Chapter 5:
The Caribbean
(Fig. 5.1)

Learning Objectives
–	Compare and contrast two seemingly similar regions (Latin America & Caribbean)
–	You should understand the following concepts and models
•	Plantation agriculture, “Plantation America”
•	“Brain drain”
•	Hurricanes
•	Maroons
•	Free trade zones
•	Offshore banking

Introduction
•	Setting the boundaries
•	Islands and “Rimland” (Coastal Belize and the Guianas)
•	Cultural diversity greater than Latin America
•	Caribbean includes 25 countries and dependent territories, located on Caribbean Sea
•	Europeans, then the U.S., influenced the region
•	Plantation agriculture is important
•	High population densities, environmental problems
•	Economy based on tourism, offshore banking, manufacturing, exports (e.g., flowers) 
–	Disparities in wealth in the region
Environmental Geography: Paradise Undone
•	Isolated proximity: a concept used to explain Caribbean’s unusual and contradictory position in world
–	Isolation sustains cultural diversity (but limits economic opportunity)
–	Proximity to North America ensures transnational 
        connection and economic dependence
Environmental Geography: Paradise Undone
•	Environmental Issues
–	Agriculture’s Legacy of Deforestation
•	Much of tropical rainforest cover was removed after arrival of Europeans
–	Removed to grow sugar cane and to produce fuel to refine sugar
•	Haiti’s forests almost gone; 30% left in Jamaica and Dominican Republic; less in Puerto Rico and Cuba
–	Managing the Rimland Forests
•	Rimland: coastal zone of mainland, from Belize to South America
–	This region less threatened, has more forests 
–	Supports diverse wildlife
–	Protected by successful conservation efforts
•	Guyana conservation efforts controversial

Environmental Geography: Paradise Undone (cont.)
•	Environmental Issues (cont.)
–	Failures in Urban Infrastructure
•	Local environmental problems include water contamination and sewage disposal
–	Urban poor most vulnerable
–	Only 50% of Haiti’s population has access to clean water 
–	A problem for public 
    health and tourism
Environmental Geography: Paradise Undone (cont.)
•	The Sea, Islands, and Rimland
•	The Caribbean Sea links the countries in this region
–	Greater Antilles
•	Four large islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico
–	Lesser Antilles
•	Double arc of small islands from Virgin Islands to Trinidad
–	Rimland States
•	Includes Belize and the Guianas on the South American coast
•	Still contain significant amounts of forest cover
Physical Geography of the Caribbean (Fig. 5.6)
Environmental Geography: Paradise Undone (cont.)
•	Climate and Vegetation
•	Warm all year with abundant rainfall
•	Forests and naturally occurring grasslands in Cuba, Hispaniola, and Guyana
•	Seasonality determined more by rainfall, and less by temperature changes
–	Hurricanes
•	Storms with heavy rains and fierce winds (more than 75 miles per hour)
–	Six to 12 move through the region annually
–	Can have deadly consequences
»	Hurricane Mitch (1998) killed at least 10,000, left 2.5 million homeless, was the deadliest tropical storm of the 20th century
Climate Map of the Caribbean (Fig. 5.9)
Population and Settlement: Densely Settled Islands and Rimland Frontiers
•	87% of the region’s population is concentrated on the four islands of the Greater Antilles
–	Largest population in Cuba
–	Highest population density in Puerto Rico
–	Mainland territories are lightly populated
•	Demographic Trends
•	Region is currently growing at a rate of 1.3%
–	Fertility Decline
•	Cuba and Barbados have lowest RNI (rate of natural increase)
–	Education of women and out-migration responsible
–	The Rise of HIV/AIDS
•	Infection rate more than three times that of North America
•	More than 2% of the Caribbean population between ages 15 and 49 has HIV/AIDS
Population of the Caribbean (Fig. 5.11)

Population and Settlement (cont.)
•	Demographic Trends (cont.)
–	Emigration
•	Caribbean Diaspora: the economic flight of Caribbean peoples across the globe
Population and Settlement (cont.)
•	The Rural-Urban Continuum
•	Plantation and subsistence farming shaped settlement patterns
–	Farmlands owned by elite; small plots for subsistence agriculture
–	No effort to develop major urban centers
–	Caribbean Cities
•	Rural-to-urban migration since 1960s
–	Causes: mechanization of agriculture, offshore industrialization, and rapid population growth
»	60% of region today is classified as urban
»	Cuba most urban (75%); Haiti the least (35%)
–	Cities reflect colonial influences

Population and Settlement (cont.)
•	The Rural-Urban Continuum (cont.)
–	Housing
•	Decrease in urban jobs played a major role in the surge in urbanization
•	As urbanization occurred, thousands poured into the cities
–	Erected shantytowns; filled informal sector
»	Electricity pirated from power lines
•	In Cuba, government-built apartment blocks reflect socialism
–	Housing landscape homogeneity
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: 
A Neo-Africa in the Americas
•	The Cultural Impact of Colonialism
•	Plantation system destroyed indigenous systems and people; replaced them with different social systems and cultures through slavery
–	Plantation America
•	Designates a cultural region extending from midway up coast of Brazil through the Guianas and the Caribbean into southeastern U.S.
•	Characteristics include European elite ruling class dependent on African labor force
–	Mono-crop production: a single commodity, such as sugar
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: 
A Neo-Africa in the Americas (cont.)
•	The Cultural Imprint of Colonialism (cont.)
–	Asian Immigration
•	Result of colonial governments freeing slaves by mid 19th cent.
–	Indentured labor: workers contracted for a set period of time
•	Largest Asian populations in Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, and Tobago
–	More than 1/3 of Surinamese population is South Asian (from India)
•	Creating a Neo-Africa
•	Beginning in the 16th century, African Diaspora: forced removal of Africans from their native area
–	At least 10 million were brought to the Americas; 2 million died en route
–	Influx of enslaved Africans, plus elimination of most indigenous peoples
Transatlantic Slave Trade (Fig. 5.20)
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: 
A Neo-Africa in the Americas (cont.)
•	Creating a Neo-Africa
–	Maroon Societies
•	Communities of escaped slaves (“Maroons”)
–	Many short-lived, but others survived and helped African traditions and farming practices to survive
–	Exist in isolated areas, like 
   the Bush Negroes of Suriname

African Religious Influences (Fig. 5.22)
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: Neo-Africa (cont.)
•	Creolization and Caribbean Identity
•	Creolization: blending of African, European, Amerindian cultural elements into a unique system
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: Neo-Africa (cont.)
•	Creolization and Caribbean Identity
–	Music
•	Several forms emerged in the region
–	Reggae, calypso, merengue, rumba, zouk, Afro-Caribbean
–	Steel drums
–	Music of Bob Marley reflects Jamaica’s political situation
Geopolitical Framework: Colonialism, Neocolonialism, and Independence
•	Monroe Doctrine:  proclaimed that U.S. would not tolerate European military involvement in Western Hemisphere
–	Example of neocolonialism: economic and political strategies that powerful states use to extend their control over other, weaker states
•	Life in the “American Backyard”
•	U.S. maintains a controlling attitude toward the Caribbean
–	Often designed to protect U.S. business interests, sometimes at the expense of local autonomy and democracy
•	U.S. imposes its will via economic and military force
–	Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
•	Is a commonwealth of the U.S., its people are U.S. citizens
•	Independence movements seek secession from U.S.
–	Reflected in protests on Vieques Island
U.S. Military Involvement & Regional Disputes (Fig. 5.26)
Geopolitical Framework (cont.)
•	Life in the “American Backyard” (cont.)
–	Cuba and Regional Politics
•	Cuba began as a Spanish colony
–	Gained freedom in 1898
–	Revolution brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959
»	He nationalized economy and established ties with U.S.S.R.
–	Cuban Missile Crisis challenged U.S. Caribbean dominance 
–	U.S. and Cuba still have a strained relationship
•	Independence and Integration
–	Independence Movements
•	Haiti: slaves revolted, gained independence in 1804
•	Today, most Caribbean countries are independent
Geopolitical Framework (cont.)
•	Independence and Integration (cont.)
–	Regional Integration
•	Beginning in the 1960s, experiments with regional trade associations to improve economic competitiveness
–	Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM): proposed regional industrialization and creation of Caribbean  Development Bank to help poorer states
»	13 full members (former English colonies) 
Economic and Social Development: 
From Cane Fields to Cruise Ships
•	From Fields to Factories and Resorts
•	Historically linked to world economy through agriculture
•	Tourism, offshore banking, assembly plants more important now
–	Sugar
•	Crucial to the economic history of the Caribbean
•	Importance of sugarcane has declined somewhat
–	Since 1990 Cuban sugarcane harvest reduced by 50%
–	The Banana Wars
•	Major exporters are in Latin America (not Caribbean)
–	Several states in Lesser Antilles are dependent on banana production
–	Sales depend on trade agreements and consumer whims
–	Experiments with other crops to reduce dependency on bananas
Economic and Social Development (cont.)
•	From Fields to Factories and Resorts (cont.)
–	Assembly-Plant Industrialization
•	Foreign companies invited to build factories 
–	Free trade zones (FTZs): duty-free and tax-exempt industrial parks to attract foreign corporations 
–	Companies may benefit more than host countries
•	Assembly plants found in major cities
–	Offshore Banking and Online Gambling
•	Offers specialized services that are confidential and tax-exempt
•	Localities make money from registration fees, not taxes
–	Bahamas ranked 3rd largest banking center in 1976; now 15th
•	Proximity to U.S. is appealing, attracts money from drug trade
•	Online gambling is newest industry in the region
Free Trade Zones in the Dominican Republic (Fig. 5.30)
Economic and Social Development (cont.)
•	From Fields to Factories and Resorts (cont.)
–	Tourism
•	Cuba’s earlier role as a tourist destination stopped with rise of Castro
•	Other islands now popular
–	Five islands hosted 70% of the 14 million tourists who came to the region in 1999 (Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba)
•	Tourism is dependent on overall health of world economy and is vulnerable to natural disasters
•	Capital leakage: serious problem involving huge gap between gross receipts and total tourist dollars that remain in Caribbean
–	Many corporate headquarters are outside of the region, and profits flow out of the host country
Global Linkages: International Tourism (Fig. 5.31)

Economic and Social Development (cont.)
•	Social Development
•	Overall improvements socially, but Haiti is still in bad shape
–	Education
•	Low illiteracy in Cuba and English colonies
•	Brain drain: a large percentage of the best-educated people leave the region
–	Status of Women
•	Many men leave home for seasonal work
•	Women control many activities, but lack the status of men
–	Labor-Related Migration
•	Intra-regional, seasonal migration is traditional
•	Remittances – monies sent back home
End of Chapter 5: The Caribbean