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Curated category

Former colonies in North America

  • Antigua and BarbudaHunter-gatherers settled the islands starting around 3000 BC. They arrived on canoes from Central and South America. Carbon dating has established the…
  • Saint LuciaArchaeological evidence places the first proven inhabitants of Saint Lucia, the Arawak people, on the island between 200 and 400 CE.
  • GuadeloupeChristopher Columbus set foot on the island in November 1493. He named it Guadeloupe after a shrine to the Virgin Mary located in the Spanish town of…
  • Puerto RicoIn 1493, Christopher Columbus arrived on the island he named San Juan Bautista. The Taíno people had already lived there for centuries before his arrival.
  • British West IndiesIn 1604, an English merchant named Charles Leigh established a short-lived settlement on the Wiapoco River. This location now forms part of the border…
  • Saint-DomingueIn 1625, French buccaneers established a settlement on the island of Tortuga. They survived by pirating ships and eating wild cattle and hogs.
  • CubaCuba is an archipelago of 4,195 islands, cays and islets located in the northern Caribbean Sea at the convergence of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic…