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5 Facts You Didn't Know About Caribbean Culture

1) The islands

The Caribbean Sea has a presence between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, bathing the territory of countries in North, Central and South America, the Antilles, as well as dependent territories of other nations, while the region known as the Islands of the Caribbean is made up of more than 700 islands, islets, reefs and caves, divided into four large groups of islands.

The largest inhabited island is Cuba with 105,806 km2, while the smallest is Canouan, of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, with 7.6 km2.

2) Its inhabitants

Only 2% of all the islands are populated, that is, practically inhabited by nature itself. There are islands that are part of the Bahamas, which have even less than 50 inhabitants. The most populated place is the island of Hispaniola, which is made up of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, bringing together a total of 18,943,000 inhabitants. In short, 42.5 million people inhabit just over 30 islands (640 islands are left over in case you are interested in colonizing a little piece of heaven on earth).

3) Multicultural

Most of the residents of the islands are descendants of African slaves who arrived in the region during the time of the conquest mainly to work in the sugar harvest, but once slavery was abolished, they remained in this beautiful tropical paradise.

Although the ancient settlers were Mayans, Tainos and Kalinagos, they were abolished by European conquerors since the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, at which time certain settlers of the old continent joined, including from the Spaniards themselves to the English, French, Dutch and Portuguese.

The mixture of cultures has been such that today there are people of different origins such as: Indians, Chinese, Native Americans, etc., resulting in a varied culture with rich customs and traditions reflected in their art, gastronomy, music, clothing, religion and an endless mix of colors and flavors.

4) West Indies

When Christopher Columbus first encountered the Caribbean islands, he was actually looking to reach India, so he gave them the name West Indies to differentiate them from the East Indies. On a second trip, they ran into a fairly aggressive tribe, according to them cannibals, for which they were named the Caribs, from which the name Caribe would later emerge.

Those who continue to use the name West Indies are the multinational cricket team that represents the entire Caribbean region, the West Indies Cricket Team, a sport adopted by the English settlers and that could be considered the most popular in the islands along with soccer.

5) Other curious facts

  • The Caribbean receives 30 million visitors a year and 27 million more tourists via cruise ships.
  • There are 6 main languages: English, Spanish, French, Haitian Creole, Dutch, and Papiamento (a kind of combination of Spanish and Portuguese).
  • Within its great biodiversity, the islands have 172 species of birds that are unique in the world.
  • They have a good offer of festivals of all kinds, as well as historical carnivals.
  • Banana, coffee and cocoa crops are strong industries.
  • Jamaica has 1,600 churches within its territory.
  • The island of Saba has the shortest airstrip in the world, with 396 meters in length.

About

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I’m Rosie Emery and welcome to my blog. After being unemployed for a while after losing my job because the company went bust, I focus my attention on building a new business for myself which is now become rather successful. In this blog I'll be talking about business along with other aspects of life and solving life's problems that I seem to have become so knowledgeable in through my own difficult circumstances. I hope you are able to gain a lot from my posts.

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