peanut sauce, nasi goreng, moksi-alesi, bara, pom

Suriname

doubles, curry with roti or dal bhat, aloo pie, phulourie, callaloo, bake and shark, curry crab and dumpling

Trinidad and Tobago

– stewed goat, oxtail or beef, seafood, callaloo, fungee

United States Virgin Islands

Caribbean – fried fish with salad and rise, tostones, sancocho, patacon, pabellon

Venezuela

Engerman, Stanley L. "A Population History of the Caribbean", pp. 483–528 in A Population History of North America Michael R. Haines and Richard Hall Steckel (Eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2000,  0-521-49666-7.

ISBN

Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean, London: Lynne Rienner, 2003  1-58826-663-X.

ISBN

Develtere, Patrick R. 1994. "Co-operation and development: With special reference to the experience of the Commonwealth Caribbean" ACCO,  90-334-3181-5

ISBN

Gowricharn, Ruben. Caribbean Transnationalism: Migration, Pluralization, and Social Cohesion. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2006.

Henke, Holger, and Fred Reno, eds. Modern Political Culture in the Caribbean. Kingston: Press, 2003.

University of West Indies

Heuman, Gad. The Caribbean: Brief Histories. London: A Hodder Arnold Publication, 2006.

de Kadt, Emanuel, (editor). Patterns of foreign influence in the Caribbean, , 1972.

Oxford University Press

Knight, Franklin W. The Modern Caribbean (University of North Carolina Press, 1989).

Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny. Addison-Wesley Publishing.  0-201-52396-5

ISBN

Langley, Lester D. The United States and the Caribbean in the Twentieth Century. London: , 1989.

University of Georgia Press

Maingot, Anthony P. The United States and the Caribbean: Challenges of an Asymmetrical Relationship. Westview Press, 1994.

Palmie, Stephan, and Francisco A. Scarano, eds. The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its Peoples (University of Chicago Press; 2011); 660 pp.; writings on the region since the pre-Columbia era.

Ramnarine, Tina K. Beautiful Cosmos: Performance and Belonging in the Caribbean Diaspora. London, Pluto Press, 2007.

Rowntree, Lester/Martin Lewis/Marie Price/William Wyckoff. Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development, 4th edition, 2008.

at Curlie

Caribbean

Digital Library of the Caribbean

).

Latin American, Caribbean, U.S. Latinx, and Iberian Online Free E-Resources (LACLI

Manioc, open access digital Library, books, images, conferences, articles about the Caribbean

: Caribbean Islands (1987)

Federal Research Division of the U.S. Library of Congress

Media related to Caribbean at Wikimedia Commons