West Indies

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Regional map of the West Indies showing the islands of the Greater and Lesser Antilles, including Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, and numerous smaller islands. The map uses color shading to indicate elevation, with higher elevations in orange and yellow, and labels major cities and territories, including those administered by the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and the United States. Surrounding bodies of water such as the Caribbean Sea, Gulf o

Explore the West Indies' varying landscapes and wildlife, from dolphins to red-footed boobies

Pointe des Châteaux in Guadeloupe

Lush green mountains surround the Valley of Desolation in Dominica, with white steam rising from active fumaroles in the rocky valley floor.

Lush tropical forest with red and green foliage in the foreground, a winding road, and the two Piton Mountains rising in the background on Saint Lucia.

View of San Juan, Puerto Rico, showing colorful buildings, a domed white structure, and a historic cannon in the foreground overlooking the city and bay.

Follow West Indies labourers, from banana and pineapple harvesters to woodworkers and fishermen

Colorful buildings with red, green, and blue roofs line the waterfront of Roseau, Dominica, with parked vehicles and a cruise ship visible near the harbor, mountains in the background.

Carnival parade

At a Glance

default image

West Indies summary

West Indies: Media

island group, Atlantic Ocean

Videos

Explore the West Indies' varying landscapes and wildlife, from dolphins to red-footed boobies

Explore the West Indies' varying landscapes and wildlife, from dolphins to red-footed boobies

Overview of the Caribbean.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Follow West Indies labourers, from banana and pineapple harvesters to woodworkers and fishermen

Follow West Indies labourers, from banana and pineapple harvesters to woodworkers and fishermen

Many Caribbean residents rely on the land or the sea to earn their living.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Learn how Christopher Columbus's colonization of the West Indies forever affected the region's culture

Learn how Christopher Columbus's colonization of the West Indies forever affected the region's culture

As Europeans conquered and colonized the islands of the Caribbean, they brought the...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Discover the poverty and uncertain future of the modern Caribbean, griped by American culture and corporations

Discover the poverty and uncertain future of the modern Caribbean, griped by American culture and corporations

The modern Caribbean is filled with both poverty and an open-ended future.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Examine how tourism contributes to the economies of various Caribbean islands

Examine how tourism contributes to the economies of various Caribbean islands

Overview of tourism in the Caribbean region.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Images

Regional map of the West Indies showing the islands of the Greater and Lesser Antilles, including Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, and numerous smaller islands. The map uses color shading to indicate elevation, with higher elevations in orange and yellow, and labels major cities and territories, including those administered by the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and the United States. Surrounding bodies of water such as the Caribbean Sea, Gulf o

West Indies

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Refugio Mariscal

Pointe des Châteaux in Guadeloupe

Pointe des Châteaux in Guadeloupe

Pointe des Châteaux, eastern Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe.

Courtesy of Guy Legrain

Lush green mountains surround the Valley of Desolation in Dominica, with white steam rising from active fumaroles in the rocky valley floor.

Dominica

Fumaroles, or volcanic vents, Dominica, Lesser Antilles.

© Joseph/stock.adobe.com

Anguilla

Anguilla

A beach in Anguilla, Lesser Antilles.

© Philip Coblentz—Digital Vision/Getty Images

Lush tropical forest with red and green foliage in the foreground, a winding road, and the two Piton Mountains rising in the background on Saint Lucia.

West Indies: Saint Lucia

Tropical forest on Saint Lucia.

© NinaMalyna/stock.adobe.com

View of San Juan, Puerto Rico, showing colorful buildings, a domed white structure, and a historic cannon in the foreground overlooking the city and bay.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico.

© Digital Vision/Getty Images

Colorful buildings with red, green, and blue roofs line the waterfront of Roseau, Dominica, with parked vehicles and a cruise ship visible near the harbor, mountains in the background.

Dominica

Cruise-ship port in Roseau, Dominica.

© Richard Goldberg/Shutterstock.com

Carnival parade

Carnival parade

Women dancing in a Carnival parade, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Images

Map showing the distribution of indigenous peoples and cultures in Central America, the Caribbean, and the northern Andean region around 1492. The map labels various groups across present-day countries, including the Antillean Arawak (Taino), Ciboney, Antillean Carib, Lenca, Mosquito, Chibcha, Muisca, and others, with boundaries and coastlines marked along the Caribbean Sea and northern South America.

Central American and northern Andean cultures, c. 1492

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map showing the distribution of indigenous peoples in Central America and the northern Andean region around 1982. The map labels various indigenous groups, such as the Mosquito, Sumo, Lenca, Kuna, Bribri, Boruca, Choco, Paez, Tairona, Arhuaco, Goajiro, Caquetio, and Jirajara, along the coasts and inland areas from Nicaragua and Panama to northern Colombia and Venezuela. Major bodies of water, including the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, are also indicated.

Central American and northern Andean cultures, c. 1982

.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Taíno village

Taíno village

Recreation of a Taíno village, Baconao Park, near Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

Michal Zalewski

Carib

Carib

Carib fishermen, illustration from Girolamo Benzoni's La historia del Mondo Nuovo...

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZ62-97211)

Oil painting portrait of Christopher Columbus by Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, showing Columbus with short gray hair, a black cap, and dark clothing against a plain background.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus, oil painting, said to be the most accurate likeness of the...

© De Agostini/Getty Images

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, Hispaniola, engraving by Montanus, 1671.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Bartolomé de Las Casas, engraving.

Courtesy of the Organization of American States

triangular trade

triangular trade

Enslaved people cutting sugarcane on the Caribbean island of Antigua, aquatint from...

The British Library (Public Domain)

Full-length portrait of Toussaint-Louverture in military uniform with a feathered top hat, holding a document and a sword, with a landscape and figures in the background.

Toussaint Louverture

Toussaint Louverture.

© Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com

Cayman Islands, West Indies

Cayman Islands, West Indies

Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.

© Philip Coblentz—Digital Vision/Getty Images

Map of South America and the Caribbean showing the distribution of Aboriginal cultural groups, with regions color-coded by cultural type including Andean, Central American, tropical forest, and various nomadic cultures such as aquatic nomads, forest hunters and gatherers, and shellfish gatherers. Major group names are labeled across the continent and surrounding islands.

distribution of aboriginal South American and circum-Caribbean cultural groups

Distribution of aboriginal South American and circum-Caribbean cultural groups.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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