Main Portal page | Indices | Projects |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
The Caribbean (/ˌkærɪˈbiːən, kəˈrɪbiən/ KARR-ib-EE-ən, kə-RIB-ee-ən, locally /ˈkærɪbiæn/ KARR-ib-ee-an; Spanish: el Caribe; French: les Caraïbes; Dutch: de Caraïben) is a subregion of the Americas that includes the Caribbean Sea and its islands, some of which are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some of which border both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean; the nearby coastal areas on the mainland are sometimes also included in the region. The region is south-east of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and north of South America.
Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region has thousands of islands, islets, reefs, and cays. Island arcs delineate the northern and eastern edges of the Caribbean Sea: the Greater Antilles in the north and the Lesser Antilles, which includes the Leeward Antilles, in the east and south. The nearby Lucayan Archipelago, comprising The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the island of Barbados in the Lesser Antilles are considered to be a part of the Caribbean despite not bordering the Caribbean Sea. All the islands in the Antilles plus the Lucayan Archipelago form the West Indies, which is often interchangeable with the term Caribbean. On the mainland, Belize and the Caribbean coasts of Mexico, Central America, and South America, including the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Bay Islands Department of Honduras, the North and South Caribbean Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua, the Limón Province of Costa Rica, the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, Cartagena, and Barranquilla in Colombia, Maracaibo, Cumaná, and the Federal Dependencies in Venezuela, are also considered culturally Caribbean. French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, and Suriname are often included as parts of the Caribbean due to their political and cultural ties with the region.
Geopolitically, the islands of the Caribbean are often regarded as a subregion of North America, though sometimes they are included in Middle America or left as a subregion of their own; alternately, the term "Caribbean" may have the intended exclusion, or even unintentional inclusion, as part of Latin America. Generally the Caribbean area is organized into 33 political entities, including 13 sovereign states, 12 dependencies, historical disputed territories have existed, and seven other overseas territories. From 15 December 1954 to 10 October 2010, there was a territory known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five islands, all of which were Dutch dependencies. From 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962, there was also a short-lived political union called the British West Indies Federation composed of ten English-speaking Caribbean territories, all of which were then British dependencies. (Full article...)
Hurricane Dennis was a tropical cyclone that originated early in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico during the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm marked the fourth named storm, the second hurricane, and the first major hurricane of the season. Developing in July, it became the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever to form before August at that time. However, it held this title for only six days before being surpassed by Hurricane Emily. Additionally, Hurricane Dennis also became the second-wettest tropical cyclone in the state of Kentucky, second only to the 1960 Texas tropical storm.
Dennis originated from a tropical wave near Africa and intensified into a tropical depression by July 4 near the Windward Islands, crossing over Grenada. Strengthening further, it developed into a tropical storm before intensifying into a Category 1 hurricane by July 6, moving towards the Jamaica Channel. Rapidly intensifying into a Category 4 hurricane, Dennis made its first landfall in Granma Province, Cuba on July 8. After a period of weakening and subsequent re-intensification, Dennis reached its peak with winds of 150 mph before making its second landfall in Matanzas Province, Cuba on the same day. Weakening to a Category 1 hurricane, it intensified once more into a Category 4 hurricane, reaching a secondary peak with winds of 145 mph. On July 10, Dennis made landfall on Santa Rosa Island, Florida as a Category 3 hurricane before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone, which was later absorbed by another extratropical cyclone. (Full article...)Nassau (/ˈnæsɔː/ NASS-aw) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is located on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of the 2022 census of The Bahamas reported a population of 296,522 for New Providence, 74.26% of the country's population. Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. It is the centre of commerce, education, law, administration, and media of the country.
Lynden Pindling International Airport, the major airport for The Bahamas, is located about 16 km (9.9 mi) west of the city centre of Nassau, and has daily flights to and from major cities in Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and the United States. Nassau is the site of the House of Assembly and various judicial departments and was considered historically to be a stronghold of pirates. The city was named in honour of William III of England, Prince of Orange-Nassau. (Full article...)The golden swallow (Tachycineta euchrysea) is a swallow endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and was once native to Jamaica, but is now extirpated there. It is restricted to isolated montane forests that primarily consist of the Hispaniolan pine (Pinus occidentalis). This species is considered to be a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The exact cause of its extirpation from Jamaica is unknown, but likely factors include predation by introduced mammals and habitat loss, although the habitat loss theory is not supported by much evidence. The last sighting of the nominate subspecies was in Hardwar Gap (located on the boundary between Saint Andrew and Portland parishes), with three birds being seen on 8 June 1989.
A relatively small swallow, the Jamaican subspecies had bronze upperparts and bronze sides of the head. The ears and lores were duller and the forehead area was more green than bronze. The shoulders, back, rump, and uppertail-coverts were, on the other hand, a coppery-bronze colour. The lesser and median coverts were more coppery, with the greater and primary-wing-coverts more of a dusky green. The primaries, secondaries, and tail were a dusky bronze-green. The underparts were mostly white. The legs, feet, and irides were dark brown, and the bill was black. The female was similar, but with its breast, and occasionally throat and undertail-coverts, mottled grey-brown. The juvenile was also mottled-grey brown, and duller overall. The Hispaniolan subspecies, T. e. sclateri, is primarily differentiated by its more deeply forked tail, blue-green forehead and uppertail-coverts, and blue-black wings and tail. (Full article...)Voters queue to cast their vote during the Haitian general election, 2006
Rumba is a secular genre of Cuban music involving dance, percussion, and song. It originated in the northern regions of Cuba, mainly in urban Havana and Matanzas, during the late 19th century. It is based on African music and dance traditions, namely Abakuá and yuka, as well as the Spanish-based coros de clave. According to Argeliers León, rumba is one of the major "genre complexes" of Cuban music, and the term rumba complex is now commonly used by musicologists. This complex encompasses the three traditional forms of rumba (yambú, guaguancó and columbia), as well as their contemporary derivatives and other minor styles.
Traditionally performed by poor workers of African descent in streets and solares (courtyards), rumba remains one of Cuba's most characteristic forms of music and dance. Vocal improvisation, elaborate dancing and polyrhythmic drumming are the key components of all rumba styles. Cajones (wooden boxes) were used as drums until the early 20th century, when they were replaced by tumbadoras (conga drums). During the genre's recorded history, which began in the 1940s, there have been numerous successful rumba bands such as Los Papines, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Clave y Guaguancó, AfroCuba de Matanzas and Yoruba Andabo. (Full article...)Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Last updated: 2024-08-25 19:54 (UTC)
Note: The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
Shortcuts to this page: Portal:West Indies • P:CARIB Purge server cache
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search