Geographical Caribbean defined The geographical features of the caribbean two countries that were each colonized by the dutch, french, English and Spanish. reference materials are provided. document is in apa format

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Caribbean Studies Course Work by Michka Irving 2015.
Geographical Caribbean
The term “Caribbean” according to the Cape Caribbean studies module 1-3 textbook, states that the
word was first applied to region by Thomas Jeffrey, which was derived from the original inhabitants of
the Caribbean Sea – the Caribs. The Caribbean consists of approximately 25 countries, and 34 million
people, according to (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 2002). The region can be found on the Caribbean
plate, which lies between three tectonic plates; North and South American plates, and the Cocos plates.
The Caribbean Islands region is located to the southeast of the Gulf of Mexico, west of the Atlantic
Ocean and north of the Caribbean Sea, extending from 65° 18 ́ W to 84° 57 ́ W and from 27° 30 ́ N to
17° 32 ́ N. The geography of the Caribbean Islands region is characterized by an archipelago formed
from the tectonic activity of the Caribbean plate, and marks the geomorphologic and climatic
transitional zones between the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The region
comprises the seas and islands of the Greater Antilles group, including the largest Caribbean islands of
Cuba, Hispaniola (divided between Haiti in the west and the Dominican Republic in the east), Jamaica,
Puerto Rico, the archipelago of The Bahamas, the mainland territories of Central America and northern
South America; Belize, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana and the islands of the Lesser Antilles.

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Caribbean Studies by Michka Irving 2015
Map of the countries colonized by the English, French, Dutch and Spanish in the Caribbean.
Figure 1 This map shows two countries that were colonized by English, French, Spanish and Dutch.
The following list shows two countries that were colonized by the Dutch, French, English and Spanish.
DUTCH FRENCH SPANISH ENGLISH
Netherlands Antilles Haiti Cuba Jamaica
Aruba Guadeloupe Dominica Republic Barbados
The diversity of the Caribbean is a result of colonization, slavery, and indenture-ship, and plantation
system in the Caribbean. These structures have created territories and countries that speaks Spanish,
Dutch, English, or French and have the impression of their colonization in their respective cultures,
norms and history.

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Caribbean Studies by Michka Irving 2015
Assess the ways in which any one geographical feature has affected at least three (3) of the countries
identified above.
The region is a large area and because of this there is much diversity from main land territories to
island and archipelagoes. The three island that I have selected are; Cuba, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola
(Haiti and Dominica Republic). The Caribbean Islands region possesses a diverse and irregular coastline
that gives rise to a unique ecosystem formed by the integration of coastal features including harbours,
bays, beaches, rocky shores, estuaries, mangrove swamps, cays, and coral reefs. Most of the island
populations inhabit the coastal plains, which therefore also support the majority of the economic
activities. The marine-coastal zone of the region is characterized by a high biodiversity, with a
multiplicity of tropical ecosystems and landscapes, and a varied autochthonous flora and fauna. The
coastal zone of the Greater Antilles and The Bahamas contains some of the most productive and
biologically complex ecosystems in the world. The marine seascape of the region supports a complex
interaction of three distinct ecosystems: coral reefs, mangroves, and sea grass beds. Typical features of
Caribbean coastal morphology are secluded bays and archipelagos. The southern areas of the islands,
exposed to warmer and more humid winds, have developed a more tropical flora and fauna, while
northern areas are generally dryer. Human presence in the Caribbean has traditionally been connected to
trade and sugar cane crops, but is now increasingly influenced by the development of tourism. It is for
this reason that populations and infrastructure are concentrated around harbours and coastal zones.
Approximately 7% of the world’s coral reefs resources are located in the Wider Caribbean
particularly in the Greater Antilles and The Bahamas. The framework built by corals and algae supports
a variety of sponges, sea whips, sea anemones, worms, tubeworms, shrimps, crabs, lobsters, snails,

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Caribbean Studies by Michka Irving 2015
clams, starfish, brittle stars, feather stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and fish. In The Bahamas bank or
bank-barrier, reefs are relatively common. Atoll-like structures are found in The Bahamas and small
atoll-like reefs, more commonly known as basin or cup reefs, are found in Puerto Rico. The Greater
Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico) generally has more extensive reefs than the Lesser Antilles.
In the three islands, mangroves are found on almost every coastline, although there are wide variations
in mangrove coverage depending on the geographic characteristics of each island. The most impressive
forests in Caribbean are found along the coasts of the Greater Antilles; Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Dominica
Republic and Puerto Rico.
The islands have varying ranges of surfaces features that makes some areas below sea level, at
sea level and above sea level. Some countries have high mountain ranges, large river, lagoon and
swamps like Jamaica, while others have high peaks but are not mountainous like Cuba. Some countries
have no mountains or peaks like Barbados. The difference in surface features is further stretched within
the Lesser Antilles as small islands such as Montserrat, Dominica, Guadeloupe, etc. are mountainous
with an active volcano. Then there are islands like Barbados that has no mountainous ranges. The
highest summit in the region is peak Duarte, with an elevation of 3 175 m above sea level, located in the
Central Mountain Range of the Hispaniola Island. The east-west geomorphologic orientation of
mountains and hills covering the majority of the central areas of these islands make the coastline the
focus for dense human presence.
According to (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 2002) the Caribbean Islands region enjoys a
tropical climate with mean annual temperatures of approximately 25°C, with limited seasonal variation.
At sea level, meteorological conditions are under oceanic influence, with warm southern winds and

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northeast winds balancing and regulating temperatures. In mountainous areas the climate is tempered.
Despite the higher altitude and cooler conditions, it would not be enough for snow. Additionally, due to
the islands land mass nearness to the sea, this creates cooler conditions and the famous ‘gentle
Caribbean breeze’ that helps to lower the temperature. Due to its geographical location, the region is
prone to natural disasters such as earth quakes, hurricanes, tropical storms, flooding and landslides.
Hurricanes are the most frequent hazard, occurring usually between June and November.
The rivers of the Caribbean Islands region have very short courses with limited flow rates in
comparison to the rivers of Central and South America. For the majority of the rivers, their flows are
longitudinal to the east-west axis of the archipelago. The most extensive rivers in the region are
concentrated in the largest territories of Hispaniola and Cuba. (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 2002).
The volume of water supplied by the rivers and streams in the Caribbean islands region is limited,
except in rainy seasons. The countries of the region are variably under water stress, depending on
climatic conditions regulating rainfalls, the size of population (both indigenous and tourist) and the
demands for irrigation for export crops. Haiti is under the greatest water stress as a result of having the
largest population density and the least efficient water extraction, due to the geology and the limited
resources of the country. In the Caribbean Islands region, groundwater is found mostly in fissured
carbonated rocks. The main karstic aquifers in calcareous rocks are found in western Cuba, which
directly supply domestic needs, crop irrigation and industry with high-quality water. Karstic aquifers are
available throughout Cuba, Hispaniola and Jamaica and supply the local population with the bulk of
their drinking water. Waters originated from those underground layers are typically bi-carbonated-
calcic, with a mineral concentration.

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Caribbean Studies by Michka Irving 2015
The three countries selected show a number of similarities in terms of geology, geography,
climate and population, and colonial history. This has shaped the common socio-economic
characteristics of the region such as a concentration of racially and culturally mixed populations in the
coastal zones, an emphasis on cash crops such as sugar cane and maize, and the growth and importance
of tourism. However, these countries show significant disparities regarding their political regimes,
population distribution and access to public services, economic stability and priorities for economic
development. From the 16 to the 20 century, the clearance of land for export crops (sugar cane, tobacco,
maize) depleted the fragile tropical forest ecosystems of these islands, but more recently, the growth in
economic activities, such as tourism, trade and heavy or transformation industries, has shifted the burden
of economic development on natural ecosystems away from the inland areas towards coastal zones.
These islands of the Caribbean constitute a small portion of the world’s land mass and population, but
yet they contain some of the world’s most productive and biologically complex coastal ecosystems in
the world.
Though the Caribbean environmental problems are not limited to land and coastal resources, the
types of tourism pursued in most of the islands have primarily revolved around and affected their land
and coastal areas. Beach tourism, the most predominant type in the Caribbean, is based exclusively on
the climate and the beaches of these island nations. This has created a paradox: The sun, sand, and beach
tourism marketed for the Caribbean can impair and even destroy the very qualities of the land and
coastal environment that attract tourists in the first place. Tourism was promoted as having two main
advantages: a source of income and a basis for greater international understanding. In effect, tourism
became the means by which Third World countries with little to offer but nature could accumulate
capital, and ultimately develop. Tourism as a development tool in the Caribbean emerged first in Puerto

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Rico, Bahamas and Jamaica in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and eventually spread. The Caribbean is
recognized as one of the most tourism-dependent regions in the world. With the exception of Puerto
Rico, Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti, the Caribbean islands are highly dependent on tourism as a source
of foreign exchange.
In the Caribbean, land and coastal resources have sustained a relatively small population for centuries,
but with an increase in modern economic activity the islands’ ecosystems are under increasing pressure.
Without viable policies that address the driving forces behind these pressures, sustainable development
in the Caribbean islands is not possible. The environment is often compromised by the immediate need
to generate foreign exchange, mostly through tourism.
If tourism continues to be utilized as a development tool for small island nations with vulnerable
ecosystems, government policymakers need to recognize the environmental vulnerabilities of these
islands and pursue policies that emphasize the islands’ holistic image, rather than an exotic idealized
image.

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Caribbean Studies by Michka Irving 2015
Bibliography
1. (n.d.). Retrieved from CIA World Factbook: http://mason.gmu.edu/~ssheers/colonizedby.htm
2. Corporation, M. (2002). Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. USA.
3. Evangelista, J. (2014, March 8). Geographic Presentation of the Caribbean. Retrieved from
Slide Share: http://www.slideshare.net/evangelistajethro/geographic-presentation-of-the-
caribbean-islands?related=1
4. Gooden, D. (2010, January 5). Location of the Caribbean 6th Form. Retrieved from Slide Share:
http://www.slideshare.net/egfred/location-of-the-caribbean-6th-form
5. Grandoit, J. (2009). Tourism as a Development Tool in the Caribbean. Retrieved from The
Maxwell School of Syracuse University:
https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/uploadedFiles/moynihan/dst/grandoit10.pdf?n=3241
6. Imani-17. (2012, October 28). Location and Definition of the Caribbean Region. Retrieved from
Slide Share: http://www.slideshare.net/imani-17/location-and-definition-of-the-caribbean-
region?related=3