Lesson 57:
Political Features of the
Islands of the Caribbean
The Islands of theCaribbean, or the
West Indies
, are a group of
archipelagos
.An archipelago is
a chain or large group of islands. TheWest Indies includes thousands of islands that form an arc for
more than 2,000miles, beginning off the coast of southeast Florida and stretching to the north coast
of Venezuela.TheWest Indies archipelago separates theAtlanticOcean from theCaribbeanSea.
The original inhabitants, or earliest known people, of the Caribbean Islands were Native
Americans. The native inhabitants included the peaceful Arawaks (found in all three regions of the
West Indies), the fierce andwarlikeCaribs (the Lesser Antilles and the coast of South America), and
theAmerindians (Central andSouthAmerica toCuba).
In1492, ChristopherColumbusgave the
West Indies
their name.Columbuswasattempting to find
awestward route to Indiawhen he landed on one of the Islands of theCaribbean. Hemade themis-
take of thinking that he landed on the East Indies islands of Asia near the coast of India. Columbus
named the islands the
Indies
. Later they were named theWest Indies to prevent confusion with the
East Indies of Asia.
Beginning with Columbus, European countries, including Spain, France, England, and Holland
(and the small countries of Denmark and Sweden), began to establish colonies throughout theWest
Indies. African slaves were imported in great numbers to work on sugar cane plantations. During the
same time, many of the native people of theCaribbean Islandswerewiped out by disease introduced
by European explorers and settlers, or enslaved and forced towork on the plantations.
ACTIVITY:
Use the maps of Middle America in your
Atlas Buddy (AB)
on page xi to help you locate the
Caribbean regions and islands that are highlighted below in
boldface
print.Your teacher will provide
youwith amap from the
BlacklineMaster File (BLM)
for you to label.
Forty (40) million people live in The Islands of the Caribbean, which are divided into three major
regions, or groups of islands.Thegroupor chainof islands called the
BahamaArchipelago
forms the
northern-most region. The Bahamas begin off the southeastern coast of Florida. There are as many
as 700 islands and numerous islets, or small islands. The Bahamas are low, sandy islands that are
part of a limestone and coral shelf in thewesternAtlanticOcean.
The
Greater Antilles
is the western-most region of islands.
Cuba
,
Jamaica
,
Hispaniola
, and
PuertoRico
are included in this region.They are the largest islands in theWest Indies andmake up
more than 90% of the overall land area of the Islands of the Caribbean. The island of Hispaniola is
divided into two countries.Thewesternportionof the island is the countryof
Haiti
and theeasternpart
is the
DominicanRepublic
.
The
Lesser Antilles
is the third region of islands.They are located to the southeast of PuertoRico.
Geographers divide the Lesser Antilles into two groups, the
Leeward Islands
and the
Windward
Islands
.Thesenamesweregiven to thembecauseof their position to the steady tradewinds that begin
near the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, and blow toward the equator. The northernmost
islands are called the Leeward Islands.The Leeward Islands are located away from the prevailingwind
that blows south to north.They include the
Virgin Islands
,
Anguilla
,
Saint Kitts andNevis
,
Barbuda
,
Antigua
,
Montserrat
, and
Guadeloupe.
TheWindward Islands are south of the Leeward Islands.They
are on the side toward thewind and they first meet thewinds coming from the south.Themain islands
of the Windward group are
Dominica
,
Martinique
,
Saint Lucia
,
Saint Vincent
, and
Grenada
. The
islands of
Barbados
,
Trinidad andTobago,
and the
Netherlands Antilles
are also part of the Lesser
Antilles, but are not considered part of the Leeward orWindward groups.
Islands of the Caribbean
PENNSVALLEY
112
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