ABSTRACT
The Caribbean region, with a population of approximately 32 million people, consists of a number of widely distributed islands located in the Caribbean Sea. The countries range from the smaller islands in the Lesser Antilles, such as Grenada and St. Vincent, to the larger islands in the Greater Antilles, such as Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica, and include Guyana and Suriname on the South American mainland and Belize in Central America. The region is multi-ethnic, the majority of inhabitants being of African descent, but there are people of European, East Indian, Chinese, and Syrian/Lebanese ancestry.
