Origin of Caribbean

The word Caribbean is said to be derived from the indigenous

peoples name for themselves, Carib. The term West Indies

which is often used interchangeably with Caribbean is the
name given to the region by Christopher Columbus in 1492.
As with the inexact name of the region so to is there little

agreement on what area is included within the Caribbean.

Different criteria are used to define the region.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL CARIBBEAN

This term describes the area washed by the Caribbean Sea
and is often described as the Caribbean Basin. The
Caribbean
Sea has been defined as an area between 9 and 22 degrees
North and 60 and 89 degrees West.
With these coordinates the Caribbean would be bounded to
the south by the coast of Venezuela, Columbia and
Panama,
to the west by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala
Belize and Mexico, to the north by Cuba Jamaica and Haiti,
the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico and to the east by
the Lesser Antilles chain of island. The common link is the
Caribbean Sea.

THE HISTORICAL
CARIBBEAN
This describes the area that experienced
European
colonization, slavery, indentureship and the
plantation system. Since all Caribbean countries
were affected by these institutions, it has become
typical to identify a country with the specific
European power that dominated it. The Caribbean
now has, in addition to indigenous Amerindian
cultural roots, strong cultural ties with Europe,
Africa and Asia.

Geological Caribbean
It is the area that is defined by the

Caribbean Plate and which

experiences similar tectonic, seismic,
and volcanic features.

Political Caribbean
For political purposes the concept of CARICOM is used

to define the Caribbean. But this definition was limited

to the eleven island states and territories and two
mainland countries until Suriname and Haiti were
added to the grouping in 1995 and 2000 respectively
A more recent definition is based on the Association of

Caribbean States (ACS) formed in 1994. This

definition incorporates all the countries in Central
America including Mexico and Panama, all the
countries in South America and all the islands in and
around the Caribbean Sea as well as Bahamas and
Barbados.

Girvan (cited in Benn and Hall, 2000), posits four

notions of the Caribbean:
The Caribbean as the island chain lying in the

Caribbean Sea.
The Caribbean as Basin comprising the countries in

and around the Caribbean Sea.

The Caribbean as an ethno-historic zone comprising

the islands and adjacent coastal communities in

South and Central America which share a similar
history, culture and ethnicity.
Most recent, the Caribbean as a transnational

community that embraces the Caribbean diaspora

overseas.

Problems in Defining the

Caribbean
Geographical: This definition includes

countries not normally associated with the

Caribbean Panama, Colombia and other
countries of Central America.
On the other hand , Guyana, Barbados and
the Bahamas do not have coastlines on the
Caribbean Sea. Yet these countries are
commonly accepted as part of the
Caribbean.

Historical : This definition would

include Guyana and the Bahamas. It

should also include the French, Dutch
and Spanish speaking countries of the
Caribbean and Central America.
The problem with defining the

Caribbean according to linguistic or

European heritage is the tendency to
ignore the similar experiences of each
island by the colonial power.

Geological: The northern edge of the

Caribbean Plate defines much of Belize,

Cuba, the Bahamas and Guyana as
extra-regional.
However, the western edge of the

Caribbean Plate is located in the Pacific

and includes Honduras, Costa Rica,
Nicaragua and Panama in the
Caribbean.