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The West Indies
were discovered
by Christopher
Columbus in 1492
whilst he was
searching for an
alternative
shorter route to
India. Columbus
thought he had
succeeded in
finding a
shorter route,
hence the name
"West Indies".
The
name
"Caribbean" is
derived from the
Carib Indians
who occupied
most of region
shown in the
Caribbean map
below, during the first
European contact
in the fifteenth
Century.
The name "Antilles" is
derived from the
Spanish term "Antillas" and
the
Spanish were the
first European
nation
to dominate the
region shown on
the right of the
map.
The Caribbean
consists of more
than 7,000
islands and
stretches in a
long arc (which
is more than
2,500 miles
long) from
Venezuela in the
south to Cuba
just below
Florida in the
northeast of the
map. The island chain
encloses the
Caribbean sea
which defines
the map of the region. The
Bahamas are not
technically part
of the
Caribbean, but
are shown on the
Caribbean map
due to their
close proximity
and
relationship.
Many of the
islands are
volcanic,
especially most
of those located
in the Leeward
and Windward
island chains. |
