CAS GE 201 Lecture 8: lec-the-caribbean
Document Summary
Caribbean islands, belize (central america) and the guianas (guyana, suriname, Unclear modern regional identity very diverse. Isolated proximity close to usa, but insulated, separated by waters, no airports sustained cultural diversity, us limited on economic opportunity. Oil, gas (trinidad), tourism, cash crop agriculture (bananas, coffee, sugar, salt beaches), remittances. Haiti (hispaniola island columbus) poorest country in the west colonial era: imported african american labor force on plantation, successful slave uprising: Haiti independence, european companies bought all agricultural land and slaves could not afford, live in high mountains to do sustenance agriculture see environmental issues. Lax taxing, a lot of nancial institutions for offshore banking (cayman islands and the bahamas) Two extremes either very rich or very poor, no middle class. Link between islands and mainland for transport of small goods. Greater antilles (cuba, hispaniola (haiti + dominican republic), jamaica, Lesser antilles form a double arc of small islands stretching from the virgin.