Caribbean Central America and the Caribbean The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. These islands curve southward from the bottom tip of Florida to the Northwest of Venezuela in South America. There are at least 7000 islands, islets, reefs and cayes in the region. They are organized into twenty-five territories including sovereign states, overseas departments and dependencies. The name "West Indies" originates from Christopher Columbus' idea that he had landed in India when he had in fact reached the Americas. The Caribbean consists of the Greater and Lesser Antilles and is part of North America. At one time there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies composed of the English-speaking Caribbean islands of the region. The Caribbean area is also famous for its sea pirates. See the article piracy in the Caribbean. Historical groupings Most islands at some point were, or still are, colonies of European nations: British West Indies - Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands Danish West Indies - present-day United States Virgin Islands Dutch West Indies - present-day Netherlands Antilles and Aruba French West Indies - the French overseas departements of Guadeloupe and Martinique Spain - Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico The British West Indies, formerly united in the West Indies Federation, still make up a composite cricket team that successfully competes in test matches and one-day internationals. The West Indian cricket team also includes the South American nation of Guyana, a former British colony. Present-day territories of the Caribbean Anguilla (British dependency) Antigua and Barbuda Antigua Barbuda Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) Bahamas Andros Cat Island Eleuthera Grand Bahama New Providence, with the capital Nassau. Barbados British Virgin Islands (British dependency, shares the Virgin Islands with the U.S. Virgin Islands.) Cayman Islands (British dependency) Cayman Brac Grand Cayman, with the capital George Town Little Cayman Cuba Dominica Grenada (shares the Grenadines group with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) Petite Martinique Carriacou Guadeloupe (overseas department of France) Basse-Terre Grande-Terre Iles des Saintes Terre de Haut Terre de Bas Marie-Galante Iles de la Petite Terre La Désirade Saint-Barthélemy, also Saint Barts Saint-Martin (part of the island Saint Martin shared with the Netherlands Antilles; note the dash) Hispaniola Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Martinique (overseas department of France) Mexico is not a Caribbean country, but has some islands in the Caribbean sea: Cancún Isla Mujeres Isla Cozumel Montserrat (British dependency) Navassa Island (US insular area) Netherlands Antilles (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) Bonaire Curaçao Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten (part of the island Saint Martin shared with Guadeloupe) Puerto Rico (commonwealth associated with US) Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (shares the Grenadines group with Grenada) Bequia Canouan Island Mustique Palm Island Saint Vincent Union Island Young Island Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Tobago Trinidad Turks and Caicos Islands (British dependency) Grand Turk Providenciales U.S. Virgin Islands (territory of the USA, shares the Virgin Islands with the British Virgin 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. Indigenous Tribes Arawak Carib Ciboney Garifuna Lucayan Taino See also History of the Caribbean Caribbean Community and Common Market African diaspora British Afro-Caribbean community Music of the Caribbean Council on Hemispheric Affairs Politics of the Caribbean Caribbean medical education FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean