15 Facts About Caribbean

1.

Geopolitically, the islands of the Caribbean are often regarded as a region of North America, though sometimes they are included in Central America or left as a region of their own.

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2.

The Caribbean can be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to Africa, slavery, European colonisation and the plantation system.

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3.

Oldest evidence of humans in the Caribbean is in southern Trinidad at Banwari Trace, where remains have been found from seven thousand years ago.

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4.

Caribbean was known for pirates, especially between 1640 and 1680.

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5.

The Caribbean region was war-torn throughout much of its colonial history, but the wars were often based in Europe, with only minor battles fought in the Caribbean.

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6.

Caribbean islands have one of the most diverse eco systems in the world.

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7.

Many of the ecosystems of the Caribbean islands have been devastated by deforestation, pollution, and human encroachment.

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8.

Some Caribbean islands have terrain that Europeans found suitable for cultivation for agriculture.

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9.

At the time of European contact, the dominant ethnic groups in the Caribbean included the Taino of the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles, the Island Caribs of the southern Lesser Antilles, and smaller distinct groups such as the Guanajatabey of western Cuba and the Ciguayo of eastern Hispaniola.

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10.

The population of the Caribbean is estimated to have been around 750, 000 immediately before European contact, although lower and higher figures are given.

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11.

Spanish-speaking Caribbean populations are primarily of European, African, or racially mixed origins.

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12.

Caribbean societies are very different from other Western societies in terms of size, culture, and degree of mobility of their citizens.

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13.

Contemporary Caribbean systems seem to reflect a "blending of traditional and modern patterns, yielding hybrid systems that exhibit significant structural variations and divergent constitutional traditions yet ultimately appear to function in similar ways.

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14.

Farmers in the Caribbean have complained of falling profits and rising costs as the Lome Convention weakens.

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15.

Caribbean nations have started to more closely cooperate in the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and other instruments to add oversight of the offshore industry.

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