Islands of Beauty and

Culture

The Caribbean

The Caribbean Region is home to 13 independent

countries and 17 territories.

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Spanish is the largest spoken language, and Christianity is the most common religion.

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Kingston, Jamaica

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Havana,Cuba

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The Puerto Rico Trench is the deepest spot in the Atlantic Ocean.

Notice how the islands are simply the tops of mountain ranges.

Some Caribbean islands are relatively flat, and not that influenced by volcanic activity…

Aruba

Barbados

Cayman Islands

While others are dominated by it.

Montserrat

Martinique

Check Out the Caribbean Coral Reef

Many foreigners had colonial influence on the Caribbean, but it was the Spanish, due to Christopher Columbus, who settled first.

The First Voyage of Columbus 1492

The Second Voyage of Columbus 1493

The Third Voyage of Columbus1498

The Fourth Voyage of Columbus1502

Colonial Evolution

• As you can see, the Caribbean was colonized by many different groups.

• Descendants of African slaves have also played a key role in the development of Caribbean culture.

• Caribbean music and dances are actually some of the most famous and recognized in the world.

The Mambo

The Merengue

The Bolero

Baseball in Latin America

Baseball is played in Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It is

also played in the Central American countries of Nicaragua, Panama, and Guatemala. In South

America, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela all play.

Despite not having a lot of natural resources, some people are able to successfully farm.

The Caribbean’s beauty has also helped make it a popular tourist destination--a major industry.

Bananas are a major cash crop.

Sugarcane has been a major Caribbean crop for centuries.

Harvested and Cut Sugarcane

Sugarcane also helped produce molasses, which in

turn was used to make rum, a popular drink. Trading rum

was profitable, and was often traded to Africans for slaves.

CARICOM The Caribbean Community

This is an economic pact or

agreement between nations of

the Caribbean region. It is meant to make trade with each other easier.

Despite the beautiful weather, the Caribbean does suffer from hurricanes as this 2009 chart shows.

The region is also home to another strange phenomenon...

Over the years, some strange things have

happened here.

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