Location and Definition of

the Caribbean
PRESENTER: MS. N. LEWIS
 General Objectives

 At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

appreciate the impact of the geographical factors in

shaping the socio-cultural environment of the
Caribbean.
 Specific Objectives
 (i)Name the territories of the Caribbean including

the sub-regions;
(ii) Locate the position of the territories in relation to
the Caribbean sea, Atlantic Ocean and the
continental landmasses after using a map of the
Caribbean.
(iii) Define the Caribbean based on its geography,
geology, history, politics and the “ wider Caribbean”.
 Questions

Where is the Caribbean?

What is the Caribbean? Who
are the Caribbean people?
 The name Caribbean evolved from the name
Caribe, referring to one of the original
groups of people who settled in the region.
 Today, the defining features of the
Caribbean have spread beyond the physical
region to the wider world to include the
Caribbean diaspora.
The Lesser Antilles
 Names of territories and Sub- regions

The Greater Antilles

 Cuba
 Hispaniola ( Haiti and the Dominican
Republic)
 Jamaica
 Puerto Rico
Names or Territories and Sub- region

The Lesser Antilles

Windward Islands
 Dominica
 Grenada
 St. Vincent and the Grenadines
 St. Lucia, Martinique and Guadeloupe,
Trinidad, Grenada and Barbados.
Leeward Islands
 Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and
Nevis, Dominica, Montserrat, Anguilla,
British Virgin Islands.
The Netherland Antilles
 Aruba ( Dutch)
 Bonaire
 Curacao
 St. Maarten ( Dutch)
 St. Martin ( French)
Waterbodies
 The Gulf of Mexico
 The Caribbean Sea
 The Atlantic Ocean
Mainland Territories
p
 Guyana, French Guiana, Belize and Suriname
The Bahamas
Grand Bahamas, Abaco, Cat Island, Eleuthera, Long
Island, New Providence, Andros Island.
 Other sub- regions making up the Caribbean include
the Lucayan Archipelago consisting of the
northern islands of The Bahamas and Turks and
Caicos, the Netherland Antilles of the coast of
Venezuela, Belize, Guyana, French Guiana Suriname
are geo-politically classified as “ mainland”
Caribbean territories
 Activity

1. On the blank of the Caribbean region provided,

locate the following:
a) water bodies- the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of
Mexico and the Pacific Ocean
b) Territories- Belize, Bahamas, Barbados
c) The isthmus of Panama
d) The main sub- regions
1. On the blank map of the Eastern Caribbean
provided:
a) Locate the sub- regions of the Leeward and
Windward islands
b) Draw the eastern margin of the Caribbean Plate
c) Locate the islands of Antigua and Barbuda
d) Locate the Atlantic Ocean
 Definitions of the Caribbean

The Geographic Caribbean

 A group of islands “washed by the Caribbean Sea” or

it can be thought of as the West Indies and the

surrounding mainland territories. It would therefore
include territories of Central America (Costa Rica,
Belize, Panama, and Honduras) , North & South
America, such as Columbia and Venezuela.
 The Geographic Caribbean Cont’d

 It is based on the concept of the Caribbean basin

where the identifying feature is the Caribbean Sea

rimmed by Islands and mainland territories.

 The use of coordinates such as the lines of Latitude

and Longitude in which the Caribbean is stretched

from 60 degrees west to 90 degrees west of the
Greenwich Meridian.
Map of the Caribbean
 Criticisms of the Geographic Caribbean

 Physical Geography can only define and locate a

space in terms of landforms and water bodies.
Trying to delimit Caribbean society and culture
using physical geography results in problems.
 The definition excludes countries that are accepted
as Caribbean such as Guyana, Barbados and the
Bahamas which are not located within the
Caribbean Sea.
 Criticisms of the Geographic Caribbean

 On the other hand, Mexico, Honduras, Panama and

Nicaragua may be perceived as belonging to the
wider Latin American Mainland and not the
Caribbean though they have a coast on the Caribbean
sea.
 Therefore, the physical space according to
Mohammad ( 2007) is just “a container” for natural
features. In order to understand a society one has to
examine how people interpret their space from their
experiences.
 The Geological Caribbean

 It is an area that is defined by the Caribbean Plate

and with similar tectonic activities , volcanic features
and processes.
 The defining feature is the Caribbean Plate which are
marked boundaries or margins where it meets other
plates.
 While the Caribbean Plate is a significant entity on
which to build our conception of a Caribbean region,
it does not include Guyana, the Bahamas and much
of Cuba.
The Geological Caribbean
 Criticisms

 Like Geography then, Geology cannot give us a

comprehensive organizing framework to define the
Caribbean.
 The Historical Caribbean
 This describes the area that saw the impact of
European colonization, slavery, plantation and
Indentureship.
 The Caribbean is also defined as all the countries
which have experienced rulership of European
Monarchies thus the Caribbean is broken into English
French, Dutch and Spanish speaking territories.
 These historical processes include occupation of the
area by the indigenous peoples, European exploration
and settlement, genocide and war waged against the
indigenes.
 The Historical Caribbean Cont’d
 While history is concerned with describing and analyzing
significant events, trends and processes overtime, it also
examines how such phenomena are experienced differently
in different locals and contexts.

 Language is also another definitive feature which is

dependent on our historical experiences.

 How people perceive their space and what they regard as

theirs as opposed to others’ space represents an important
tension in how they perceive attempts from outside to
prescribe, locate and define their region.
 The Political Caribbean

 The political Caribbean can be defined as those states that have

achieved political autonomy from colonial powers that were once
dominant in the region.
 According to Ruel Reid ( 2007) the political Caribbean is defined based
on its government systems of independent, associate states and colonial
dependencies.
 Many Caribbean countries are now politically
independent, favoring different forms of
governance. For example, Cuba is a communist
country while Guyana has opted for republic status
based on socialist principles.
 Both Communism and Socialism advocate
public ownership of the means of production.
However, socialism emphasizes distribution of
resources based on ones abilities and deeds while
communism is more utopian and is thus based on
distribution of resources based on needs.
The Diasporic definition
 The Diasporic Caribbean

 This consist of a large number of persons of

Caribbean descent living outside of their countries of
nationality. Keith Nurse ( 2004) postulated that the
Caribbean diaspora resides in North American
countries and those that were former colonial
empires such as France, Netherlands and the United
Kingdom.

Source: The Caribbean Diaspora: An Untapped Resource for Impacting Economic

Development through Investments. Roger Hosein et. al.
University of the West Indies.
 Table showing the delimitations of defining
the Caribbean
Geographical Historical Geological
Guyana and the Bahamas The problem with The western edge of the
do not have coastlines on defining the Caribbean Caribbean Plate is located
the Caribbean sea; yet according to linguistic or in the Pacific and includes
both countries are European heritage is that, Honduras, Costa Rica,
commonly accepted as it tends to ignore Nicaragua and Panama in
part of the Caribbean commonalities of the Caribbean.
Caribbean experience at
the hands of these
colonial powers.
The definition includes The definition would The Northern edge of the
countries not normally include Guyana and the Caribbean Plate defines
associated with the Bahamas. It should also much of Belize, Cuba and
“Caribbean” such as include the French,Dutch the Bahamas as extra-
Panama, Columbia and and the Spanish speaking regional. This is also true
other countries in Central countries of the of Guyana in the south.
America. Caribbean and Central
America.
 The English Speaking Caribbean

 A member of the commonwealth ( a worldwide

group of territories which were once part of the
British Empire)
 Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Turks
and Caicos, Bermuda and Cayman are associate
states.
 Republics: Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and
Dominica are republics.
 The Dutch Caribbean

 Curacao, Bonaire, Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maartin

are self governing territories of the Dutch Antilles.
Aruba has a different arrangement with Netherlands.
 The Dutch Monarch is head of state and represented
by a governor. The Republic of Suriname, was once
apart of the Netherlands but is today an independent
territory.
 The French Caribbean

 All countries of the French Caribbean are overseas

departments of France except Haiti. The French
colonies are not defined as colonies but each being a
branch of the French Monarchy.
 There is no official flag of Martinique.
 There is very little political participation through the
popularly elected general and regional council.
 The departments send its deputies to sit in the French
National Assembly in Paris.
 The French Caribbean is fully assimilated with France.
 Activity
 Complete the blank map of the caribbean
Pastpaper 2010
1. (a) Outline one advantage of defining the caribbean
in geographical terms. ( 2 marks)
(b) Outline one disadvantage of using a geological basis
for defining the caribbean. ( 2marks)
(c) Explain why Mexico is sometimes described as
“Caribbean” ( 2 marks)
Past paper 2011
Define the term “ the commonwealth caribbean”
( 2 marks)
 Activity

 (b) Name TWO geographical sub-regions of the

caribbean ( 2marks)
(c) Identify TWO territories which are located in the
caribbean but are not politically defined as
caribbean.