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@opencage@en.osm.town1/ This week for #geoweirdness we kick off a two part series about the Caribbean.
Initially we thought a single thread would do, but with over 7,000 islands, it's just too much.
Instead, we'll break things up roughly along the lines of the region’s two main archipelagos — the Greater and Lesser Antilles.
2/ The Greater Antilles contains Cuba 
, Hispaniola 
(more on this later), Puerto Rico 
, Jamaica 
, the Cayman Islands 
.
The region has a rich cartographic history, which is captured in the the irresistible cartography project Caribmap.
Here’s an old map from 1644 showing the Greater Antilles. Flick through the archive, it’s quite something:
http://www.caribmap.org/index.php?id=wies&link=1644-wi-jansson
3/ European colonisation of the Caribbean has led to a linguistically diverse region today.
As well as English, Spanish, and French, there are many creole languages.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Caribbean
One example is Haitian Creole, an official language of Haiti
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Creole
4/ Let's start our tour in the east with the Virgin Islands, an archipelago of three political jurisdictions.
We have the British Virgin Islands 
, which is a 
British Overseas Territory, but uses the 
US dollar as its currency.
Cars drive on the left, but most are imported from the US and thus also have the steering wheel on the left. 
5/ Next we have the 
US Virgin Islands, which was previously the 
Danish Virgin Islands.
The USVI is an unincorporated territory of the United States 
, purchased from Denmark in 1917
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_the_Danish_West_Indies
And west of that we have the Spanish Virgin Islands, which is part of Puerto Rico , and thus also an unincorporated territory of the United States.
6/ Puerto Rico was an important 
Spanish military outpost and sugar producer for centuries. In 1898, after the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States
Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship in 1917, and it remains an unincorporated territory of the USA to this day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico
The political status of the territory - whether it should become a state, remain as is, or gain independence is a long-running debate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_status_of_Puerto_Rico
7/ Eastward to Hispaniola, the most populous island in the Greater Antilles. It is composed of two nations: Haiti and the Dominican Republic
The island was under Spanish control from its ‘discovery’ in the 1490s. In the 17th century, French pirates took over the western part, becoming the 
French colony of Saint-Domingue.
Harsh slavery conditions led to the Haitian Revolution in the 1790s. In 1804, Haiti gained independence, the first to be liberated by former slaves.
9/ Sadly conditions in Haiti are still very difficult, and it is the poorest country in the western hemisphere.
Here's an aerial image of the border with the much wealthier Dominican Republic , you can see the significant deforestation on the Hatian side.
In February 2023, construction was started on a border wall on the Dominican side to stop migrants
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic%E2%80%93Haiti_border
10/ Haiti has an open territorial dispute - with the United States over tiny, uninhabited Navassa Island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navassa_Island
The island is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife service as a National Wildlife Refuge. It is the only one of the "United States Minor Outlying Islands" not in the Pacific
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Minor_Outlying_Islands
11/ Heading north we come to Cuba , the largest Caribbean island.
For 60+ years Cuba has had tense relations with the US . Nevertheless the island is the site of US Guantanamo Bay Naval Base - permanently leased from Cuba since 1903
12/ South of Cuba lie the Cayman Islands a mini-archipelago consisting of three islands (Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac). The islands are a self-governing British Overseas Territory.
Considered something of a tax haven, its GDP of roughly $110,000 is the highest in the Caribbean and one of the highest on earth!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayman_Islands
There are various methods to get permanent residency or even citizenship via investment
13/ Finally we have Jamaica . The island (actually 49 islands and cays) is not large, and a population under 3M.
Still, it is famous for its food and rich musical history, and has a significant global cultural influence.
It has a large diaspora, mainly in the US , Canada 
, and the UK .
It was also the birthplace of the Rastafarian religious movement. One of the central figures of Rastafarianism is Haile Selassie, the former Emperor of Ethiopia 
14/ South west of Jamaica lies the Bajo Nuevo Bank, claimed by Jamaica, Nicaragua 
, and the US but currently administered by Colombia 
as part of their "San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina" department (state).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajo_Nuevo_Bank
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archipelago_of_San_Andr%C3%A9s,_Providencia_and_Santa_Catalina
Despite being part of Colombia many people in the islands speak an English creole
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Andr%C3%A9s%E2%80%93Providencia_Creole
15/ That wraps up our look at northern Caribbean #geoweirdness
What did we miss?
Thanks for reading and sharing. We have links to many more geothreads about geospatial technologies, #geoweirdness of individual countries, geocoding, border disputes, etc listed on our blog:
https://blog.opencagedata.com/geothreads
If you liked this thread you may particularly enjoy our look at
British Overseas Territories https://en.osm.town/@opencage/110288036094504869
and
United States non-state territories
https://en.osm.town/@opencage/110644249174123375
OMG!! Apologies, apologies, apologies - we totally forgot to wrap this #geoweirdness thread up with this highly relevant, but geographically baffling song about the region.
@opencage One of those maps says no one in Inagua or Mayaguana speaks Haitian Creole. That seems odd considering the uniformity shown in the rest of the Bahamas.
@opencage
Cartographie des Antilles
http://www.caribmap.org/
#carte #Cartographie #cartography #maps #Caraïbes