Definition of The Caribbean

The Caribbean is a diverse and complex place with the term “Caribbean” itself understood in
many ways by researchers. Therefore, the concept of defining and locating the Caribbean can
be deemed a problematic task. The discourse which follows will explain four ways in which
the term Caribbean is understood, that is geographically, historically, politically and
geologically.
Geographically, according to the Collins Cape Revision Guide Caribbean Studies by
Thompson, Lawson- Downer, St John and Thomas-Hunte published 2017, the Caribbean is
the area washed by the Caribbean Sea referred to as the Caribbean Basin. The Caribbean
basin consist of the Greater Antilles (group name given to the large islands of the Caribbean),
the Lesser Antilles (group name given to the smaller islands of the Caribbean) and some main
lands found in South America. This definition however excludes some countries that are
considered to be found in the Caribbean, as they are not washed by the Caribbean Sea. These
countries are the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands which are found north of the Caribbean
Sea and mainland territories such as Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana which borders the
Atlantic Ocean.
Thompson, Lawson- Downer, St John and Thomas-Hunte later goes on and hypothesize the
historical explanation of the Caribbean which refers to countries that have shared experiences
of European colonization, slavery, indentureship and plantation system. According to further
research some colonisers of the Caribbean were Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, etc and this
goes back to centuries. Some countries of the Caribbean were used to implement large scale
agricultural production on plantations joined by the forced labour of imported slaves. This
introduced the people to new sicknesses and diseases, languages as well as new cultural and
religious just beliefs, some which have still remained here, in the Caribbean, to date. Even
though colonization is a similar feature that is mutual in the historical Caribbean, some
territories were colonized by more than one coloniser. One such country is Puerto Rico.
Likewise, the political Caribbean refers to the socio- economic and other groupings found in
the region. Some Caribbean countries have shared the same political system, which there are
three major types, that is, the independent states, the associated states and colonial
dependencies. The independent states refer to countries that were once ruled but are no self-
governed, associated states refers to countries that are semi-independent and the colonial
dependencies refers to countries that are not independent and are governed by a different
country. Some socio-economic groups in the Caribbean are The Association of Caribbean
States (ACS)and The Caribbean Community (CARICOM). This definition neglects some
Caribbean countries, as they all did not have or currently have the same political system.
The Caribbean Studies for CAPE Examination Second Edition by Mohamed published 2015,
postulates that geologically the Caribbean are areas found on the Caribbean Plate, where
margins meet other tectonic plates and regions that have similar seismic activities. Some
examples of seismic or tectonic activities are earthquakes, volcanic activities and mountain
building. Most countries considered Caribbean are found on the Caribbean Plate but,
nevertheless, just like the geographical definition of the Caribbean, the geological definition
of the Caribbean rule out countries that are considered Caribbean. A few such countries are
Guyana, the Bahamas and most of Cuba.
It has now been established that the Caribbean cannot be defined using one term, as it is
understood in many ways by researchers. The geographical Caribbean is defined as countries
that are touched by the Caribbean Sea, the historical Caribbean is defined as countries that
have similar past with slavery, colonization, etc, the political Caribbean refers to countries
that have similar or had similar political systems and the geological Caribbean are countries
that are found on the Caribbean Plate.

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The Caribbean is a diverse and complex place with the term “Caribbean” itself understood in

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