Portal:Caribbean
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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 in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America to the west, and South America to the south, it comprises numerous islands, cays, islets, reefs, and banks. It includes the Lucayan Archipelago, Greater Antilles, and Lesser Antilles of the West Indies; the Quintana Roo islands and Belizean islands of the Yucatán Peninsula; and the Bay Islands, Miskito Cays, Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, and Corn Islands of Central America. It also includes the coastal areas on the continental mainland of the Americas bordering the region from the Yucatán Peninsula in North America through Central America to the Guianas in South America.
The Invasion of Dominica (7 September 1778) was a successful French invasion of the island of Dominica in the British West Indies, during the American Revolutionary War. The action took place before British authorities in the Caribbean were aware that France had entered the war as an ally of the United States of America. The French governor in the West Indies, François Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé, was notified on 17 August that France was at war, and organized the invasion, infiltrating spies to rally sympathetic French-speaking Dominican support. Early on 7 September 1778, French forces landed on the southeastern coast of the island. They rapidly took over some of the island's defenses, and eventually gained control of the high ground overlooking the island's capital, Roseau. Lieutenant Governor William Stuart then surrendered the remaining forces. Dominica remained in French hands until the end of the war, when it was returned to British control. (Full article...)
Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao (Dutch: Land Curaçao; Papiamentu: Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island in the southern Caribbean Sea, specifically the Dutch Caribbean region, about 65 km (40 mi) north of Venezuela. It is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Curaçao includes the main island of Curaçao and the much smaller, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao ("Little Curaçao"). Curaçao has a population of 158,665 (January 2019 est.), with an area of 444 km2 (171 sq mi); its capital is Willemstad. Together with Aruba and Bonaire, Curaçao forms the ABC islands. Collectively, Curaçao, Aruba, and other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean. It is the largest of the ABC islands in area and population, as well as the largest in the Dutch Caribbean. The name "Curaçao" may originate from the indigenous autonym of its people; this idea is supported by early Spanish accounts referring to the inhabitants as Indios Curaçaos. Curaçao's history begins with the Arawak and Caquetio Amerindians; the island becoming a Spanish colony after Alonso de Ojeda's 1499 expedition. Though labelled "the useless island" due to its poor agricultural yield and lack of precious metals, it became a strategic cattle ranching area. When the Dutch colonized the island in 1634, they shifted the island's focus to trade and shipping, and later made it a hub of the Atlantic slave trade. Members of the Jewish community, fleeing persecution in Europe, settled here and significantly influenced the economy and culture. British forces occupied Curaçao twice during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars but it was returned to Dutch rule. The abolition of slavery in 1863 led to economic shifts and migrations. Dutch remains the official language, though Papiamentu, English, and Spanish are widely spoken, reflecting the island's diverse cultural influences. Curaçao was formerly part of the Curaçao and Dependencies colony from 1815 to 1954 and later the Netherlands Antilles from 1954 to 2010, as Island Territory of Curaçao. The discovery of oil in the Maracaibo Basin in 1914 transformed Curaçao into a critical refinery location, altering its economic landscape. There were efforts towards becoming a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the island achieved autonomy in 2010. (Full article...)
Antigua and Barbuda cuisine refers to the cuisines of the Caribbean islands Antigua and Barbuda. The national dish is fungee (pronounced "foon-jee") and pepperpot. Fungee is a dish similar to Italian polenta, made mostly with cornmeal. Other local dishes include ducana, seasoned rice, saltfish and lobster (from Barbuda). There are also local confectioneries which include sugar cake, fudge, raspberry and tamarind stew, and peanut brittle. These foods are indigenous to Antigua and Barbuda and to some other Caribbean countries, the local diet has diversified and includes local dishes of Jamaica, such as jerk meats, or Trinidad, such as roti, and specialties of other Caribbean countries. (Full article...)
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Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second-costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before it struck the United States near the border between North and South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane. After causing 95 fatalities in the US, Hazel struck Canada as an extratropical storm, which raised the death toll by 81 people, mostly in Toronto. As a result of the high death toll and the damage caused by Hazel, its name was retired from use for North Atlantic hurricanes. In Haiti, Hazel destroyed 40 percent of the coffee trees and 50 percent of the cacao crop, which affected the economy for several years. The hurricane made landfall near Calabash, North Carolina, and destroyed most waterfront dwellings. It then traveled north along the Atlantic coast. Hazel affected Virginia; Washington, D.C.; West Virginia; Maryland; Delaware; New Jersey; Pennsylvania; and New York. It brought gusts near 160 km/h (100 mph) and caused $281 million (1954 USD) in damage. When it was over Pennsylvania, Hazel consolidated with a cold front and turned northwest towards Canada. When it hit Ontario as an extratropical storm, rivers and streams in and around Toronto overflowed their banks, which caused severe flooding. As a result, many residential areas in the local floodplains, such as the Raymore Drive area, were subsequently converted to parkland. In Canada alone, over C$135 million (2023: C$1.5 billion) of damage was incurred. The effects of Hazel were particularly unprecedented in Toronto because of a combination of heavy rainfall during the preceding weeks, a lack of experience in dealing with hurricanes, and the storm's unexpected retention of power despite traveling 1,100 km (680 mi) over land. The storm stalled over the Toronto area, and although it was now extratropical, it remained as powerful as a category 1 hurricane. To help with the cleanup, 800 members of the military were summoned, and a Hurricane Relief Fund was established that distributed $5.1 million (2023: $57.9 million) in aid.
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Statue of Juan Pablo Duarte at Duarte Square in New York City
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Danzón is the official musical genre and dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Written in 2
4 time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring set footwork around syncopated beats, and incorporating elegant pauses while the couples stand listening to virtuoso instrumental passages, as characteristically played by a charanga or típica ensemble.
The danzón evolved from the Cuban contradanza, or habanera (lit. 'Havana-dance'). The contradanza, which had English and French roots in the country dance and contredanse, was probably introduced to Cuba by the Spanish, who ruled the island for almost four centuries (1511–1898), contributing many thousands of immigrants. It may also have been partially seeded during the short-lived British occupation of Havana in 1762. Haitian refugees fleeing the island's revolution of 1791–1804 brought the French-Haitian kontradans, contributing their own Creole syncopation. In Cuba, the dances of European origin acquired new stylistic features derived from African rhythm and dance to produce a genuine fusion of European and African influences. African musical traits in the danzón include complex instrumental cross-rhythms, expressed in staggered cinquillo and tresillo patterns.
By 1879, the year Miguel Failde's Las alturas de Simpson was first performed (in Matanzas), danzón had emerged as a distinct genre. Danzón went on to interact with 20th century Cuban genres such as son, and through the danzón-mambo it was instrumental in the development of mambo and cha-cha-chá. (Full article...)
General images
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A 1906 advertisement in the Montreal Medical Journal, showing the United Fruit Company selling trips to Jamaica. (from History of the Caribbean) -
The forced African migrants brought to the Caribbean lived in inhumane conditions. Above are examples of slave huts in Dutch Bonaire. About 5 feet tall and 6 feet wide, between 2 and 3 slaves slept in these after working in nearby salt mines. (from History of the Caribbean) -
A linen market in the British West Indies, circa 1780 (from History of the Caribbean) -
A container ship docked in the deep water harbour of Bridgetown, Barbados, which opened in 1961. (from History of the Caribbean) -
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A medallion showing the Capture of Trinidad and Tobago by the British in 1797. (from History of the Caribbean) -
Sir Ralph Abercromby, Commander of the British forces that captured Trinidad and Tobago. (from History of the Caribbean) -
Cane cutters in Jamaica, 1880s. (from History of the Caribbean) -
Crane Resort old and new buildings, Cobblers Reef, Barbados (from Tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean) -
Agostino Brunias. Free Women of Color with Their Children and Servants in a Landscape, ca. 1770-1796 Brooklyn Museum (from Culture of the Caribbean)
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Battle of the Saintes by Thomas Mitchell. This 1782 battle between the British and French navies took place near Guadeloupe. (from History of the Caribbean) -
Linguistic map of the Caribbean in CE 1500, before European colonization (from History of the Caribbean) -
Contemporary political map of the Caribbean (from History of the Caribbean) -
A carriage on a street in Martinique, one of the Caribbean islands that has not become independent. It is an overseas region of France, and its citizens are full French citizens. (from History of the Caribbean) -
Political evolution of Central America and the Caribbean from 1700 to present (from History of the Caribbean) -
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Illustration circa 1815 showing "Incendie du Cap" (Burning of Cape Francais) during the Haitian Revolution. The caption reads: "General revolt of the Blacks. Massacre of the Whites". (from History of the Caribbean)
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American 757 on final approach to Saint Maarten Airport (from Tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean) -
The Piazza at Havana by Dominic Serres. The Piazza of Havana, Cuba occupied by British troops following the Siege of Havana, in 1762, during the Seven Years' War. (from History of the Caribbean) -
Bath Hotel, Nevis, photograph by Jose Anjo of Antigua (from Tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean) -
Spanish Caribbean Islands in the American Viceroyalties 1600. (from History of the Caribbean) -
A 19th-century lithograph by Theodore Bray showing a sugarcane plantation. On right is "white officer", the European overseer, surveilling plantation workers. To the left is a flat-bottomed vessel for cane transportation. (from History of the Caribbean) -
Map of Antilles / Caribbean in 1843. (from History of the Caribbean) -
United States' rescue effort at St. Vincent, 1902, following an eruption of the volcano at La Soufrière. (from History of the Caribbean) -
Plaquita, a Dominican street version of cricket. The Dominican Republic was first introduced to cricket through mid-18th century British contact, but switched to baseball after the 1916 American occupation. (from Culture of the Caribbean) -
The Natives of Cumaná attack the mission after Gonzalo de Ocampo's slaving raid. Colored copperplate by Theodor de Bry, published in the "Relación brevissima de la destruccion de las Indias". (from History of the Caribbean)
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