By Barbara-Shae Jackson from Atlantic Black Star

It is no secret that the Caribbean is home to some of the most beautiful places on earth, with white sands, clear waters, friendly natives and unique indigenous species. But here are ten facts that you may not have known about the sunny islands.

Geologists believe that the Caribbean Islands evolved from an arc of volcanoes that erupted beneath the ocean billions of years ago.

Nearly 40 million people live in the Caribbean’s 30 territories, which are made up of 700 islands, islets, reefs and caves.

The islands are divided into different island groups. Each group contains a major territory familiar to most people.

The Lucayan Archipelago includes the Bahamas, while the Greater Antilles includes islands such as Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispanola (Haiti and Domincan Republic). The Lesser Antilles — with sub island groups the Leeward Antilles, the Leeward Islands, and the Windward Islands — includes Aruba, Antigua and Grenada.

Roughly 2 percent of the islands are inhabited, which means there is a lot of island land that is desolate except for wildlife.

The three most populous island territories are Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. About 30 million people altogether occupy these countries, which is about 75 percent of the Caribbean population.

The Dominican Republic is the most visited Caribbean country, with 4.3 million visitors per year, followed by Puerto Rico at 3.7 million, and Cuba at 2.7 million.

Most individuals in the Caribbean are descendants of enslaved Africans who were brought to the islands by colonists during the Diaspora to exploit the area’s natural resources, like sugar cane.

The Caribbean Island of Saba is home to the shortest runway in the world. It is 1,300 feet long.

The United State’s Bible belt has nothing on Jamaica. This country boasts more churches in a single square mile than any other country in the world at 1,600 total.

The Caribbean is a magnet for eco-tourism. Hosts of people come each year, not just to admire the sandy beaches and soak in the sun, but also to visit the natural habitats of rare indigenous species. Major tourist spots are the Asa Wright Nature Centre in Trinidad, Little Tobago also known as Bird of Paradise Island, the Reef Resort in the Cayman Islands and Balenbouche Estate in St. Lucia.

The name Caribbean comes for the name of the Carib people, indigenous natives of the Americas, whom colonists believe were cannibals. The Europeans referred to them as “cannibalistic Caribs,” which reflected the xenophobic attitude towards the original inhabitants of the region.

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