The Caribbean

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The Caribbean
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• The Caribbean region is distinct because of its
  particular culture and economic history
• Culturally they are different because of their
  more diverse European colonial history as well as
  a stronger African influence.
• The native population was virtually eliminated
  within fifty years of European contact
• The region is dominated by export-oriented
  plantation agriculture
• Centuries of dominance by sugar cultivation
• More recently, other commodities have become more
  economically important
• Tropical fruits, spices, bauxite, tourism,
  offshore banking manufacturing
• 25 Countries with 38 million inhabitants

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Antillean Islands

• Greater Antilles
• Home to most of the population and arable land in
  the region
• Cuba
• History of Spanish then American domination until
  1959 revolution
• Hispaniola
• Dominican Republic
• Eastern 2/3 of island
• Haiti
• Western 1/3 of island
• One of the poorest countries in the western
  hemisphere

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Antillean Islands

• Jamaica
• Tourism Bauxite production are large part of
  economy
• Puerto Rico
• A commonwealth of the United States
• Home to one of the most dynamic economies of the
  region

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Lesser Antilles

• Double arc of islands stretching from Virgin
  Islands to Trinidad
• Active volcanic arc
• St. Kitts to Grenada
• Limited agricultural activity
• Area of active volcanic activity - Montserrat
  1996
• Inactive volcanic arc
• Barbuda, Antigua, eastern Guadeloupe, Barbados
• Consist of volcanic rock covered in limestone

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Lesser Antilles

• Trinidad Tobago
• Underlain by sedimentary rock
• Home to large oil reserves
• Home to a large South Asian population
• 23 of population practices Hinduism
• Netherlands Antilles
• Two island groups (Windward Leeward (ABC
  Islands)
• Former Dutch colony
• Historic source of salt more recently home to
  large oil refineries
• Cayman Islands, Turks Caicos, Bahamas

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Mainland vs. Rimland
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Rimland States

• Belize
• Formerly British Honduras
• Underlain by limestone mainland offshore
• Popular tourist destination for SCUBA divers
• The Guianas
• Underlain by Guiana Shield - crystalline rock
• Much of the land is covered by forests timber
  is an important export
• French Guiana
• An overseas department of the French
• Heavily subsidized by the French government
• French Guiana is also home to Devils island
  (French penal institutions until 1951) European
  Space Agency

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Rimland States

• Guyana
• Guyana attained its independence from UK in 1966
• Location of the 1978 Jonestown massacre
• Suriname
• Former Dutch colony
• Gained independence in 1975
• Home to a large southeast Asian population
• Hinduism (27) and Islam (20) are common
  religions
• Bay Islands
• Located off the north coast of Honduras
• Consist of three main islands Roatan, Guanaja,
  Utila
• Most of the population speaks English and many
  are descendants of settlers from the Cayman
  islands and England

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Climate

• Majority of the region is tropical
• ABC Islands are the exception with a desert
  climate

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Figure 5.8 pg. 186
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Hurricanes

• Season runs from June 1-November 30
• Storms form in the Mid-Atlantic and travel west,
  often into the Caribbean
• Destructive nature of Hurricanes

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Figure 5.9 Pg. 187
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Population

• 93 of the population lives in Cuba, Dominican
  Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad Tobago,
  Guyana, Puerto Rico
• Lack of sufficient arable land has led to the net
  importation of food
• Arable land on islands has historically be used
  to cultivate cash crops (sugar) rather than food

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Table 5.1 pg. 190
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Demographic Trends

• Low rates of population increase during slavery
• High mortality rates of slaves because of
  disease, inhumane treatment, malnutrition
• Increase in population after the abolition of
  slavery (early 1800s)
• Mortality rate decline and fertility rate
  increased, peaking in 1950s 1960s at 3.0 or
  higher
• Leveling off of population growth rates in the
  past 20 years decline in fertility rate
• Lowest fertility rates are in Cuba Barbados

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Emigration

• Emigration vs. Immigration
• Emigration - movement of people into a new
  location
• Immigration - to leave one country or region and
  settle in another
• Caribbean Diaspora
• The scattering of a particular group of people
  over a vast geographical area
• People from similar areas often form enclaves in
  new lands
• People often migrate to the home of their former
  colonizer or to the United States

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Figure 5.13 Pg 191
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Emigration

• Circular Migration
• Non-permanent migration people migrate in
  search of work where they save enough money to
  return home
• Chain migration
• One family member (or member of a community) will
  migrate to a place, soon to be followed other
  members of a family etc.

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Slavery

• Forced migration of at least 10 million African
  slaves from 1500-1800s
• Many slaves were transported to the Caribbean
  because of the lack of an indigenous population
  to work in sugar fields
• Source of slaves ranged from Senegal to Angola
• To prevent uprisings, different tribes were
  purposefully mixed together
• Intact cultures were not transferred from Africa
• Creolization of African and European cultures led
  to the creation of Caribbean culture

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Figure 5.19 pg 196
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Garifuna People

• Creolization of Africans and Carib Indians
• Garifuna also known as Black Caibs
• Initially formed on St. Vincent but they were
  forcibly moved to the Bay Islands in late 1700s
• Further migration occurred to Honduras Belize
• Population speaks an Amerindian language but
  retain a number of cultural traits that can be
  traced back to western Africa house types,
  method of fishing, division of labor etc.

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Language Music

• Creole languages blending of languages
• English Creole
• French Creole (Patios) spoken in Haiti
• New Languages
• Papiamento spoken in Netherlands Antilles
• New Caribbean Music
• Combination of African and European cultures
• Steel Drums developed in Trinidad
• Bob Marley music taking a political stand

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Independence

• Political independence did not automatically
  result in economic independence
• Haiti
• The first country to gain independence in the
  region (1804)
• It was a violent affair that ultimately ended in
  a race war and the former slaves became the
  rulers
• From its outset, Haiti was mired in economic
  problems
• 19th century Revolutions
• Dominican Republic 1844
• Cuba Puerto Rico 1898
• British Colonies
• Many larger states gained their independence in
  the 1960s (Jamaica, Trinidad Tobago, Guyana,
  Barbados)
• Smaller states followed in the 1970s 1980s.
• Today Britain still maintains a number of
  colonies in the region Cayman Islands, Turks
  Caicos, Anguilla, Montserrat
• French Colonies
• Dutch Colonies

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Post Cold War Cuba

• The economic crisis that ensued after the fall of
  the Soviet Union forced Castro to loosen his
  controls upon the economy
• Cuba was no longer able to rely upon subsidies
  from their Soviet allies
• Food Cuba lost its major sugar market, as well
  as a source of food staples
• Fuel population had to revert to animal power
• 2 million bicycles were imported from China
• Oxen, carts manual harvesting were utilized
• Brownouts and scheduled blackouts became normal
• Sugar production was severely cut back
• 2/3 of the land in Cuba was redistributed - much
  of it into small cooperatives or small private
  farms
• Resulted a wider diversity of products available
  and a more free market economy
• Tourism
• Tourism is a source of hard currency
• Although it was initially tightly controlled by
  the government, controls have been lessened,
  allowing Cubans to interact with tourists
• A thriving informal sector has developed
• In 1999, 1.5 million tourists visited Cuba
• Most from Canada, Europe Latin America

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Figure 5.25 pg. 201
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Offshore Banking

• Initially began in the Bahamas in the 1920s
• Offering specialized banking services to foreign
  banks and corporations that are confidential
  tax-exempt
• By 1976 it was the third largest banking center
  in the world
• Bahamas began to decline in dominance in the
  1980s
• Other centers (Hong Kong, Singapore etc. took
  some of the share
• Questions concerning corruption laundering drug
  money
• Cayman Islands
• Emerged as a significant banking location in
  1990s
• Offshore banking centers have developed
  specialized markets
• Negative aspects of offshore banking
• Banks only employ a small percentage of the
  population
• They often attract money tied to the drug trade
  and other illegal activities.

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Figure 5.30 pg. 209
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Tourism

• Began in the late 1800s
• Rich Americans fled to the Caribbean to escape
  harsh winters
• Cuba The Bahamas were early tourist
  destinations
• American tourist trade in Cuba ended with
  Castros rise to power
• Tourism is an important source of hard cash
• Dominance of larger islands
• 1999 70 of visitors went to Puerto Rico,
  Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba (Canadians
  Europeans), Bahamas
• Smaller islands
• Tourism is important part of the economy

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Monroe Doctrine

• The Caribbean was a strategic location for
  European powers
• A good place to produce luxury items for the
  European market (sugar, rum, spices)
• Spanish initially controlled much of the region
  and other European powers (French, British,
  Dutch) saw control of the region as a way to
  check Spanish dominance
• In the mid 1800s, European dominance began to
  decline
• Monroe Doctrine
• Claimed that the United States would not tolerate
  European military involvement in the Western
  Hemisphere
• the US government considered the Caribbean to be
  within its sphere of influence
• Over time, the US has both directly and
  indirectly asserted its influence over the region
• Neocolonialism -not official colonialism but
  rather consists of official and unofficial
  influence