Southern Caribbean

The Southern Caribbean has the Caribbean to the north and west, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and the Gulf of Paria to the south.{{Citation |last1=Flinch |first1=J. F. |title=Chapter 17 Structure of the Gulf of paria pull-apart basin (Eastern Venezuela-Trinidad) |date=1999-01-01 |journal=Sedimentary Basins of the World |volume=4 |pages=477–494 |editor-last=Mann |editor-first=P. |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1874599799800513 |access-date=2024-11-30 |series=Caribbean Basins |publisher=Elsevier |last2=Rambaran |first2=V. |last3=Ali |first3=W. |last4=Lisa |first4=V. De |last5=Hernández |first5=G. |last6=Rodrigues |first6=K. |last7=Sams |first7=R.|doi=10.1016/S1874-5997(99)80051-3 |bibcode=1999SedBW...477487F |isbn=978-0-444-82649-7 |url-access=subscription }} Most of the islands are in the Windward Islands and the Leeward Antilles.

Geologically, the islands are referred to as being a sub-continent of North America, although most islands sit on the South American continental plate. All of the Southern Caribbean islands are small, and are either volcanic or made of limestone coral, as they form at the ridge of the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates.{{Citation |last=Cambers |first=Gillian |title=Caribbean Islands, Coastal Ecology and Geomorphology |date=2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Coastal Science |pages=221–226 |editor-last=Schwartz |editor-first=Maurice L. |url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/1-4020-3880-1_61 |access-date=2025-01-28 |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |doi=10.1007/1-4020-3880-1_61 |isbn=978-1-4020-3880-8|url-access=subscription }}

The majority of the islands are covered in tropical rainforests and swamps; the densest of these are in Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Tobago. Various other islands' rainforests have decreased in size over the last century due to deforestation.{{Cite journal |last=Rull |first=Valentí |date=2023-08-10 |title=Rise and fall of Caribbean mangroves |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969723024725 |journal=Science of the Total Environment |volume=885 |pages=163851 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163851 |pmid=37146816 |bibcode=2023ScTEn.88563851R |issn=0048-9697}}

Due to the close proximity of the equator, the Southern Caribbean has all year around tropical weather. Islands such as Aruba and Barbados occasionally suffer droughts, while Grenada receives a great deal of rainfall. Dry seasons on Aruba and Barbados may occur even while Grenada is receiving rain.{{Citation |last=Taylor |first=Michael A. |title=Central America and the Caribbean, Climate of |date=2005 |work=Encyclopedia of World Climatology |pages=183–189 |editor-last=Oliver |editor-first=John E. |url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_37 |access-date=2025-01-28 |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |language=en |doi=10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_37 |isbn=978-1-4020-3266-0 |last2=Alfaro |first2=Eric J.|url-access=subscription }}

Associates:

• Colombia
• Guyana
• Venezuela

The Caribbean had been inhabited for about 7000 years by the Arawaks, Island Caribs, Taínos and their ancestors, who came to the Southern Caribbean on canoes from South America (primarily Venezuela).Reid, Basil A. Myths and Realities of Caribbean History, University of Alabama Press, 2009. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, European explorers and colonizers arrived. The Europeans replaced virtually the entire population of the native tribes through various means. The natives disappeared due to various reasons, including diseases brought in by Europeans to which they had no immunity, warring, enslavement and the removal of the natural resources upon which these tribes depended. European countries then made the Caribbean islands part of their respective empires. Most of these islands were disputed and fought over by European empires, such as Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain:

• Britain claimed: Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia.
• France claimed: Saint Lucia, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago (briefly).
• The Netherlands claimed: Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.
• Portugal claimed: Barbados.
• Spain claimed: Trinidad and Tobago, and Grenada (briefly).

Eventually all of the islands in the region except the Dutch islands Aruba and Netherlands Antilles were occupied by the British, who were in control from the 18th century onwards.{{cite EBO|title=Netherlands Antilles|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Netherlands-Antilles|access-date=2023-01-26}} The various islands declared their independence during the 1960s. The Dutch Caribbean islands are still part of the Netherlands and none have yet declared full independence. Trinidad & Tobago was the first nation in the Southern Caribbean to become independent in 1962, followed by Barbados in 1966. All of the islands (except the Dutch Antilles) were part of the West Indies Federation from 1958 until its dissolution in 1962.{{Cite journal |last1=Roitman |first1=Jessica Vance |last2=Veenendaal |first2=Wouter P. |date=2023-11-01 |title=Worlds Apart: Island Identities and Colonial Configurations in the Dutch Caribbean |url=https://islandstudiesjournal.org/article/83334-worlds-apart-island-identities-and-colonial-configurations-in-the-dutch-caribbean |journal=Island Studies Journal |language=en |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=1–27 |doi=10.24043/isj.401|hdl=1887/3566351 |hdl-access=free }}

• ABC islands
• Caribbean South America
• Lesser Antilles
• Spanish Main
• Western Caribbean zone

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Category:Caribbean

Category:Geography of the Caribbean

Category:Regions of the Caribbean

Category:Geography of Aruba

Category:Geography of Barbados

Category:Geography of Bonaire

Category:Geography of Grenada

Category:Geography of Curaçao

Category:Geography of Saint Lucia

Category:Geography of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Category:Geography of Trinidad and Tobago