West Indies - wikipedia West Indies Political map of the West Indies The West Indies or Caribbean Basin is a region of the North Atlantic Ocean in the Caribbean that includes the island countries and surrounding waters of three major archipelagoes : the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago. The region is known as the area running from Florida westward along the Gulf Coast, and then south along the Mexican coast through Central America and then eastward across the northern coast of South America. Bermuda is also included within the region even though it is in the west - central Atlantic, due to its common cultural history created by European colonization of the region, and in most of the region by the presence of a significant group of African descent. Indigenous peoples were the first inhabitants of the West Indies. In 1492, Christopher Columbus became the first European to arrive at the islands, where he is believed by historians to have first stepped foot in the Bahamas. After the first of the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the Americas, Europeans began to use the term West Indies to distinguish the region from the East Indies of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Contents 1 History 2 Use of the term 3 Countries and territories by archipelago 3.1 Greater Antilles 3.2 Lesser Antilles 3.3 Lucayan Archipelago 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading History Main article : History of the Caribbean Caribbean Basin countries In the late sixteenth century, French, English and Dutch merchants and privateers began their operations in the Caribbean Sea, attacking Spanish and Portuguese shipping and coastal areas. They often took refuge and refitted their ships in the areas the Spanish could not conquer, including the islands of the Lesser Antilles, the northern coast of South America including the mouth of the Orinoco, and the Atlantic Coast of Central America. In the Lesser Antilles they managed to establish a foothold following the colonization of St Kitts in 1624 and Barbados in 1626, and when the Sugar Revolution took off in the mid-seventeenth century, they brought in thousands of Africans to work the fields and mills as slave laborers. These Africans wrought a demographic revolution, replacing or joining with either the indigenous Caribs or the European settlers who were there as indentured servants. The struggle between the northern Europeans and the Spanish spread southward in the mid to late seventeenth century, as English, Dutch, French and Spanish colonists, and in many cases their slaves from Africa first entered and then occupied the coast of The Guianas ( which fell to the French, English and Dutch ) and the Orinoco valley, which fell to the Spanish. The Dutch, allied with the Caribs of the Orinoco would eventually carry the struggles deep into South America, first along the Orinoco and then along the northern reaches of the Amazon. Since no European country had occupied much of Central America, gradually the English of Jamaica established alliances with the Miskito Kingdom of modern - day Nicaragua and Honduras, and then began logging on the coast of modern - day Belize. These interconnected commercial and diplomatic relations made up the Western Caribbean Zone which was in place in the early eighteenth century. In the Miskito Kingdom, the rise to power of the Miskito - Zambos, who originated in the survivors of a rebellion aboard a slave ship in the 1640s and the introduction of African slaves by British settlers within the Miskito area and in Belize British Honduras also transformed this area into one with a high percentage of persons of African descent as was found in most of the rest of the Caribbean. From the 17th through the 19th century, the European colonial territories of the West Indies were the French West Indies, British West Indies, the Danish West Indies, the Netherlands Antilles ( Dutch West Indies ), and the Spanish West Indies. In 1916, Denmark sold the Danish West Indies to the United States for US $25 million in gold, per the Treaty of the Danish West Indies. The Danish West Indies became an insular area of the US, called the United States Virgin Islands. Between 1958 and 1962, the United Kingdom re-organised all their West Indies island territories ( except the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas ) into the West Indies Federation. They hoped that the Federation would coalesce into a single, independent nation. However, the Federation had limited powers, numerous practical problems, and a lack of popular support ; consequently, it was dissolved by the British in 1963, with nine provinces becoming independent sovereign states and four becoming British Overseas Territories. West Indies or West India was the namesake of several companies of the 17th and 18th centuries, including the Danish West India Company, the Dutch West India Company, the French West India Company, and the Swedish West India Company. West Indian is the official term used by the U.S. government to refer to people of the West Indies Use of the term The West Indies in relation to continental America. Tulane University professor Rosanne Adderly says : ( T ) he phrase `` West Indies '' distinguished the territories encountered by Columbus or and claimed by Spain from discovery claims by other powers in ( Asia 's ) `` East Indies ''.... The term `` West Indies '' was eventually used by all European nations to describe their own acquired territories in the Americas.... considering British Caribbean colonies collectively as the `` West Indies '' had its greatest political importance in the 1950s with the movement to create a federation of those colonies that could ultimately become an independent nation... Despite the collapse of the Federation ( in the early 1960s )... the West Indies continues to field a joint cricket team for international competition. The West Indies cricket team includes participants from Guyana, which is geographically located in South America. Countries and territories by archipelago Greater Antilles Cayman Islands ( United Kingdom ) Cuba Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Puerto Rico ( United States ) Lesser Antilles Anguilla ( United Kingdom ) Antigua and Barbuda Aruba ( Kingdom of the Netherlands ) Barbados Bonaire ( Netherlands ) British Virgin Islands ( United Kingdom ) Curaçao ( Kingdom of the Netherlands ) Dominica Grenada Guadeloupe ( France ) Martinique ( France ) Montserrat ( United Kingdom ) Nueva Esparta ( Venezuela ) Saba ( Netherlands ) Saint Barthélemy ( France ) Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint - Martin ( France ) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sint Eustatius ( Netherlands ) Sint Maarten ( Kingdom of the Netherlands ) Trinidad and Tobago United States Virgin Islands ( United States ) Federal Dependencies of Venezuela ( Venezuela ) Lucayan Archipelago Bahamas Turks and Caicos Islands ( United Kingdom ) See also Geography portal Caribbean Basin Initiative Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act History of the Caribbean History of the British West Indies Spanish colonization of the Americas West Indian References Jump up ^ Caldecott, Alfred ( 1898 ). The Church in the West Indies. London : Frank Cass and Co. p. 11. Retrieved 12 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` Info Please U.S. Social Statistics ''. Retrieved 1 October 2015. Jump up ^ Rosanne Adderly, `` West Indies '', in Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean Cultures, Volume 1 : A-D ( London and New York : Routledge, 2000 ) : 1584. Further reading Wikimedia Commons has media related to Subdivisions of the Caribbean. Cromwell, Jesse. `` More than Slaves and Sugar : Recent Historiography of the Trans - imperial Caribbean and Its Sinew Populations. '' History Compass ( 2014 ) 12 # 10 pp 770 -- 783. Higman, Barry W. A Concise History of the Caribbean. ( 2011 ) Martin, Tony, Caribbean History : From Pre-colonial Origins to the Present ( 2011 ) Caribbean articles History Timeline Taíno -- Arawak Spanish Caribbean ( 1492 -- 1898 ) Dutch Caribbean ( 1554 -- 1863 ) British Caribbean ( 1586 -- 1834 ) French Caribbean ( 1625 -- 1817 ) Baltic - German Caribbean ( 1654 - 1689 ) Danish Caribbean ( 1672 -- 1917 ) German Caribbean ( 1685 - 1693 ) Swedish Caribbean ( 1784 -- 1878 ) By topic Afro - Caribbean Territorial evolution Geography Regions Antilles Greater Antilles Lesser Antilles Leeward Leeward Antilles Windward Caribbean Basin Caribbean Lowlands Caribbean Plate Caribbean Sea Caribbean South America Southern Caribbean By topic Bioregion Earthquakes Extreme points Islands by area Metropolitan areas Mountains Rivers Ultras sovereign states dependent territories Politics African - Caribbean leftism Caribbean Community CARIFORUM Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Sovereign states and dependent territories Western Caribbean Zone Economy Airlines Airports Central banks and currencies Citrus Fishing Stock exchanges Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange Sugar in Cuba in the Danish West Indies Telecommunications Tourism Culture Afro - Caribbean Art Beer Cuisine Literature Music People Sport Stadiums Television stations Demographics Immigration Languages Pre-Arawakan Population Diseases Religion Category Portal Regions of the world Regions of Africa North Mediterranean Gibraltar Arc Greater Middle East MENA Middle East Maghreb Barbary Coast Barbara Ancient Libya Atlas Mountains ( Middle Atlas ) Sahara Western Sahara Sahel Eastern Mediterranean Egypt Upper Egypt Middle Egypt Lower Egypt Cataracts of the Nile Bashmur Nubia Lower Nubia Nile Valley Nile Delta Darfur Gulf of Aqaba Sub-Saharan East Aethiopia Swahili coast East African Rift Great Rift Valley Afar Triangle Danakil Desert Danakil Alps Albertine Rift Virunga Mountains Gregory Rift Valley Southern Rift Valley Rift Valley lakes African Great Lakes Mittelafrika Horn of Africa Ethiopian Highlands Gulf of Aden Gulf of Tadjoura Sudan ( region ) Sudanian Savanna East African montane forests Sub-Saharan Central Negroland Guinea region Gulf of Guinea Cape Lopez Mayombe Igboland Mbaise Maputaland Pool Malebo Congo Basin Chad Basin Congolese rainforests Ouaddaï highlands Ennedi Plateau Sub-Saharan West Pepper Coast Gold Coast Slave Coast Ivory Coast Cape Palmas Cape Mesurado Negroland Guinea region Gulf of Guinea Sudanian Savanna Niger Basin Guinean Forests of West Africa Sudan ( region ) Niger Delta Inner Niger Delta Sub-Saharan South Madagascar Central Highlands ( Madagascar ) Northern Highlands Rhodesia North South Thembuland Succulent Karoo Nama Karoo Bushveld Highveld Fynbos Cape Floristic Region Kalahari Desert Okavango Delta False Bay Hydra Bay Sub-Saharan Anglophone Africa Francophone Africa Lusophone Africa Arabophone Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Tropical Africa Islands Regions of North America Canada Eastern Canada Western Canada Canadian Prairies Central Canada Northern Canada Atlantic Canada The Maritimes French Canada English Canada Acadia Acadian Peninsula Quebec City -- Windsor Corridor Peace River Country Cypress Hills Palliser 's Triangle Canadian Shield Interior Alaska - 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Yukon lowland taiga Gulf of Mexico Lower Colorado River Valley Sacramento -- San Joaquin River Delta Yukon -- Kuskokwim Delta Colville Delta Arkansas Delta Mobile -- Tensaw River Delta Mississippi Delta Mississippi River Delta Columbia River Estuary Great Basin High Desert Monterey Peninsula Upper Peninsula of Michigan Lower Peninsula of Michigan Virginia Peninsula Keweenaw Peninsula Middle Peninsula Delmarva Peninsula Alaska Peninsula Kenai Peninsula Niagara Peninsula Beringia Belt regions Bible Belt Black Belt Corn Belt Cotton Belt Frost Belt Rice Belt Rust Belt Sun Belt Snow Belt Mexico Northern Mexico Baja California Peninsula Gulf of California Colorado River Delta Gulf of Mexico Soconusco Tierra Caliente La Mixteca La Huasteca Bajío Valley of Mexico Mezquital Valley Sierra Madre de Oaxaca Yucatán Peninsula Basin and Range Province Central Western Caribbean Zone Isthmus of Panama Gulf of Panama Pearl Islands Azuero Peninsula Mosquito Coast Caribbean West Indies Antilles Greater Antilles Lesser Antilles Leeward Leeward Antilles Windward Lucayan Archipelago Southern Caribbean Aridoamerica Mesoamerica Oasisamerica Northern Middle Anglo Latin French Hispanic American Cordillera Ring of Fire LAC Regions of South America North Caribbean South America West Indies Los Llanos The Guianas Amazon Basin Amazon rainforest Gulf of Paria Paria Peninsula Paraguaná Peninsula Orinoco Delta South Tierra del Fuego Patagonia Pampas Pantanal Gran Chaco Chiquitano dry forests Valdes Peninsula West Andes Tropical Andes Wet Andes Dry Andes Pariacaca mountain range Altiplano Atacama Desert East Amazon basin Atlantic Forest Caatinga Cerrado Latin Hispanic American Cordillera Ring of Fire LAC Regions of Asia Central Greater Middle East Aral Sea Aralkum Desert Caspian Sea Dead Sea Sea of Galilee Transoxiana Turan Greater Khorasan Ariana Khwarezm Sistan Kazakhstania Eurasian Steppe Asian Steppe Kazakh Steppe Pontic -- Caspian steppe Mongolian - Manchurian grassland Wild Fields Yedisan Muravsky Trail Ural Ural Mountains Volga region Idel - Ural Kolyma Transbaikal Pryazovia Bjarmaland Kuban Zalesye Ingria Novorossiya Gornaya Shoriya Tulgas Iranian plateau Altai Mountains Pamir Mountains Tian Shan Badakhshan Wakhan Corridor Wakhjir Pass Mount Imeon Mongolian Plateau Western Regions Taklamakan Desert Karakoram Trans - Karakoram Tract Siachen Glacier North Inner Asia Northeast Far East Russian Far East Okhotsk - Manchurian taiga Extreme North Siberia Baikalia ( Lake Baikal ) Transbaikal Khatanga Gulf Baraba Steppe Kamchatka Peninsula Amur Basin Yenisei Gulf Yenisei Basin Beringia Sikhote - Alin East Japanese archipelago Northeastern Japan Arc Sakhalin Island Arc Korean Peninsula Gobi Desert Taklamakan Desert Greater Khingan Mongolian Plateau Inner Asia Inner Mongolia Outer Mongolia China proper Manchuria Outer Manchuria Inner Manchuria Northeast China Plain Mongolian - Manchurian grassland North China Plain Yan_Mountains Kunlun Mountains Liaodong Peninsula Himalayas Tibetan Plateau Tibet Tarim Basin Northern Silk Road Hexi Corridor Nanzhong Lingnan Liangguang Jiangnan Jianghuai Guanzhong Huizhou Wu Jiaozhou Zhongyuan Shaannan Ordos Loop Loess Plateau Shaanbei Hamgyong Mountains Central Mountain Range Japanese Alps Suzuka Mountains Leizhou Peninsula Gulf of Tonkin Yangtze River Delta Pearl River Delta Yenisei Basin Altai Mountains Wakhan Corridor Wakhjir Pass West Greater Middle East MENA Middle East Red Sea Caspian Sea Mediterranean Sea Zagros Mountains Persian Gulf Pirate Coast Strait of Hormuz Greater and Lesser Tunbs Al - Faw Peninsula Gulf of Oman Gulf of Aqaba Gulf of Aden Balochistan Arabian Peninsula Najd Hejaz Tihamah Eastern Arabia South Arabia Hadhramaut Arabian Peninsula coastal fog desert Tigris -- Euphrates Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia Lower Mesopotamia Sawad Nineveh plains Akkad ( region ) Babylonia Canaan Aram Eber - Nari Suhum Eastern Mediterranean Mashriq Kurdistan Levant Southern Levant Transjordan Jordan Rift Valley Levantine Sea Golan Heights Hula Valley Gaza Strip West Bank Galilee Gilead Judea Samaria Arabah Anti-Lebanon Mountains Sinai Peninsula Arabian Desert Syrian Desert Fertile Crescent Azerbaijan Syria Palestine Iranian plateau Armenian Highlands Caucasus Caucasus mountains Greater Caucasus Lesser Caucasus North Caucasus South Caucasus Kur - Araz Lowland Lankaran Lowland Alborz Absheron Peninsula Anatolia Cilicia Cappadocia Alpide belt South Greater India Indian subcontinent Himalayas Hindu Kush Western Ghats Eastern Ghats Ganges Basin Ganges Delta Pashtunistan Punjab Balochistan Kashmir Kashmir Valley Pir Panjal Range Thar Desert Indus Valley Indus River Delta Indus Valley Desert Indo - Gangetic Plain Eastern coastal plains Western Coastal Plains Meghalaya subtropical forests Lower Gangetic plains moist deciduous forests Northwestern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows Doab Bagar region Great Rann of Kutch Little Rann of Kutch Deccan Plateau Coromandel Coast Konkan False Divi Point Hindi Belt Ladakh Aksai Chin Gilgit - Baltistan Baltistan Shigar Valley Karakoram Saltoro Mountains Siachen Glacier Bay of Bengal Gulf of Khambhat Gulf of Kutch Gulf of Mannar Trans - Karakoram Tract Wakhan Corridor Wakhjir Pass Lakshadweep Andaman and Nicobar Islands Andaman Islands Nicobar Islands Maldive Islands Alpide belt Southeast Mainland Indochina Malay Peninsula Maritime Peninsular Malaysia Sunda Islands Greater Sunda Islands Lesser Sunda Islands Indonesian Archipelago Timor New Guinea Bonis Peninsula Papuan Peninsula Huon Peninsula Huon Gulf Bird 's Head Peninsula Gazelle Peninsula Philippine Archipelago Luzon Visayas Mindanao Leyte Gulf Gulf of Thailand East Indies Nanyang Alpide belt Asia - 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Larsen Sea Ross Sea Scotia Sea Somov Sea Weddell Sea Endorheic basins Aral Sea Caspian Sea Dead Sea Sea of Galilee Salton Sea Book Category VIAF : 246535206 LCCN : sh85146187 GND : 4079228 - 6 NDL : 00568542 Coordinates : 21 ° 59 ′ 00 '' N 79 ° 02 ′ 00 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 21.9833 ° N 79.0333 ° W ﻿ / 21.9833 ; - 79.0333 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Indies&oldid=802080865 '' Categories : West Indies Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from February 2010 Articles with unsourced statements from October 2016 Commons category with local link different than on Wikidata Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Coordinates on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Languages Afrikaans অসমীয়া বাংলা Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Català Cebuano Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge ગુજરાતી 한국어 Հայերեն Interlingua Italiano Кыргызча Latviešu Lietuvių മലയാളം Nederlands 日本 語 Nordfriisk Norsk Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی Polski Português Română Русский Scots Sicilianu Slovenčina Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 粵語 Žemaitėška 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 23 September 2017, at 21 : 44. 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Question: how did the west indies get its name
Answer: Europeans began to use the term West Indies to distinguish the region from the East Indies