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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.
Present-day territories of the Caribbean
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Anguilla (British dependency)
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Antigua and Barbuda
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Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
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Bahamas
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Barbados
-
British Virgin Islands (British dependency,
shares the Virgin Islands with the U.S. Virgin Islands.)
-
Cayman Islands (British dependency)
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Cuba
-
Dominica
-
Grenada (shares the Grenadines group
with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
-
Petite Martinique
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Carriacou
-
Guadeloupe (overseas department of
France)
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Basse-Terre
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Grande-Terre
-
Iles des Saintes
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Terre de Haut
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Terre de Bas
-
Marie-Galante
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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
-
Haiti
-
Jamaica
-
Martinique (overseas department of
France)
-
Mexico is not a Caribbean country,
but has some islands in the Caribbean sea:
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Cancún
-
Isla Mujeres
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Isla Cozumel
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Montserrat (British dependency)
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Navassa Island (US insular area)
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Netherlands Antilles (part of the Kingdom
of the Netherlands)
-
Puerto Rico (commonwealth associated
with US)
-
Saint Kitts and Nevis
-
Saint Lucia
-
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (shares
the Grenadines group with Grenada)
-
Bequia
-
Canouan Island
-
Mustique
-
Palm Island
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Saint Vincent
-
Union Island
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Young Island
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Suriname
-
Trinidad and Tobago
-
Turks and Caicos Islands (British dependency)
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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.
