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Caribbean facts for kids

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CIA map of the Caribbean
Map of the Caribbean

The Caribbean or Caribbean Area (Dutch: Cariben or Caraiben, French: Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Spanish: Caribe) is a region of the Americas. It includes the Caribbean Sea, its islands (more than 7,000 islands, small islands and cays, most of them surrounding the sea), and the coastal islands of north South America and east Central America.

Geography

The Caribbean is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to its east and north, the coast of South America to its south, the coast of Central America to its southwest, and by the Gulf of Mexico to its northwest.

The West Indies is the name for the group of the islands of the Bahamas and the Antilles. The Antilles are divided into two groups: the larger Greater Antilles, on the north limit of the Caribbean Sea, and the Lesser Antilles, on the east and south.

The Caribbean islands have many different types of land. Because of this, the islands have many different kinds of plants and animals, even uncommon ones.

Famous islands in the Caribbean include Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. The countries of Dominican Republic, and Haiti are on Hispaniola. There is also a lot of white sandy beaches and hot sun there.

Groups of islands

Name Area
(km2)
Population Density
(inhab./km2)
Capital city Oficial
language
Bahamian Archipelago
 Bahamas 13,880 319,031 23 Nassau English
 Turks and Caicos Islands 948 47,754 50 Cockburn Town English
Greater Antilles
 Cuba 110,860 11,061,886 100 Havana Spanish
Hispaniola 76,420 20,113,564 263  
 Haiti 27,750 9,893,934 357 Port-au-Prince French
 Dominican Republic 48,670 10,219,630 210 Santo Domingo Spanish
 Jamaica 10,991 2,909,714 265 Kingston English
 Puerto Rico 13,790 3,674,209 266 San Juan Spanish
 Cayman Islands 264 53,737 204 George Town English
Lesser Antilles
Leeward Islands
 United States Virgin Islands 1,910 104,737 55 Charlotte Amalie English
 British Virgin Islands 151 31,912 211 Road Town English
 Anguilla 91 15,754 173 The Valley English
 Antigua and Barbuda 443 90,156 204 Saint John's English
Saint Martin 88 70,953 806  
 Saint Martin 54 31,264 579 Marigot French
 Sint Maarten 34 39,689 1167 Philipsburg Dutch
 Saba 13 1,971 152 The Bottom Dutch
 Sint Eustatius 21 3,791 181 Oranjestad Dutch
 Saint Barthélemy 22 7,298 332 Gustavia French
 Saint Kitts and Nevis 261 51,134 196 Basseterre English
 Montserrat 102 5,189 51 Plymouth English
 Guadeloupe 1,628 405,500 249 Basse-Terre French
Windward Islands
 Dominica 751 73,286 98 Roseau English
 Martinique 1,128 403,795 358 Fort-de-France French
 Saint Lucia 616 162,781 264 Castries English
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 389 103,220 265 Kingstown English
 Grenada 344 109,590 319 St. George's English
 Barbados 430 288,725 671 Bridgetown English
 Trinidad and Tobago 5,128 1,225,225 239 Port of Spain English
ABC Islands
 Aruba 180 109,153 606 Oranjestad Dutch
 Bonaire 294 16,541 56 Kralendijk Dutch
 Curaçao 444 146,836 331 Willemstad Dutch

Name

The name Caribbean comes from Carib, indigenous people living in the Lesser Antilles and north South America when the Europeans came to the Americas.

History

The 18th century saw many countries trying to colonize the islands. Because of this, Caribbean culture is very similar to those of Africa, India, and many countries in Europe.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Caribe (región) para niños

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