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95-454: Belles is a small village in the Caribbean island nation of Dominica . It is located at 15°27′12.7″N 61°19′11.4″W  /  15.453528°N 61.319833°W  / 15.453528; -61.319833 and is a part of the country's St. Joseph administrative division . Its population is 500. Belles is a historical site for a few reasons. It is a major part of the highway system to

190-472: A UNEP report, the Caribbean coral reefs might get extinct in next 20 years due to population explosion along the coast lines, overfishing, the pollution of coastal areas and global warming. Some Caribbean islands have terrain that Europeans found suitable for cultivation for agriculture. Tobacco was an important early crop during the colonial era, but was eventually overtaken by sugarcane production as

285-549: A British colony, attracted immediate attention in the United States, where it was universally regarded as a direct violation of the convention of July 5, 1850, known as the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty . This convention provides that "the governments of the United States and Great Britain, neither the one nor the other, shall over occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume or exercise any dominion over Costa Rica, Nicaragua,

380-792: A decline in the Amerindian population. such as the Kongo , Igbo , Akan , Fon and Yoruba as well as military prisoners from Ireland , who were deported during the Cromwellian reign in England . Immigrants from Britain , Italy , France , Spain , the Netherlands , Portugal and Denmark also arrived, although the mortality rate was high for both groups. Bay Islands Department The Bay Islands ( Spanish : Islas de la Bahía ; pronounced [ˈislas de la βaˈi.a] )

475-584: A department of the Republic of Honduras since 1872. Located on the Caribbean Sea, not far east of the entrance to the Gulf of Honduras, they are clearly visible from the mountainous mainland. The total surface area of the islands is 250 km (97 sq mi). In 2013, they had an estimated population of 71,500 people. The islands comprise three separate groups: Roatán is the largest island, with

570-578: A devastating impact on the population, so starting in 1503, slaves from Africa were imported to the colony. While early slave traders were Portuguese and Spanish, known as the First Atlantic System, by the 17th century the trade became dominated by British, French, and Dutch merchants. This was known as the Second Atlantic System. 5 million African slaves would be taken to the Caribbean, and around half would be traded to

665-404: A few narrow passages, largely inaccessible, due to extensive coral reef growth. The island of Saint Helena has been described as a virtual extension of Roatán, since it is separated only by a long stretch of mangrove swamp . This island has a small elevated hill at its center, and is characterized by a large number of caves, most of which are located along a cliff on its western end. Guanaja

760-541: A few still are, colonies of European nations; a few are overseas or dependent territories : The British West Indies were united by the United Kingdom into a West Indies Federation between 1958 and 1962. The independent countries formerly part of the B.W.I. still have a joint cricket team that competes in Test matches , One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals . The West Indian cricket team includes

855-414: A half. The project closed down and it was not resurrected for almost a decade. People spoke of "bobol" and they sang about it in two famous "chantè mas" during the masquerade of 1947: "Sa ki twavai Norway!" and "Si ou té Norway sa ou téké fè? Belles houses a small government school. It is government sponsored and a majority of local residents attend. Many years ago, students walked many miles to school. This

950-608: A large number of cool water springs in the Islands. Roatán features an intricate system of waterways on the south of the island, formed by the salt-water lagoons and drowned valleys on the island. The archipelago has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of white-crowned pigeons , chimney swifts and yellow-naped amazons . The islands were anciently known as Las Guanajas, from Guanaja , first seen by Christopher Columbus in his fourth and last voyage to

1045-512: A length of about 60 kilometres (40 mi) and a maximum width of 14 kilometres (9 mi) at its widest point. Roatán is characterized by its mountainous backbone, composed of hilltops that run west-to-east across the entire island. These hilltops are often crowned by outcrops of exposed metamorphic rocks such as marble , amphibolite , and serpentine . The island's southern coast has an abundance of deep ports and wide inlets, or 'bights', protected by reefs, while its northern coast is, save for

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1140-523: Is 208 inhabitants per km , with the highest concentrations in Roatán and Utila. Roatán is the municipality with the most inhabitants, 29,636 in total. This municipality is followed by José Santos Guardiola, Guanaja, and Utila. The crude birth rate in the Bay Islands is 34.3. The mortality rate is 4.3, while the fertility rate is 3.7. The infant mortality rate is 24.7, while life expectancy in the islands

1235-465: Is 72.6 years (2001 census). In 2001, the migratory balance was 13,109 immigrants vs. 3,789 emigrants, leaving a net migratory balance of 9,320.34 residents. During the pre-Hispanic period, the Bay Islands were inhabited by the Pech people and other indigenous peoples. Archaeological remains found in the area, such as those on the island of Guanaja, show that these indigenous peoples originally inhabited all

1330-401: Is a group of islands off the Caribbean coast of Honduras . Collectively, the islands form one of the 18 departments of Honduras . The departmental capital is Coxen Hole , on the island of Roatán . The Bay Islands consist of eight islands and 53 small cays lying 15 kilometres (10 mi) to 60 kilometres (40 mi) off the northern coast of Honduras. These islands have been administered as

1425-528: Is a violation of the treaty of July 5, 1850." Expostulations to this effect were at once addressed by the American government to that of the United Kingdom, and an elaborate correspondence was carried on through the years 1854–1856, between Mr. Buchanan, American minister in London, and Lord Clarendon, on the subject, but without any satisfactory result. The United Kingdom hastily augmented her naval forces on

1520-479: Is located near the center of the island. The main highway Nicholas Liverpool Highway runs north to Marigot . If the road is taken south, it ends up in Roseau , the capital of the island. There is a Catholic church in the village. It is dedicated to Saint Peter Donders (constructed 1929). The feast of Belles 'fete Belles' is celebrated yearly in the village. People come from near and far to celebrate. In recent years,

1615-614: Is no longer the case. The school department chatters local buses for the transportation of teachers and students. The primary school got a donation of refurbished computers in 2013. Caribbean Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate , the region has thousands of islands, islets , reefs , and cays . Island arcs delineate the northern and eastern edges of the Caribbean Sea : the Greater Antilles in

1710-522: Is often used to describe a pirate operating in this region. The Caribbean region was war-torn throughout much of its colonial history, but the wars were often based in Europe, with only minor battles fought in the Caribbean. Some wars, however, were born of political turmoil in the Caribbean itself. In 1791, a slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint-Domingue led to the establishment in 1804 of Haiti ,

1805-482: Is organized into 33 political entities , including 13 sovereign states , 12 dependencies , 7 overseas territories , and various disputed territories . From 15 December 1954 to 10 October 2010, there was a territory known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five islands, all of which were Dutch dependencies. From 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962, there was also a short-lived political union called

1900-667: Is questioned. Consistent dates of 3100 BC appear in Cuba . The earliest dates in the Lesser Antilles are from 2000 BC in Antigua . A lack of pre-ceramic sites in the Windward Islands and differences in technology suggest that these Archaic settlers may have Central American origins. Whether an Ortoiroid colonization of the islands took place is uncertain, but there is little evidence of one. DNA studies changed some of

1995-484: Is the second largest island and is even more mountainous than Roatán. Geographically it features a series of hills, the highest of which rises to over 350 m above sea level, which is the highest elevation present in the Bay Islands. Alluvial plains characterize the areas between the hills. Utila is third in size and is characterized by low mangrove swamps and a few small, low hills on its eastern end. The soils on this island are uncharacteristically fertile, perhaps owing to

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2090-689: Is warm year round, in the 70s, 80s and 90s, and only varies from winter to summer about 2–5 degrees on the southern islands and about a 10–20 degrees difference on the northern islands of the Caribbean. The northern islands, like the Bahamas, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, may be influenced by continental masses during winter months, such as cold fronts. Aruba: Latitude 12°N Puerto Rico: Latitude 18°N Cuba: at Latitude 22°N Lucayan Archipelago Greater Antilles Lesser Antilles All islands at some point were, and

2185-469: The 2004 Haitian coup d'état , the US were accused by CARICOM of arranging it to remove elected Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In 1965, 23,000 US troops were sent to the Dominican Republic to quash a local uprising against military rule (see Dominican Civil War ). President Lyndon Johnson had ordered the invasion to stem what he deemed to be a "Communist threat." However, the mission appeared ambiguous and

2280-794: The Antilles , including the Lucayan Archipelago, form the West Indies , a term often interchangeable with the Caribbean . The archipelago of Bermuda is not part of the Caribbean, as it lies in the Sargasso Sea to the north, but it is an associate member of the Caribbean Community . On the continental mainland of the Americas , the Caribbean coasts of Mexico , Central America, and South America, including

2375-711: The Cuban Revolution of 1959, relations deteriorated rapidly leading to the Bay of Pigs Invasion , the Cuban Missile Crisis , and successive US attempts to destabilize the island, based upon Cold War fears of the Soviet threat. The US invaded and occupied Hispaniola for 19 years (1915–34), subsequently dominating the Haitian economy through aid and loan repayments. The US invaded Haiti again in 1994 . After

2470-468: The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico , while the more seasonal dry tropical savanna climates are found in Cuba , northern Colombia and Venezuela , and southern Yucatán, Mexico . Arid climates are found along the extreme northern coast of Venezuela out to the islands including Aruba and Curacao , as well as the northwestern tip of Yucatán. While the region generally is sunny much of

2565-721: The Monroe Doctrine , the United States gained a major influence on most Caribbean nations. In the early part of the 20th century this influence was extended by participation in the Banana Wars . Victory in the Spanish–American War and the signing of the Platt Amendment in 1901 ensured that the United States would have the right to interfere in Cuban political and economic affairs, militarily if necessary. After

2660-729: The Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Bay Islands Department of Honduras, the North and South Caribbean Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua, the Limón Province of Costa Rica, Cartagena and Barranquilla in Colombia, Maracaibo and Cumaná in Venezuela, are considered part of Caribbean. As with the coastal areas of the mainland, Belize , Panama , Guyana , Suriname , and French Guiana are often completely included within

2755-538: The plantation system . [REDACTED] The oldest evidence of humans in the Caribbean is in southern Trinidad at Banwari Trace , where remains have been found from 7,000 years ago. These pre-ceramic sites, which belong to the Archaic (pre-ceramic) age, have been termed Ortoiroid . The earliest archaeological evidence of human settlement in Hispaniola dates to about 3600 BC, but the reliability of these finds

2850-954: The Bahamas and the Leeward Islands ; the Island Caribs and Galibi in the Windward Islands; and the Ciboney in western Cuba. The Taínos are subdivided into Classic Taínos, who occupied Puerto Rico and part of Hispaniola; Western Taínos, who occupied the Bahamian archipelago, Cuba, Jamaica , and part of Hispaniola; and the Eastern Taínos, who occupied the northern Lesser Antilles . The southern Lesser Antilles, including Guadeloupe , Dominica , and Trinidad, were inhabited by both Carib-speaking and Arawak-speaking groups. Soon after Christopher Columbus came to

2945-471: The Bay Islands were the scene of frequent conflict between Spaniards and non-Spanish pirates. On the three main islands there live descendants of British settlers (mainly English ) who occupied the islands in the 18th century. By the mid-19th century, under the Wyke-Cruz treaty, many of the descendants of the white colonists of Great Britain changed their citizenship to Honduran after the country regained

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3040-711: The British West Indies Federation composed of ten English-speaking Caribbean territories, all of which were then British dependencies. The modern Caribbean is one of the most ethnically diverse regions on the planet, as a result of colonization by the Spanish , English , Dutch , and French ; the Atlantic slave trade from Sub-Saharan Africa ; indentured servitude from the Indian subcontinent and Asia ; as well as modern immigration from around

3135-644: The British Caribbean islands. Slavery was abolished first in the Dutch Empire in 1814. Spain abolished slavery in its empire in 1811, with the exceptions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo. Slavery was not abolished in Cuba until 1886. Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807 , and slavery proper in 1833 . France abolished slavery in its colonies in 1848. The Caribbean was known for pirates , especially between 1640 and 1680. The term " buccaneer "

3230-524: The Caribbean due to their strong political and cultural ties with the region. Geopolitically, the islands of the Caribbean are often regarded as a subregion of North America , though sometimes they are included in Middle America , or regarded as its own subregion as the Caribbean . The Caribbean is sometimes considered alongside Latin America as a region. Generally, the Caribbean region

3325-608: The Caribbean itself, but according to the Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage , the most common pronunciation in Caribbean English stresses the first syllable instead, / ˈ k ær ɪ b i æ n / ( KARR -ih-bee-an ). The word "Caribbean" has multiple uses. Its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to Africa, slavery , European colonisation and

3420-692: The Caribbean region varies: Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin. These islands include Aruba (which has minor volcanic features), Curaçao , Barbados , Bonaire , the Cayman Islands , Saint Croix , the Bahamas , and Antigua . Others possess rugged towering mountain-ranges like the islands of Saint Martin , Cuba , Hispaniola , Puerto Rico , Jamaica , Dominica , Montserrat , Saba , Sint Eustatius , Saint Kitts , Saint Lucia , Saint Thomas , Saint John , Tortola , Grenada , Saint Vincent , Guadeloupe , Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago . Definitions of

3515-536: The Caribbean, both Portuguese and Spanish explorers began claiming territories in Central and South America. These early colonies brought gold to Europe; most specifically England, the Netherlands, and France. These nations hoped to establish profitable colonies in the Caribbean. Colonial rivalries made the Caribbean a cockpit for European wars for centuries. Columbus, and the early colonists of Hispaniola, treated

3610-549: The Cayman Islands to work in agriculture. At present, the black inhabitants of the Bay Islands are not a genetically homogeneous group. Some black caribs with European ancestry and lighter skin refer to themselves as "browns" while referring to those with less European ancestry and darker skin as "colored". The economy of the Bay Islands depends directly on two sectors – tourism and fisheries, representing approximately 50% of gross island product and both closely linked to

3705-543: The Dutch. Sea water was pumped into shallow ponds, producing coarse salt when the water evaporated. The natural environmental diversity of the Caribbean islands has led to recent growth in eco-tourism . This type of tourism is growing on islands lacking sandy beaches and dense human populations. Life expectancy in some countries of the Caribbean in 2022, according to estimation of the World Bank Group : At

3800-637: The English settlers were in vain. Walker was captured by Captain Nowell Salmo, turned over to Honduran authorities, and executed on September 12, 1860. The population of the Bay Islands in 2010 was 49,158, according to the INE Population and Housing Census. It is the department with the smallest population in Honduras. 25,182 are women and 23,976 are men. The population density of the department

3895-530: The Mosquito shore, or any part of Central America." The matter was brought under the attention of Congress, and the committee of foreign relations of the U.S. senate, after a full consideration, reported "that the islands of Roatán, Bonacca, Utila, etc, in and near the bay of Honduras, constitute part of the territory of the republic of Honduras, and therefore form a part of Central America; and, in consequence, that any occupation of these islands by Great Britain

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3990-544: The New World, on July 30, 1502. The Admiral named it 'Isle of Pines', and claimed it for Spain. It was from this island that he then encountered the coast of the American continent, on which he landed on the 14th of August following, at the point now called Punta Castilla de Trujillo . Pech Indians inhabited the islands, and they used boats to trade with Honduras, Yucatán, and (allegedly) Jamaica . Notwithstanding Spanish laws prohibiting slavery, governors interested in

4085-691: The Orinoco around 650 AD and another group, the Arauquinoid, expanded into these areas and up the Caribbean chain. Around 1300 AD a new group, the Mayoid, entered Trinidad and remained the dominant culture until Spanish settlement. At the time of the European discovery of most of the islands of the Caribbean, three major Amerindian indigenous peoples lived on the islands: the Taíno in the Greater Antilles ,

4180-669: The South American nation of Guyana , the only former British colony on the mainland of that continent. In addition, these countries share the University of the West Indies as a regional entity. The university consists of three main campuses in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, a smaller campus in the Bahamas and Resident Tutors in other contributing territories such as Trinidad. The Caribbean islands have one of

4275-629: The Spanish, provoking an attempt by the Spaniards to drive them out of the colony. This attempt was initially unsuccessful, but in March 1650, the Spanish finally succeeded in retaking Port Royal. The events which followed, so far as they concern these islands, are thus narrated by the Bishop Pelaez: "On the 24th of September 1781, advices reached Truxillo, which were immediately communicated to

4370-436: The United States, Britain, France and the Netherlands still have some Caribbean possessions . The decline of the export industries meant a need to diversify the economies of the Caribbean territories. The tourism industry started developing in the early 20th century, rapidly developing in the 1960s when regular international flights made vacations affordable and is now a $ 50 billion industry. Another industry that developed in

4465-414: The United States. Between the 1960s and 80s, most of the British holdings in the Caribbean achieved political independence, starting with Jamaica in 1962 , then Trinidad and Tobago (1962), British Guiana (1966), Barbados (1966), the Bahamas (1973), Grenada (1974), Dominica (1978), St. Lucia (1979), St. Vincent (1979), Antigua and Barbuda (1981), and St. Kitts and Nevis (1983). Presently,

4560-430: The West India station, and her example was promptly followed by the United States; and, for a time, the peace of the two countries hung upon the discretion of a few naval commanders, acting under orders necessarily vague and indefinite. At this critical moment the government of Honduras despatched a minister to London, who took the ground that the question at issue was one that primarily concerned Honduras, and he demanded

4655-470: The archipelago’s environment. All other activities provide services to these sectors, either directly as in the case of transportation or indirectly such as real estate and construction. The dynamic character of these sectors has led to accelerated growth over the last two decades, a phenomenon that has induced population growth rates approaching 8% annually, largely as a result of migration from various parts of Honduras and elsewhere. The Bay Islands serve "as

4750-409: The community, which was heavily dependent on agriculture, remains a significant contributor towards agricultural development on the island. An excerpt from Lenox Honychurch , the islands most notable historian states that; By early 1947 the road cutting had only reached the hill at D'Leau Gommier and all of the money had disappeared. In three years of work the road had only progressed about a mile and

4845-448: The earlier foraging inhabitants—presumably through disease or violence—as they settled new islands." Between 400 BC and 200 BC, the first ceramic-using agriculturalists, the Saladoid culture , entered Trinidad from South America. They expanded up the Orinoco River to Trinidad, and then spread rapidly up the islands of the Caribbean. Some time after 250 AD another group, the Barancoid, entered Trinidad. The Barancoid society collapsed along

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4940-432: The early 20th century was offshore banking and financial services , particularly in The Bahamas and the Cayman Islands , as the proximity of the Caribbean islands to North America made them an attractive location for branches of foreign banks seeking to avail themselves of less complicated regulations and lower tax rates. The United States has conducted military operations in the Caribbean for at least 100 years. Since

5035-430: The feeble state of Honduras was left alone to contest these violent proceedings. Her government remonstrated energetically, but without obtaining redress; and finally, in 1844, the British government instructed Mr. Chatfield, consul-general, to apprise the Honduras authorities, that "when Col. Macdonald hauled down the flag of that state in Roatan, it was by order of the British government... no act of sovereignty followed on

5130-682: The first humans is correlated with extinction of giant owls and dwarf ground sloths . The hotspot contains dozens of highly threatened animals (ranging from birds, to mammals and reptiles), fungi and plants. Examples of threatened animals include the Puerto Rican amazon , two species of solenodon (giant shrews) in Cuba and the Hispaniola island, and the Cuban crocodile . The region's coral reefs, which contain about 70 species of hard corals and from 500 to 700 species of reef-associated fishes have undergone rapid decline in ecosystem integrity in recent years, and are considered particularly vulnerable to global warming and ocean acidification. According to

5225-409: The first republic in the Caribbean. Neighboring Santo Domingo (now Dominican Republic ) would attain its independence on three separate occasions in 1821, 1844 and 1865. Cuba became independent in 1898 following American intervention in the War of Independence during the Spanish-American war . Following the war, Spain's last colony in the Americas, Puerto Rico , became an unincorporated territory of

5320-544: The fringe of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea just to the north of the island of Puerto Rico, is the deepest point in all of the Atlantic Ocean. The region sits in the line of several major shipping routes with the Panama Canal connecting the western Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The climate of the area is tropical , varying from tropical rainforest in some areas to tropical monsoon and tropical savanna in others. There are also some locations that are arid climates with considerable drought in some years, and

5415-488: The government at Comayagua, that certain Negroes and others, to the number of about 300 men, had constructed three forts at the entrance of the principal port of the island of Roatan, armed with 50 guns, and that three armed. Vessels cruised in the neighborhood, the object of the whole being to intercept the ships plying between the kingdom of Guatemala and Cuba. It was reported that these freebooters had 3000 barrels of provisions for their support, and that their object in holding

5510-403: The indigenous peoples brutally, even enslaving children. In 1512, after pressure from Dominican friars, the Laws of Burgos were introduced by the Spanish Crown to better protect the rights of the New World natives. The Spanish used a form of slavery called the Encomienda , where slaves would be awarded to the conquistadors, who were charged with protecting and converting their slaves. This had

5605-409: The island with the largest deposit of serpentine among the Bay Islands. Morat, the smallest and flattest island, consists of just one ridge with two hills, which are composed mainly of sedimentary rocks, with some serpentinite intrusions. The Bay Islands have no rivers and a small number of streams, which usually end at mangrove swamps (of which there are plenty on the Islands). There are, however,

5700-408: The island. However, they were eventually forced to relocate, or they were captured, enslaved, or killed after the foreign occupation of the Bay Islands. Due to this, the islands were practically uninhabited by the year 1528. The archipelago began to be populated again by European people due to the arrival of English, French, and Dutch buccaneers who established their camps on the islands. From then on,

5795-469: The islands passed under the sovereignty of Honduras. Many of the English settlers disagreed with this resolution. They sought the help of American filibuster William Walker in order to put pressure on the British government to keep the islands. Walker who in 1857 had been deposed from the presidency of Nicaragua, by a Central American army, decided to assist them. Walker arrived in Honduras, and landed in Trujillo with one hundred men, but his efforts to help

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5890-428: The islands rapidly declined. Diego Velasquez , governor of Cuba, in 1516 formally authorized several companies to trade in Indian slaves. In 1526, Hernán Cortés , who had conquered Mexico, marched to Trujillo to depose a rival conquistador from Cuba. The remaining Pech sought his protection, which Cortés provided. He drove away the slave traders, despite their licenses from the authorities in Cuba. William Claiborne

5985-400: The islands were under the jurisdiction of the state of Honduras. This state of things continued until May, 1830, when the superintendent of the British establishment of Belize, as a measure of coercion against the republic, which had refused to surrender certain runaway slaves, made a descent on Roatan and seized it on behalf of the British crown. The federal authorities remonstrated, and the act

6080-408: The islands's flat topography as well as volcanic tuffs and basalt lavas through coralline limestone . Barbareta, Morat, and the Hog Islands are all small and rugged. Barbareta can be distinguished by the fact that it contains numerous hills, the tallest one reaching a height of 143 m (469 ft), above sea level. Approximately one-third of Barbareta is covered by serpentinite, making it

6175-411: The islands. During the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, under British occupation, several contingents of black people arrived on these islands, among which three major groups stand out: (1) The Afro-colonial or French blacks, brought by the Spanish colonizers. (2) The Black Caribs or Garífunas . (3) The Anglo-Antilleans, known as English-speaking blacks, brought from Jamaica and

6270-436: The major anchor site for Honduras's growing tourism industry, accounting for approximately 28% of all tourism arrivals." In 1990, an estimated 15,000 tourists came to the islands; by 1996 it was 60,000. According to the Honduran Institute of Tourism, during the year 2010 the islands of Roatán received 803,102 cruise shippers, 373,273 more than those received in 2009 (an increase of 86.8%). Total tourism receipts are estimated in

6365-486: The most diverse eco systems in the world. The animals, fungi and plants, and have been classified as one of Conservation International 's biodiversity hotspots because of their exceptionally diverse terrestrial and marine ecosystems, ranging from montane cloud forests , to tropical rainforest , to cactus scrublands . The region also contains about 8% (by surface area) of the world's coral reefs along with extensive seagrass meadows, both of which are frequently found in

6460-411: The north and the Lesser Antilles , which includes the Leeward Islands , Windward Islands , and the Leeward Antilles , to the east and south. The nearby northwestern Lucayan Archipelago , comprising The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands , and the island of Barbados in the Lesser Antilles, are considered to be a part of the Caribbean despite not bordering the Caribbean Sea. All the islands in

6555-515: The northern part of the island. The roads were blocked many years ago by Rastafarians who were not happy with the government. Many of them escaped to Jaco Flats and used it for refuge. This is a site that was used by the Maroons hundreds of years ago. As of 2016, the Esprit and Benjamin families own and control a majority of the private land. The Creole name for the town is Norway (pronounced as "nor-way". Belles previously named Bassinville got its modern name from Henry Hesketh Bell . This village

6650-466: The number of fungal species endemic to some Caribbean islands. For Cuba, 2200 species of fungi have been tentatively identified as possible endemics of the island; for Puerto Rico , the number is 789 species; for the Dominican Republic , the number is 699 species; for Trinidad and Tobago, the number is 407 species. Many of the ecosystems of the Caribbean islands have been devastated by deforestation , pollution, and human encroachment. The arrival of

6745-438: The peaks of mountains tend to have cooler temperate climates . Rainfall varies with elevation, size and water currents, such as the cool upwellings that keep the ABC islands arid. Warm, moist trade winds blow consistently from the east, creating both rain forest and semi arid climates across the region. The tropical rainforest climates include lowland areas near the Caribbean Sea from Costa Rica north to Belize , as well as

6840-649: The permission of the state government of Honduras." "A number applied for and obtained the requisite permission, and received grants of land. But another portion, incited by one or two white men among them, appealed, as British subjects, to the superintendent of Belize, Col. Macdonald, who immediately visited the island, in the British sloop-of war Bover, ran down the flag of Honduras, and, seizing Col. Loustrelet and his soldiers, landed them near Truxillo, and threatened them with death if they ventured to return." The republic of Central America had meantime been dissolved, and

6935-492: The port was to make it a refuge for their vessels, which were no longer allowed to go-to Jamaica… When this information reached Guatemala, Viceroy Galvez, "made arrangements to expel the intruders." The English seem to have made no other demonstration on the islands during the 18th century. They remained in the undisturbed occupation of Spain. "In 1821, when the Central American provinces achieved their independence,

7030-691: The proceedings of Macdonald. Meanwhile, the Cayman islanders continued to emigrate to Roatan, and, in 1848, the population numbered upward of 1,000. In 1850, the British organized the islands Roatan, Guanaja, Barbareta, Helena, Morat, and Utila into a colony under their rule, called the Bay Islands. A small party in the island favourable to British interests, was active in their efforts to secure English protection. "When visited by Capt. Mitchell, E. N., in 1850, he describes them as "electing their own magistrates, by universal suffrage," and "quite ignorant under what government they are placed." A Mr. William Fitzgibbon

7125-551: The region's staple crop. Sugar was produced from sugarcane for export to Europe. Cuba and Barbados were historically the largest producers of sugar . The tropical plantation system thus came to dominate Caribbean settlement. Other islands were found to have terrain unsuited for agriculture , for example Dominica , which remains heavily forested. The islands in the southern Lesser Antilles , Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao , are extremely arid, making them unsuitable for agriculture. However, they have salt pans that were exploited by

7220-413: The shallow marine waters bordering the island and continental coasts of the region. For the fungi, there is a modern checklist based on nearly 90,000 records derived from specimens in reference collections, published accounts and field observations. That checklist includes more than 11,250 species of fungi recorded from the region. As its authors note, the work is far from exhaustive, and it is likely that

7315-464: The slave trade labeled the Pech Indians cannibals, hostile, and opposed to Christianity. Based on this information, Queen Isabella I of Spain issued a decree granting license to the Spaniards to capture and sell the islanders. Under this decree, Spanish slave traders from Cuba raided the Bay Islands continuously from the time of their discovery for the next 20 years. As a result, the population of

7410-459: The sovereignty of the latter state, with the reservation of trial by jury, freedom of conscience, etc., to the actual inhabitants. The principles of this convention were accepted by Honduras, but some of its details were viewed with disfavor by the Honduras congress, and it was returned to London for certain modifications. These changes were made, and the "colony of the Bay islands" ceased to exist, and

7505-528: The stress on the second. Most authorities of the last century preferred the stress on the third syllable. This is the older of the two pronunciations, but the stressed-second-syllable variant has been established for over 75 years. It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer / ˌ k ær ɪ ˈ b iː ə n / ( KARR -ə- BEE -ən ) while North American speakers more typically use / k ə ˈ r ɪ b i ə n / ( kə- RIB -ee-ən ), but major American dictionaries and other sources list

7600-533: The stress on the third syllable as more common in American English too. According to the American version of Oxford Online Dictionaries, the stress on the second syllable is becoming more common in UK English and is increasingly considered "by some" to be more up to date and more "correct". The Oxford Online Dictionaries claim the stress on the second syllable is the most common pronunciation in

7695-419: The surrender of the islands, equally as a measure of justice to that republic, and as a means of withdrawing a dangerous issue between the United States and the United Kingdom, upon which each had committed itself beyond the power of receding. This solution was regarded with favor by both parties, and a convention was entered into between the United Kingdom and Honduras, whereby the Bay islands were placed under

7790-647: The terms Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles often vary. The Virgin Islands as part of the Puerto Rican bank are sometimes included with the Greater Antilles. The term Lesser Antilles is often used to define an island arc that includes Grenada but excludes Trinidad and Tobago and the Leeward Antilles. The waters of the Caribbean Sea host large, migratory schools of fish, turtles, and coral reef formations. The Puerto Rico Trench , located on

7885-610: The territory, and they officially separated from the British Empire. However, it would take several decades for them to assimilate into the Honduran population. A 2013 census determined that 11.41% of the population of the Bay Islands is white. However, it has been confirmed that more than 40% of the population on the island of Roatán is of foreign origin. These are mostly white Americans and French Canadians, as well as some European immigrants who have decided to buy properties on

7980-720: The time of European contact , the dominant ethnic groups in the Caribbean included the Taíno of the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles , the Island Caribs of the southern Lesser Antilles, and smaller distinct groups such as the Guanajatabey of western Cuba and the Ciguayo of eastern Hispaniola. The population of the Caribbean is estimated to have been around 750,000 immediately before European contact, although lower and higher figures are given. After contact, social disruption and epidemic diseases such as smallpox and measles (to which they had no natural immunity) led to

8075-538: The traditional beliefs about pre-Columbian indigenous history. According to National Geographic , "studies confirm that a wave of pottery-making farmers—known as Ceramic Age people—set out in canoes from the northeastern coast of South America starting some 2,500 years ago and island-hopped across the Caribbean. They were not, however, the first colonizers. On many islands they encountered a foraging people who arrived some 6,000 or 7,000 years ago...The ceramicists, who are related to today's Arawak -speaking peoples, supplanted

8170-411: The true total number of fungal species already known from the Caribbean is higher. The true total number of fungal species occurring in the Caribbean, including species not yet recorded, is likely far higher given the generally accepted estimate that only about 7% of all fungi worldwide have been discovered. Though the amount of available information is still small, a first effort has been made to estimate

8265-506: The west of Barbados. The principal hurricane belt arcs to northwest of the island of Barbados in the Eastern Caribbean. A great example being recent events of Hurricane Irma devastating the island of Saint Martin during the 2017 hurricane season. Sea surface temperatures change little annually, normally running from 30 °C (87 °F) in the warmest months to 26 °C (76 °F) in the coolest months. The air temperature

8360-488: The wet and dry seasons. Seasonally, monthly mean temperatures vary from only about 5 C (7 F) in the northern most regions, to less than 3 C in the southernmost areas of the Caribbean. Hurricane season is from June to November, but they occur more frequently in August and September and more common in the northern islands of the Caribbean. Hurricanes that sometimes batter the region usually strike northwards of Grenada and to

8455-537: The whole proceeding... In spite of this protest, however, and backed by the guns of Bermuda , the authorities appointed by Sir Charles Grey were duly installed in the islands. Two years after this occupation, on March 20, 1852, a royal warrant was issued, constituting the islands a colony, under the title of "colony of the Bay islands," of which proclamation was made in Roatan, by Col. Wodehouse, superintendent of Belize, Aug. 10, 1852. The proclamation of these islands as

8550-571: The world. The region takes its name from the Caribs , an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Americas . The two most prevalent pronunciations of "Caribbean" outside the Caribbean are / ˌ k ær ɪ ˈ b iː ə n / ( KARR -ə- BEE -ən ), with the primary stress on the third syllable , and / k ə ˈ r ɪ b i ə n / ( kə- RIB -ee-ən ), with

8645-419: The year, the wet season from May through November sees more frequent cloud cover (both broken and overcast), while the dry season from December through April is more often clear to mostly sunny. Seasonal rainfall is divided into 'dry' and 'wet' seasons, with the latter six months of the year being wetter than the first half. The air temperature is hot much of the year, varying from 25 to 33 C (77 F to 90 F) between

8740-518: Was chief justice, and acting chief magistrate. Some time in this year, a petition was drawn up by the British party, addressed to the governor of Jamaica, asking him to name magistrates and assume supreme authority in the island. Acting on this petition, Capt. Jolly in HMS Bermuda was sent to the islands. He called a meeting of the inhabitants, and declared them under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom. Chief Justice Fitzgibbon protested against

8835-484: Was disavowed by the British government." "The superintendents of Belize, however, seem to have kept a longing eye on the islands, and to have watched for a pretext to place them under their own jurisdiction. In 1838 their wishes were in part gratified. A party of liberated slaves...of the Grand Cayman islands , came to Roatan to settle. Col. Loustrelet, the commandant, apprised them that they could not do so without

8930-478: Was roundly condemned throughout the hemisphere as a return to gunboat diplomacy . In 1983, the US invaded Grenada to remove populist left-wing leader Maurice Bishop. The US maintains a naval military base in Cuba at Guantanamo Bay . The base is one of five unified commands whose "area of responsibility" is Latin America and the Caribbean. The command is headquartered in Miami, Florida. The geography and climate in

9025-561: Was the first non-Spanish European to attempt settling the Bay Islands, after being granted a patent in 1638 to begin a colony on the island of Roatán. The English would be involved in the Bay Islands for the next two hundred years. Around this same period, Dutch, English, and French freebooters were leading raids on the Spanish in the Bay of Honduras. These raids largely avoided Claiborne's settlement. In 1642, English settlers from British Honduras (modern day Belize ) invaded and occupied Port Royal on Roatán. These same settlers also raided

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