Where is the Greater Antilles located? Greater Antilles

- one of the tourist centers of the Caribbean.

Netherlands Antilles

Netherlands Antilles is a self-governing autonomous territory within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. And although today it is not considered the main tourist center Caribbean, here you can have a great rest, and at the same time admire the local attractions, which, by the way, abound in the Antilles.

Antilles on the world map

The territory, the total area of ​​which is 960 km 2, includes five islands: located off the coast of Venezuela Aruba and Curacao and located near Puerto Rico Saba, Saint Martin and Saint Eustatius. They are inhabited by more than 250 thousand islanders.

The capital of the territory is Willemstad, a city located on the largest among the rest Curacao. There are three official languages ​​in the Antilles: English, Dutch and Papiamento (a local Creole dialect rooted in Portuguese). Antillean guilder - "ANG" is approved as the national currency.

The flag of the islands and the vanished star

Netherlands Antilles have their own flag. On the white panel of the flag, adopted in 1986, two equal-width stripes are crossed in the form of a straight cross: vertical red and horizontal blue.

On the blue stripe, meaning , in the center of the flag are five small white stars, symbolizing all the islands that make up the territory. The top three stars are Saba, Saint Martin and Saint Eustatius; the lower ones are Baneiro and Curaçao. The red stripe is a symbol of their unity.

The colors of the flag of the Antilles, designed to emphasize the inextricable connection of the territory with the metropolis, fully correspond to the colors of the national standard of the Netherlands.

The Antillean flag is flown only together with the Dutch flag. Interestingly, from 1959 to 1985, there was another star on the flag, denoting Aruba. However, after Aruba acquired the status of an independent territory and entered the Commonwealth as a full partner, only five stars remained.

Climate in the Antilles

The tropical climate of the archipelago contributes to the fact that the Antilles all year round the weather is beautiful: warm and comfortable. And even the trade winds prevailing here cannot spoil the mood of tourists resting here. On the contrary, they bring only freshness and pleasant coolness. Temperature +25 - 27°C is typical for this area throughout the year.

And they make up, as it were, a fragmented continuation of the mainland. From the Gulf of Paria at the mouth of the Orinoco to the Strait of Florida, they stretch for 13 and border the Gulf and in a huge circle. For the first time the name of these islands "Antiles" is found in 1493 by Peter Martyr d'Angiere, but the origin of this word is unknown. Some believe that this name comes from the island "Antilia", which the tradition of the end of the Middle Ages placed on the Eastern Ocean, while others are of the opinion that the Antilles mean coastal islands, that is, those that lie in front of the mainland of America. The Lesser Antilles are sometimes called Caribbean Islands. Together with those that lie to the North of the Antilles between San Domingo and Florida, the Greater and Lesser Antilles are known under the common name West.

Square Greater Antilles: Taken together, the Antilles form an area of ​​228,662 square kilometers. They are divided into two main groups: the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The first include 4 islands: San Domingo, or, Jamaica and Portorico; of these, the first two and the last (the smallest) form an almost straight line, heading towards the Yucatan by the western corner of Cuba. The Lesser Antilles, about 50 in number, lie between 10-19 ° north latitude and form an arc starting from the island and resting on the eastern corner of Portorico. On seven of them are strong, and on the eastern side of each of these seven islands there is a number of calcareous islets.

Greater Antilles: In general, the Antilles give the impression of a mountain range, torn apart by the Caribbean and Mexican seas, the isolated peaks of which protrude above the water. The highest of these peaks are the Sierra Mestra (2,375 meters) and the Sierra del Cobre (2,119 meters) on and the Blue Mountains (2,370 meters) on. The Lesser Antilles, depending on whether the northeast trade winds reach them earlier or later, are divided into "Windward Islands" and "Leeward".

Greater Antilles: Marine softens the hot climate of these islands. The sky here is amazingly clear, unusually fat. In April and May, at noon for half an hour or a whole hour, the spring rains fall, accompanied by the wind. August and October are the main periods of rains, and the thermometer reaches 45 ° C. The sea here is amazingly clear; and the tide is barely noticeable. Almost all of these islands suffer from and. The heat and damp make the climate very unhealthy, and for the same reasons neither wood nor metal is durable here.

Nature Greater Antilles: Coffee, sugar cane and tobacco grow in incredible numbers and form the main articles and trade.

Under which the Advisory Council functions and is headed by the minister.

Of the islands included in the federation, the first was discovered by X. Columbus in 1493 Saint-Martin (later in 1648 it was divided between the Netherlands and France). A few years later, in 1499, the Spanish navigator Alonso Ojeda discovered the southern islands inhabited by the Arawak and Carib Indians. However, at that time no precious metals were found on these islands. Only much later, in the 19th century, a small gold deposit was found in Aruba. In addition, the islands turned out to be quite arid. Therefore, no one claimed them for a long time. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. they were alternately owned by , and . These islands played a significant role for pirates off the coast of South America.

In 1816, the islands finally became the possession of the Netherlands. The Dutch turned Curaçao into an important shopping center and the largest center of the slave trade.

At the beginning of the XX century. with the discovery of oil in Venezuela, Curacao and became the targets of the largest oil monopolies. In 1916, the Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch-Shell began building a large oil refinery on the island of Curaçao. Then, in 1925, the "of" company built a powerful oil refinery on the island of Aruba. The processing of Venezuelan oil became the basis for the economic development of the Netherlands Antilles. This had far-reaching socio-economic consequences for the colony. A relatively large industrial proletariat appeared on the islands of Curaçao and Aruba. Together with the migration of labor to oil refineries, it had a detrimental effect on the development Agriculture countries.

During the Second World War, the United States established military bases in Curaçao. The rise of the national liberation movement in the colony made it necessary to grant it internal autonomy in 1954. In 1975, under the pressure of the people, negotiations began between the Antilles and the Netherlands governments on granting independence to the Antilles.

The pre-colonial appearance of the islands has been greatly altered by man, and at the present time the cultural one sharply predominates on them.

The southern islands - Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire - are composed mainly of metamorphic and crystalline rocks overlain by limestone and volcanic deposits. Structurally, they are the peaks of the water-covered northern Andes of Venezuela. hilly islands.

Explored mineral resources are limited to deposits of phosphorites and raw materials for the production of building materials.

The islands are partially surrounded by coral reefs. There are several convenient bays, and, on the banks of which the city of Willemstad is located, is considered one of the best in the West Indies.

The climate is tropical, arid, monthly temperatures 26-28°. The average annual rainfall is about 500 mm, of which 4/5 falls between October and February. To obtain water on the islands, desalination plants operate, annually giving 12 million. m fresh water. In some places, rainwater is collected in cisterns. Lots of windmills used to pump water.

Vegetation southern islands consists mainly of dry shrubs and cacti. In some places, dry ones have been preserved.

In racial and ethnic terms, the most diverse population of Curaçao. In recent decades, in the rapid growth of the oil refining industry in the southern islands, many blacks from the West Islands, from Suriname, as well as the Dutch and the inhabitants of the island, immigrated there. On the northern islands Saba, Saint-Martin (the Dutch part) until the 60s of the current century, the population prevailed, but this ratio changed in Curaçao and Aruba with a higher birth rate of the Negro population.

On average, 1.5 billion kWh of electricity is generated per year. All of it is produced at thermal power plants running on petroleum products. In terms of electricity production per capita, the country occupies a leading position in the Latin American region.

The main foreign trade traffic is carried out through Willemstad and Oranjestad, which are among the largest ports in the West Indies. The country has seven airfields, three of which are international.

The basis of foreign trade is oil products and oil, 2/3 of which comes from Venezuela, and the rest - from the countries of the Middle East and Africa. In imports it is 87%; in export - 95%. Petroleum products are exported to the USA, Canada and Common Market countries. A considerable income is brought in by dry land - the largest in America, capable of receiving a displacement of 120 thousand tons, as well as ship repair shops serving over 1 thousand ships a year.

The consequence of the dominance of foreign monopolies is a massive rise in prices, covering about 50% of the labor force. All this causes an intensification of the strike struggle in the country.

Development national culture hampered by the colonial status of the country, its multilingualism and significant cultural expansion of the United States. Schooling in the country is not compulsory. First grade primary schools In the southern islands, teaching is conducted in Dutch, followed by a partial transition to Papiamento. In the northern islands, schools are taught in English.

In the Middle Ages, portolans - ancient maps of the world used by navigators - depicted Antilia, an island in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Portugal. Judging by its size and rectangular shape, the island was almost a mirror copy of Portugal itself. The sailors never discovered Antilia, but this ghost island gave the name to the whole archipelago, located thousands of kilometers from Europe, in

At the end of the 15th century, at the very beginning, the expedition crossed the Atlantic and discovered previously unknown shores. Taking again open lands for the legendary Antilia, the researchers gave them the name of the Antilles.

The archipelago forms a vast semicircle located between the South and North America and washed by the waters of the Caribbean Sea and neighboring It is divided into two large groups - the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The former includes Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. The second includes about 50 small islands that form an arc connecting Trinidad and Puerto Rico.

The Greater Antilles are fragmented fragments of the mainland. Most of the territory of each of them is occupied mountain systems. Almost all of Jamaica and the south of Puerto Rico are occupied by plateaus and blocky mountains, and in Haiti, four ridges stretch in the meridional direction, which cut through longitudinal fault valleys. The exception is Cuba, where two-kilometer-high mountains border only the southeast coast, while the rest of the island is occupied by a low plain.

The Lesser Antilles are of biogenic and atolls) and volcanic origin. In the central part of many of them (Dominica, Saint Vincent, Martinique, Guadeloupe and others) are extinct or active volcanoes, bordered by lowlands that make up the products of eruptions. The coastline of the archipelago is heavily indented and very picturesque due to the abundance of alternating capes and bays, as well as ancient and modern coral reefs.

The Lesser Antilles includes the possessions of France, Great Britain and Venezuela, in addition, a separate group is distinguished - the Netherlands Antilles, consisting of two subgroups. These are the islands of Bonaire, Aruba and Curacao, located in the south of the archipelago, off the coast of Venezuela, and the islands of Saint Martin, Saba and Saint Eustatius, located almost a thousand kilometers to the north.

The archipelago has a difficult and tragic history that has left its mark on the culture of each state located in Caribbean. Pirate romanticism and the tragedy of the colonial past are closely intertwined here, and the sonorous names of the islands remind of the glorious era of great discoveries.

Now the Antilles is one of the most popular tourism destinations. The blooming nature of the tropics, the azure waters of the ocean, the traces of ancient civilizations and the spirit of freedom preserved centuries later attract people from all over the planet. Each island has a bright personality, each state has its own unique symbols. Haiti is famous outdoor activities, Jamaica - reggae rhythms, Martinique - elite cane rum, Barbados - marvelous orchids, Cuba - colorful carnivals and rich nightlife, and Saint-Martin - culinary arts.

The life of the archipelago has long been inextricably linked with the ocean. And in modern industry tourism, marine entertainment plays an important role. Their choice here is simply huge: diving to coral gardens, underwater caves and sunken ships, snorkeling, cruises on sailing yachts, trips on a submarine, fishing in the ocean, excursions to uninhabited islands. There are also opportunities for cliff diving, surfing, kite and windsurfing and deep water solo (rock climbing over the sea without insurance).

Land excursions are also interesting, dedicated to the colonial and pirate past, as well as modern culture and the luxurious nature of the archipelago.

The Antilles lie between North and South America and form, as it were, a fragmented continuation of the mainland. From the Gulf of Paria at the mouth of the Orinoco to the Strait of Florida, they stretch for 13 degrees of latitude and border the Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles (Caribbean) Sea in a huge circle. Together, they form an area of ​​228,662 sq. km with a population of 4,333,942 hours. They are divided into two main groups: the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The first include 4 islands: Cuba, San Domingo, or Haiti, Jamaica and Portorico; of these, the first two and the last (the smallest) form an almost straight line, heading from the western corner of Cuba to the Yucatan Peninsula. The Lesser Antilles, about 50 in number, lie between 10-19° N. latitude and form an arc starting from the island of Trinidad and resting on the eastern corner of Portorico. Seven of them contain strong volcanoes, and on the east side of each of these seven islands is a series of calcareous islets. In general, the A. islands give the impression of a mountain range, broken by the Atlantic, Caribbean and Mexican seas, the isolated peaks of which protrude above the water. The highest of these peaks are the Sierra Mestra (2375 m) and Sierra del Cobre (2119 m) in Cuba and the Blue Mountains (2370 m) in Jamaica.

The small A. islands, depending on whether the northeast trade winds reach them earlier or later, are divided into "Windward Islands" and "Leeward Islands". But there is no unanimity in this nomenclature. The British and French call them southern, as well as east. a branch from Tabogo to Dominica by the Windward Islands (Winward Islands, Iles-du-vent), while the islands lying from Dominica to Portorico are the Leeward Islands (Iles sous le vent). The Spaniards, on the other hand, give the first name (Islas-barlo-vento) to all the Small A. Islands from Portorico to Tabogo, while they, and after them some geographers, gave the second name (Islas-soto-vento) to those islands that are scattered along the northern coast South America to the west from Trinidad to Oruba (near the Gulf of Maracaiba). The sea wind softens the hot climate of these islands. The sky here is amazingly clear, the soil unusually rich. In April and May, at noon for half an hour or a whole hour, the spring rains fall, accompanied by the wind. August and October are the main periods of rains, and the thermometer reaches 45 ° C. The sea here is amazingly clear; ebb and flow is barely noticeable. Almost all of these islands suffer from earthquakes and hurricanes. The heat and damp make the climate very unhealthy, and for the same reasons neither wood nor metal is durable here. Coffee, sugar cane and tobacco grow in incredible numbers and are the main objects of agriculture and trade. For the first time the name of these islands "Antiles" is found in 1493 by Peter Martyr d'Angiere, but the origin of this word is unknown. Some believe that this name comes from the island "Antilia", which the tradition of the end of the Middle Ages placed on the Eastern Ocean, while others are of the opinion that the Antilles mean coastal islands, that is, those that lie in front of the mainland of America. Small A. Islands are sometimes also called the Caribbean Islands. Together with the Bahamas, which lie to the north of A. between San Domingo and Florida, the Large and Small A. islands are known under the common name of the West Indies. (