AbstractsGeography &GIS

The West Indies are a chain of islands extending all the all the way from Florida to the coast of South America – a distance of some 2,200 miles. The larger islands – Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico – are called the "Greater Antilles"; the rest are known as the "Lesser Antilles." Not including small islets and cays, which number in the thousands, there are approximately 60 important islands. The West Indies have a complex political pattern with three independent republics, two territories of the United States, six colonies of Great Britain, two departments of France, and a possession of the Netherlands. The islands are, in most cases, the tops of several mountain chains protruding above the surface of the sea. Some of them are made entirely of volcanic debris. The climate is strictly tropical with warm even temperatures. Local rainfall will vary depending on the elevation and exposure to the moisture-laden trade winds. Droughts sometimes cause crop failures, and hurricanes occasionally ruin fields of sugar and bananas. Much of the original forest land has either been cleared for agriculture or cut away by peasants for firewood. The remaining forests that now exist are largely on inaccessible mountain slopes. The islands were originally inhabited by Indians who have all but disappeared on account of diseases and massacres by the early colonists. Soon after the first voyage of Columbus, the Spaniards colonized Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Trinidad. The British took Jamaica from them in 1655 and Trinidad in 1797. Cuba became a republic after the Spanish-American War, while Puerto Rico became an American Territory. The western part of Hispaniola (Haiti) was ceded to France by Spain in 1697, and later, after several revolutions by the Negro slaves, finally achieved independence in 1804. The Negroes then invaded the eastern (Spanish held) part of the island, holding it until 1843 when they were driven out. This half of Hispaniol became the Dominican Republic in 1844. The Lesser Antilles were settled by England, France, Holland, and Denmark with the first settlement being made by the English on St. Kitts in 1624. The United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917. The West Indies have been of great strategic value from the time that the first attacks began on the Spanish monopoly in the early part of the 16th century right up to the present time. The Spaniards established bases to shelter their treasure-laden fleets, and the buccaneers used the islands as hide-outs and as bases for operation. Later, West Indian ports were to ships as centers for taking on food, fresh water, transient cargo, and coal. The United States has established military bases in the islands as a defense for the Panama Canal and shipping. Agriculture is the most important economic activity, with sugar being the most important crop on most islands. Cuba is the largest producer and exporter of sugar in the world with Puerto Rico being a poor second to Cuba in regard to Caribbean production. The rest of the…