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Caribbean

Cuba

Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country in the Caribbean comprising the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud and several archipelagos. Havana is Cubas capital and its largest city. The United States is to the north of Cuba 150 km away, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands to the northeast, Mexico to the west 210 km away, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica to the south and Haiti to the southeast. Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes before the landing of explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492, who claimed it for the Kingdom of Spain. Cuba remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, after which it gained nominal independence as a de facto U.S. protectorate in 1902. The fragile republic endured increasingly radical politics and social strife, and despite efforts to strengthen its democratic system, Cuba came under the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Growing unrest and instability led to Batistas ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 movement, which afterwards established a government under the leadership of Fidel Castro. Since 1965 the country has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and, with over 11 million inhabitants, the second-most populous after Hispaniola. It is a multiethnic country whose people, culture and customs derive from diverse origins, including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, the long period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves, and a close relationship with the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Cuba is ranked very high for human development by the United Nations, and high for health and education. In 2015, it became the first country to eradicate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, a milestone hailed by the WHO as "one of the greatest public health achievements possible."

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a United States territory located in the northeastern Caribbean. Puerto Rico is an archipelago that includes the main island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands. The capital and largest city is San Juan. The territory does not observe daylight saving time, and its official languages are Spanish, which is predominant, and English. The island's population is approximately 3.4 million. Puerto Rico's rich history, tropical climate, diverse natural scenery, renowned traditional cuisine and attractive tax incentives make it a popular destination for visitors from around the world. Its location in the Caribbean, combined with centuries of colonization and subsequent migration, has made Puerto Rican culture a distinct melting pot of Amerindian, Spanish, African, and North American influences. Originally populated by the aboriginal Taíno people, the island was claimed in 1493 by Christopher Columbus for the Kingdom of Spain, enduring several invasion attempts by the French, Dutch, and British. During the four centuries of Spanish rule, the island's cultural and physical landscapes were transformed, with European knowledge, customs, and traditions being introduced, especially Roman Catholicism and the Spanish language. In 1898, following the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded the island to the United States under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Puerto Ricans are natural-born citizens of the United States. Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the U.S. Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. As a U.S. territory, American citizens residing on the island are "disenfranchised at the national level" and may not vote for the President and Vice President of the United States. However, Congress approved a local constitution, allowing American citizens on the territory to elect a governor. A 2012 referendum showed a majority disagreed with "the present form of territorial status," with full statehood as the preferred option among those who voted for a change of status. Following this vote, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico enacted a concurrent resolution to request the President and the Congress of the United States to end the current status and to begin the process to admit Puerto Rico to the Union as a State. As of 2016, Puerto Rico remains an unincorporated U.S. territory.

The Bahamas

The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an island country of the Lucayan Archipelago consisting of more than 700 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean; north of Cuba and Hispaniola; northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands; southeast of the U.S. state of Florida and east of the Florida Keys. Its capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. The designation of "Bahamas" can refer to either the country or the larger island chain that it shares with the Turks and Caicos Islands. As stated in the mandate/manifesto of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Bahamas territory encompasses 470,000 km2 of ocean space. Originally inhabited by the Lucayan, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taino people, the Bahamas were the site of Columbus first landfall in the New World in 1492. Although the Spanish never colonized the Bahamas, they shipped the native Lucayans to slavery in Hispaniola. The islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648, when English colonists from Bermuda settled on the island of Eleuthera. The Bahamas became a British Crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy. After the American War of Independence, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists in the Bahamas; they brought their slaves with them and established plantations on land grants. Blacks constituted the majority of the population from this period. The Bahamas became a haven for freed African slaves: the Royal Navy resettled Africans here liberated from illegal slave ships; American slaves and Seminoles escaped here from Florida; and the government freed American slaves carried on United States domestic ships that had reached the Bahamas due to weather. Slavery in the Bahamas was abolished in 1834. Today the descendants of slaves and free Africans make up nearly 90 percent of the population; issues related to the slavery years are part of society. The Bahamas became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1973, retaining Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch. In terms of gross domestic product per capita, the Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas . Its economy is based on tourism and finance.

US Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. The U.S. Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas, along with the much smaller but historically distinct Water Island, and many other surrounding minor islands. The total land area of the territory is 133.73 square miles . The territorys capital is Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas. In 2010 the population was 106,405, and mostly Afro-Caribbean. Tourism is the primary economic activity, although there is a significant rum manufacturing sector. Farming is done on a smaller scale on the island of St. Croix, although it has seen a slow resurgence in recent years. Formerly the Danish West Indies, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of 1916. They are classified by the UN as a Non-Self-Governing Territory, and are currently an organized, unincorporated United States territory. The U.S. Virgin Islands are organized under the 1954 Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands and have since held five constitutional conventions. The last and only proposed Constitution, adopted by the Fifth Constitutional Convention in 2009, was rejected by the U.S. Congress in 2010, which urged the convention to reconvene to address the concerns Congress and the Obama Administration had with the proposed document. The convention reconvened in October 2012 to address these concerns, but was unable to produce a revised Constitution before its October 31 deadline.

Haiti

Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country in the western hemisphere, and is located on the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean. It occupies the smaller western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres in size and has an estimated 10.6 million people, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean Community and the third-most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole. Originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people, the island was first discovered by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage across the Atlantic in 1492. When Columbus first landed in Haiti he had thought he had found India or Asia. Deciding to establish the first settlement in the area, a contingent of men were left at an outpost christened La Navidad because of the wreck to their sunken flagship, the Santa Maria, that occurred on Christmas, north of what is now Limonade. The island was named Hispaniola and claimed by Spain, which ruled until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements by the French led to the western portion of the island being ceded to France, which named it Saint-Domingue. The development of sugar cane plantations, worked by slaves imported from Africa, led to the colony being among the most lucrative in the world. In the midst of the French Revolution, slaves and free people of color revolted, culminating in the abolishment of slavery and the establishment of the sovereign "Republic of Haiti" in 1804 — the first independent nation of Latin America and the Caribbean, the second republic in the Americas, the only nation in the western hemisphere to have defeated three European superpowers, and the only nation in the world established as a result of a successful slave revolt. The rebellion that begun in 1791, was led by a former slave and the first black general of the French Army, Toussaint Louverture, whose military genius and political acumen transformed an entire society of slaves into the independent country. Upon his death in a prison in France, he was succeeded by his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who declared Haitis sovereignty and later became the first emperor of Haiti, Jacques I. The Haitian Revolution lasted nearly a decade; and apart from Alexandre Pétion, the first President of the Republic, all the first leaders of government were former slaves. The Citadelle Laferrière is the largest fortresses in the Americas. Henri Christophe—former slave and first king of Haiti, Henri I—built it to withstand a possible foreign attack. In addition to CARICOM, Haiti is a member of the Latin Union, the Organization of American States, and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States; it is also seeking associate membership status in the African Union. It has the lowest Human Development Index in the Americas. Most recently, in February 2004, a coup détat originating in the north of the country forced the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A provisional government took control with security provided by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti . Michel Martelly, the current president, was elected in the 2011 general election.

French-Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department, located in the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. It has a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 403,750 . Guadeloupes two main islands are Basse-Terre to the west and Grande-Terre to the east, which are separated by a narrow strait that is crossed with bridges, and which are often referred to as a single island. The department also includes the Dependencies of Guadeloupe which include the smaller islands of Marie-Galante and La Désirade, and the Îles des Saintes. Guadeloupe, like the other overseas departments, is an integral part of France. It is thus part of the European Union and the Eurozone; hence, as for all Eurozone countries, its currency is the euro. As an overseas department, Guadeloupe is not part of the Schengen Area. The prefecture of Guadeloupe is the city of Basse-Terre, which lies on the island of the same name. The official language is French, and virtually the entire population also speaks Antillean Creole .

Barbados

Barbados is a sovereign island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 34 kilometres in length and up to 23 kilometres in width, covering an area of 432 square kilometres . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about 168 kilometres east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and 400 kilometres north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt. Inhabited by Kalingo people since the 1200s, and prior to that by other Amerindians, Barbados was visited by Spanish navigators in the late 15th century and claimed for the Spanish Crown. It first appears on a Spanish map from 1511. The Portuguese visited the island in 1536, but they left it unclaimed, with their only remnants being an introduction of wild hogs for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited. An English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados in 1625; its men took possession of it in the name of King James I. In 1627, the first permanent settlers arrived from England, and it became an English and later British colony. In 1966, Barbados became an independent state and Commonwealth realm with the British Monarch as hereditary head of state. It has a population of 277,821 people, mostly of African descent. Despite being classified as an Atlantic island, Barbados is considered to be a part of the Caribbean, where it is ranked as a leading tourist destination. In 2014, Barbados ranked second in the Americas and 17th globally on Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index.

Dominica

Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is 750 square kilometres and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of 1,447 metres . The Commonwealth of Dominica had a population of 72,301 at the 2014 Census. The capital is Roseau, located on the leeward side of the island. Dominica was first discovered by the Spanish, then colonized by the French and British before finally obtaining independence in 1978. Dominica has been nicknamed the "Nature Isle of the Caribbean" for its unspoiled natural beauty. It is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles, still being formed by geothermal-volcanic activity, as evidenced by the worlds second-largest hot spring, Boiling Lake. The island features lush mountainous rainforests, and is the home of many rare plants, animals, and bird species. There are xeric areas in some of the western coastal regions, but heavy rainfall occurs inland. The island has 365 rivers. The Sisserou parrot, is found only on Dominica and is the islands national bird. It is featured on the national flag. Dominicas economy is heavily dependent on tourism and agriculture. Christopher Columbus named the island after the day of the week on which he spotted it: Sunday, 3 November 1493. In the hundred years following, Dominica remained isolated. It was inhabited by the Kalinago people, and as European powers entered the region, more refugees settled there after being driven from surrounding islands, eventually driving the Spanish settlers away. France had a colony on Dominica for several years, importing African slaves to work on plantations, at which time the Antillean Creole language developed. France formally ceded possession of Dominica to Great Britain in 1763. Great Britain established a small colony on the island in 1805. Britain abolished slavery throughout the British Empire in 1834. By 1838, Dominica became the first British Caribbean colony to have a legislature controlled by an ethnic African majority. In 1896, the United Kingdom took governmental control of Dominica, turning it into a Crown colony. More than half a century later, from 1958 to 1962, Dominica became a province of the short-lived West Indies Federation. On 3 November 1978, Dominica became an independent nation and almost immediately, a republic, as the Queen is not the head of state.

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a country on the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western three-eighths of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two countries. Both by area and population the Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean nation, with 48,445 square kilometres and nearly 10 million people, one million of whom live in the capital city Santo Domingo. Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1492, which the Taíno people had inhabited since the 7th century. It became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas; namely Santo Domingo, the oldest continuously inhabited city and the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World. After three centuries of Spanish rule, with French and Haitian interludes, the Dominican Republic became independent in 1821. The ruler, José Núñez de Cáceres, intended that the Dominican Republic be part of the nation of Gran Colombia, but he was quickly removed by the Haitian government and Dominican slave revolts. Victorious in the Dominican War of Independence against Haitian rule in 1844, the Dominican Republic over the next 72 years, experienced mostly internal strife and a brief return to colonial status, the only nation in the hemisphere to do so after gaining its independence, before permanently ousting Spaniard rule during the Dominican War of Restoration of 1865. A United States occupation lasted eight years between 1916–1924, and a subsequent calm and prosperous six-year period under Horacio Vásquez Lajara, were followed by the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina until 1961. A civil war in 1965, the countrys last, was ended by a U.S.-led intervention, and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer, 1966–1978. Since then, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy, and has been led by Leonel Fernández for most of the time after 1996. Danilo Medina, the Dominican Republics current president, succeeded Fernández in 2012, winning 51% of the electoral vote over his opponent ex-president Hipólito Mejía. The Dominican Republic has the ninth largest economy in Latin America and is the largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region. Though long known for agriculture and mining, the economy is now dominated by services. The Dominican Republics economic progress is exemplified by its advanced telecommunication system and transportation infrastructure. Nevertheless, unemployment, government corruption, and inconsistent electric service remain major Dominican problems. The country also has "marked income inequality". International migration affects the Dominican Republic greatly, as it receives and sends large flows of migrants. Mass illegal Haitian immigration and the integration of Dominicans of Haitian descent are major issues. A large Dominican diaspora exists, mostly in the United States. They contribute to the Dominican Republics development as they send billions of dollars to their families in remittances. The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The year-round golf courses are among the top attractions on the island. A geographically diverse nation, the Dominican Republic is home to the regions tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte, as well as the Caribbeans largest lake and lowest elevation, Lake Enriquillo. The island has an average temperature of 26 °C and great climatic and biological diversity. The country is also the site of the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress built in all of the Americas, located in Santo Domingos Colonial Zone, an area declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Music and sport are of great importance in the Dominican culture, with Merengue and Bachata as the national dance and music, and baseball as the favorite sport.

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, comprising the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles. The island, 10,990 square kilometres in area, lies about 145 kilometres south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres west of Hispaniola, the island containing the nation-states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Jamaica is the fifth-largest island country in the Caribbean. Previously inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Named Santiago, it remained a possession of Spain until 1655, when England conquered the island and renamed it Jamaica. Under British rule, Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, its plantation economy highly dependent on slaves imported from Africa, and later, on Chinese and Indian indentured labor. Full emancipation was granted to all slaves in 1838, with the country achieving independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962. With 2.8 million people, Jamaica is the third most populous Anglophone country in the Americas, after the United States and Canada, and the fourth most populous country in the Caribbean. Kingston is the countrys capital and largest city, with a population of 937,700. Jamaicans are of predominately African descent, with significant European, Chinese, Indian, and mixed-race minorities. Due to a high rate of emigration since the 1960s, Jamaica has a large diaspora around the world, particularly in the U.K., the U.S., and Canada. Jamaica is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. Her appointed representative in the country is the Governor-General of Jamaica, currently Patrick Allen. The head of government and Prime Minister of Jamaica is Portia Simpson-Miller. Jamaica is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with legislative power vested in the bicameral Parliament of Jamaica, consisting of an appointed Senate and a directly elected House of Representatives.

Bermuda

Bermuda , also referred to in legal documents as, fully, "the Bermudas or Somers Isles", is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean, located off the east coast of North America. Its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States, about 1,070 km to the west-northwest. It is about 1,236 km south of Cape Sable Island, Canada, and 1,578 km north of Puerto Rico. Its capital city is Hamilton. The first known European explorer to reach Bermuda was Spanish sea captain Juan de Bermúdez in 1503, after whom the islands are named. He claimed the apparently uninhabited islands for the Spanish Empire. Paying two visits to the archipelago, Bermúdez never landed on the islands, but did create a recognisable map of the archipelago. Shipwrecked Portuguese mariners are now thought to have been responsible for the 1543 inscription in Portuguese Rock (previously called Spanish Rock). Subsequent Spanish or other European parties are believed to have released pigs there, which had become feral and abundant on the island by the time European settlement began. In 1609, the English Virginia Company, which had established Jamestown in Virginia two years earlier, permanently settled Bermuda in the aftermath of a hurricane, when the crew and passengers of the Sea Venture steered the ship onto the surrounding reef to prevent its sinking, then landed ashore. The island was administered as an extension of Virginia by the Company until 1614. Its spin-off, the Somers Isles Company, took over in 1615 and managed the colony until 1684. At that time, the company's charter was revoked, and the English Crown took over administration. The islands became a British colony following the 1707 unification of the parliaments of Scotland and England, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. After 1949, when Newfoundland became part of Canada, Bermuda was automatically ranked as the oldest remaining British Overseas Territory. Since the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, it is the most populous Territory. Its first capital, St. George's, was established in 1612 and is the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the New World. Bermuda's economy is based on offshore insurance and reinsurance, and tourism, the two largest economic sectors. Bermuda had one of the world's highest GDP per capita for most of the 20th century and several years beyond. Recently, its economic status has been affected by the global recession. It has a subtropical climate. Bermuda is the northernmost point of the Bermuda Triangle, a region of sea in which, according to legend, a number of aircraft and surface vessels have disappeared under supposedly unexplained or mysterious circumstances. The island is in the hurricane belt and prone to severe weather. However, it is somewhat protected from the full force of a hurricane by the coral reef that surrounds the island.

Aruba

Aruba is an island country in the southern Caribbean Sea, located about 1,600 kilometres west of the Lesser Antilles and 29 kilometres north of the coast of Venezuela. It measures 32 kilometres long from its northwestern to its southeastern end and 10 kilometres across at its widest point. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, Aruba forms a group referred to as the ABC islands. Collectively, Aruba and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Netherlands Antilles or the "Dutch Caribbean". Aruba is one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along with the Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The citizens of these countries all share a single nationality: Dutch. Aruba has no administrative subdivisions, but, for census purposes, is divided into eight regions. Its capital is Oranjestad. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. It has a land area of 179 km2 and is densely populated, with a total of 102,484 inhabitants at the 2010 Census. It lies outside Hurricane Alley.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago /ˌtrɪnɨdæd ənd tɵˈbeɪɡoʊ/, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is a twin island country off the northern edge of South America, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It is part of South America as it lies on the continental shelf. However usually considered part of the Caribbean, it shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Grenada to the northwest, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west. The country covers an area of 5,128 square kilometres and consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, with numerous smaller landforms. The two main islands are divided into nine regions, and one ward. Sangre Grande is the largest of the countrys nine regions, comprising about 18% of the total area and 10% of the total population of the country. Trinidad and Tobago lies outside of the hurricane belt. The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 to the capitulation of the Spanish Governor, Don José Maria Chacón, on the arrival of a British fleet of 18 warships on 18 February 1797. During the same period, the island of Tobago changed hands among Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonizers. Trinidad and Tobago were ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. The country Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976. Trinidad and Tobago is the third richest country by GDP per capita in the Americas after the United States and Canada. Furthermore, it is recognized as a high income economy by the World Bank. Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean, the countrys economy is primarily industrial, with an emphasis on petroleum and petrochemicals. The countrys wealth attributes to its large reserves and exploitation of oil and natural gas. Trinidad and Tobago is known for its Carnival and is the birthplace of steelpan, limbo, and the music styles of calypso, soca and chutney. Trinidad and Tobago is one of the most biodiverse nations in the Caribbean and has a wide variety of flora and fauna.

Turks and Caicos Islands

The Turks and Caicos Islands, or TCI for short, are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago, north of the larger Antilles island grouping. They are known primarily for tourism and as an offshore financial centre. The resident population is about 31,500, of whom 23,769 live on Providenciales in the Caicos Islands. The total population on the islands including foreigners is 49,000. The Turks and Caicos Islands lie southeast of Mayaguana in the Bahamas island chain and north of the island of Hispaniola. Cockburn Town, the capital since 1766, is situated on Grand Turk Island about 1,042 kilometres east-southeast of Miami, United States. The islands have a total land area of 430 square kilometres . The first recorded European sighting of the islands now known as the Turks and Caicos occurred in 1512. In the subsequent centuries, the islands were claimed by several European powers with the British Empire eventually gaining control. For many years the islands were governed indirectly through Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the islands received their own governor and have remained a separate autonomous British Overseas Territory since. In August 2009, the United Kingdom suspended the Turks and Caicos Islands self-government after allegations of ministerial corruption. Home rule was restored in the islands after the November 2012 elections.

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km2 and has a population of 174,000 . Its capital is Castries. The French were the islands first European settlers. They signed a treaty with the native Carib Indians in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667. In ensuing years, it was at war with France 14 times, and rule of the island changed frequently . In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island. Because it switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West Indies". Representative government came about in 1840 . From 1958 to 1962, the island was a member of the Federation of the West Indies. On 22 February 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state of the Commonwealth of Nations associated with the United Kingdom. Saint Lucia is a mixed jurisdiction, meaning that it has a legal system based in part on both the civil law and English common law. The Civil Code of St. Lucia of 1867 was based on the Quebec Civil Code of 1866, as supplemented by English common law-style legislation. It is also a member of la Francophonie. The island nation celebrates its independence every year with a public holiday. The financial sector has weathered the global financial crisis, but the recession has hurt tourism.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is a two-island country in the West Indies. Located in the Leeward Islands chain of the Lesser Antilles, it is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population. The country is a Commonwealth realm, with the British Monarch as its head of state. The capital city is Basseterre on the larger island of Saint Kitts. The smaller island of Nevis lies about 2 miles southeast of Saint Kitts across a shallow channel called "The Narrows." The British dependency of Anguilla was historically also a part of this union, which was then known collectively as Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. To the north-northwest lie the islands of Sint Eustatius, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten and Anguilla. To the east and northeast are Antigua and Barbuda, and to the southeast is the small uninhabited island of Redonda, and the island of Montserrat, which currently has an active volcano . Saint Kitts and Nevis were among the first islands in the Caribbean to be settled by Europeans. Saint Kitts was home to the first British and French colonies in the Caribbean, and thus has also been titled "The Mother Colony of the West Indies."

British Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands, commonly referred to as the British Virgin Islands, is a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago; the remaining islands constitute the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Spanish Virgin Islands. The official name of the Territory is still simply the "Virgin Islands", but the prefix "British" is often used to distinguish it from the neighbouring American territory which changed its name from the "Danish West Indies" to "Virgin Islands of the United States" in 1917. British Virgin Islands government publications continue to begin with the name "The Territory of the Virgin Islands", and the Territorys passports simply refer to the "Virgin Islands", and all laws begin with the words "Virgin Islands". Moreover, the Territorys Constitutional Commission has expressed the view that "every effort should be made", to encourage the use of the name "Virgin Islands". The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke, along with over fifty other smaller islands and cays. About 15 of the islands are inhabited. The capital, Road Town, is situated on Tortola, the largest island, which is approximately 20 km long and 5 km wide. The islands have a population of about 28,000, of whom approximately 23,500 live on Tortola. British Virgin Islanders are classed as British Overseas Territories citizens and since 2002 have had an entitlement to take up full UK citizenship. Although the territory is not part of the European Union and not directly subject to EU law, its citizens are deemed to be citizens of the EU as well.

Montserrat

Montserrat is a Caribbean island—specifically in the Leeward Islands, which is part of the chain known as the Lesser Antilles, in the British West Indies. It is a British Overseas Territory. Montserrat measures approximately 16 km long and 11 km wide, with approximately 40 km of coastline. Montserrat is nicknamed The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants. On 18 July 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano, in the southern part of the island, became active. Eruptions destroyed Montserrats Georgian era capital city of Plymouth. Between 1995 and 2000, two-thirds of the islands population was forced to flee, primarily to Great Britain. The volcanic activity continues, mostly affecting the vicinity of Plymouth, including its docking facilities, and the eastern side of the island around the former W. H. Bramble Airport, the remnants of which were buried by flows from volcanic activity on 11 February 2010. An exclusion zone that extends from the south coast of the island north to parts of the Belham Valley was imposed because of the size of the existing volcanic dome and the resulting potential for pyroclastic activity. Visitors are generally not permitted entry into the exclusion zone, but an impressive view of the destruction of Plymouth can be seen from the top of Garibaldi Hill in Isles Bay. Relatively quiet since early 2010, the volcano continues to be closely monitored by the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. A new town and port is being developed at Little Bay, which is on the northwest coast of the island. While this construction proceeds, the centre of government and businesses rests at Brades.

Anguilla

Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territory consists of the main island of Anguilla itself, approximately 16 miles long by 3 miles wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population. The islands capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is 35 square miles, with a population of approximately 13,500 . Anguilla has become a popular tax haven, having no capital gains, estate, profit or other forms of direct taxation on either individuals or corporations. In April 2011, faced with a mounting deficit, it introduced a 3% "Interim Stabilisation Levy", Anguillas first form of income tax.

Bonaire

Bonaire is an island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Together with Aruba and Curaçao, it forms the group known as the ABC islands, located off the north coast of South America near the western part of Venezuela. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, the ABCs lie outside the hurricane belt and have an arid climate. This helps tourism as visitors to the islands can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. Bonaire is a popular destination for scuba divers, well known for easy access to its reef from the shore. Bonaire's capital is Kralendijk. The island has a permanent population of 17,408 and an area of 294 km2 (together with nearby uninhabited Klein Bonaire). Bonaire was part of the Netherlands Antilles until the country's dissolution in 2010, when the island became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands. It is one of the three BES islands located in the Caribbean, the other two being Sint Eustatius and Saba.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles Island arc, in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean. The country is also known as St. Vincent. Its 389 km2 territory consists of the main island of Saint Vincent and the northern two-thirds of the Grenadines, which are a chain of smaller islands stretching south from Saint Vincent Island to Grenada. Most of Saint Vincent lies within the Hurricane Belt. To the north of Saint Vincent lies Saint Lucia, to the east Barbados. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a densely populated country with approximately 120,000 inhabitants. Its capital is Kingstown, also its main port. Saint Vincent has a French and British colonial history and is now part of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, CARICOM, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States .

Saint Barthelemy

Saint-Barthélemy, officially the Territorial collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France. Often abbreviated to Saint-Barth in French, or St. Barts or St. Barths in English, the indigenous people called the island Ouanalao. St. Barthélemy lies about 35 kilometres southeast of St. Martin and north of St. Kitts. Puerto Rico is 240 kilometres to the west in the Greater Antilles. Saint Barthélemy was for many years a French commune forming part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas region and department of France. In 2003, the island voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate overseas collectivity of France. The collectivity is one of four territories among the Leeward Islands in the northeastern Caribbean that comprise the French West Indies, along with Saint Martin, Guadeloupe southeast), and Martinique. Saint Barthélemy, a volcanic island fully encircled by shallow reefs, has an area of 25 square kilometres and a population of 9,035 . Its capital is Gustavia, which also contains the main harbour to the island. It is the only Caribbean island which was a Swedish colony for any significant length of time; Guadeloupe was under Swedish rule only briefly at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Symbolism from the Swedish national arms, the Three Crowns, still appears in the islands coat of arms. The language, cuisine, and culture, however, are distinctly French. The island is a popular tourist destination during the winter holiday season, especially for the rich and famous during the Christmas and new year period.
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