By Kirstie Pealling ,Cara Pullinger and Louise Wyatt The Caribbean By Kirstie Pealling ,Cara Pullinger and Louise Wyatt

Sport A variety of sport are played in the Caribbean.The crystal clear water and the tropical winds combine to make the region among the world’s best water locations. But it is cricket and soccer in the English speaking Caribbean and baseball, soccer and boxing in the Spanish Caribbean which are the most popular among locals. The West Indies cricket team for years, until recently, dominated international cricket while Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico have produced some of today’s leading baseball stars.

Music The history of Caribbean music dates back to the days of the native Americans who inhabited the region before the arrival of Columbus. They made drums and other instruments from hollow logs and other material available to them. Today Caribbean music ranges from traditional folk genres to contemporary forms such as reggae, calypso, soca, chutney, salsa, merengue, compas and Zouk. The world famous musician, Bob Marley, came from the Caribbean island of Jamaica.

Culture The culture is necessarily tropical, some say carnival, to the extent that there is rhythm, architecture and food that reflects the ‘livity’and impact of tropics on the region. There is often large aspiration and taste that characterise many of the region’s inhabitants to possess the products and excess of importation - in part a legacy of the colonial acculturation. Essentially therefore the Caribbean space is a cradle for the eclectic synthesis of a a world view.

History When Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean in 1492 there were three groups of Indians living on the Islands. These were the Arawaks(Taino) and the Ciboney on the northern larger islands of the greater Antilles, the Bahamas, and the Leeward Islands. On the Winward island-chain were the Caribs who also inhabited the Guianas - today Guyaana, Suriname and Cayenne. Estimates of the original Amerindian inhabitants of the West Indies vary between 300,000 and several million.

The Map of the Caribbean

How many countries are there in the Caribbean All together there are 27 countries there is: Anguilla, Antigua, Barauda, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Island, Cayman Island, Cuba, Dominica Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica and lots, lots more.

Food and drink What type of food do they eat? Do they eat food that most of us wont? They eat foods that are manly hot and spicy. They eat such things like Dog or Cat or pigs nose or horses bits and etc.

Transport There daily transport are Donkeys or scraped up buses and cars. They aren’t use to having anything that is new or looks good. But there are also rich places in this country.

Population In 1996, the Caribbean population was approximately 36 million with 90% living on just five islands.Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Cuba, the most heavily populated island, has nearly 11 million people compared with Anguilla, Which has only 10,000 inhabitants.

Further information Films Films that Show the Caribbean as any more than a tourist attraction are rare.Most should be available on video or shown on television.