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Why are the Caribbean islands often referred to as the west Indies?
Wiki User
∙ 6y ago
The direction refers to the direction that one must travel FROM Europe to arrive. You must go west to the West Indies and east to the East Indies.
Before Columbus' discovery he was trying to find a route to India and/or the East Indies. At the time of his discovery trade for Far East items like silk and spices involved several steps from source to destination making the products very expensive and very slow to obtain. Had Columbus been successful the Europeans could have gone directly to the source, purchased precisely what they wanted, without a markup for any intermediary, and returned home with product in a relatively short period of time. A direct ocean route around Africa to the East indies was found by Vasco de Gama for the Portuguese in 1498.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoHe was looking for the Indies. He thought he reached the Indies. He called them the Indies. Later when it was found that they weren't the same place as the Indies, they were named the West Indies and the original Indies were named the East Indies.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agobecause they are the most western islands
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoBecause houses are cool.
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Where is the west indies located?
No, it is not located in India. it is actually located south-east of the gulf of Mexico and northern America, east of central America and north of south America - the Caribbean. The islands are called the 'West Indies' because the initial explorers were trying to reach India by a new route going West round the Globe from Europe. When they came across the Caribbean Islands they though they must be near India and called them the West Indies, not realising the size of Earth and the fact that there was another continent and an ocean in the way.
Are the islands of the west indies in north or south America?
The islands of the Caribbean (West Indies, or Antilles) are between North and South America, but are often classified as being North America, as is Central America. These include Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and numerous smaller islands.
Which Canadian city sometimes referred to as Cowtown?
Calgary is often referred to as "Cowtown." Toronto is often referred to as "Hogtown." Hamilton is often referred to as Tigertown."
What do you call a person from the Caribbean like people from Canada are Canadian from America are American from Mexico are Mexican..... are they Caribbean?
Most often peoples from the Caribbean are referred to by their country within the Caribbean or their ethnic group, for example Dominican or Carib, respectively. If you must refer to a person by the entire Caribbean region then I would use 'Caribbean people(s)'.
How did he Europeans travelled to the Caribbean?
Most people give credit to Christopher Columbus for discovering the Caribbean, but the islands had been populated since about 5000 BC by two tribes, the Caribs and the Arawaks Indians. The two tribes were often at war. The Caribs were the more aggressive of the two, eventually pushing the more peaceful Arawaks out of the region.In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed to what he thought was India in search of spices and gold and a sea route to Asia. He found neither, although it is possible that he believed the island of Hispaniola to be Japan, and the coast of Cuba to be part of the Asian mainland. This is why today the Caribbean is also referred to as the West Indies.In the years following Columbus’ “discovery” of the islands, thousands of Spanish settlers, followed by the British, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch and French arrived on the islands, each nation claiming different islands as their own. To this day, the Caribbean Islands are divided by the occurrences of that time – not just politically but in areas such as currency, language, laws, food and culture.
Why do you think the Caribbean islands are often referred to as the Indies?
The island in the Caribbean region are often referd to as the West Indies because 'West Indies' is the collective name of these islands.
Why do you think the Caribbean islands are often referred as to the West Indies?
The island in the Caribbean region are often referd to as the West Indies because 'West Indies' is the collective name of these islands.
Why do you think the Caribbeans islands are often referred to as the West Indies?
The island in the Caribbean region are often referd to as the West Indies because 'West Indies' is the collective name of these islands.
Why do you think the Caribbean islands are often reffered to as the west indies?
because it feels like it!
Why do you think the Caribbean island are often referred to as the west indies?
because they're in the Indian ocean.
Why are the Caribbean islands called the West Indies?
Columbus explored the ares for several months, convinced he had found the East Indies, the islands off the coast of Asia.When finding it was not the east indies he named it the west indies.
When christopher Columbus landed in 1942 what did he thought he reached?
Christopher Columbus believed that the lands he reached were the West Indies, in Southern Asia, although it was actually the Carribean Islands, south of North America.
Where is the west indies located?
No, it is not located in India. it is actually located south-east of the gulf of Mexico and northern America, east of central America and north of south America - the Caribbean. The islands are called the 'West Indies' because the initial explorers were trying to reach India by a new route going West round the Globe from Europe. When they came across the Caribbean Islands they though they must be near India and called them the West Indies, not realising the size of Earth and the fact that there was another continent and an ocean in the way.
Are the islands of the west indies in north or south America?
The islands of the Caribbean (West Indies, or Antilles) are between North and South America, but are often classified as being North America, as is Central America. These include Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and numerous smaller islands.
Which Caribbean island is divided into to countries?
The second largest island in the West Indies, a part of the Caribbean Sea, is often referred to as Hispaniola. The nation of Haiti occupies the western half of this island and the Dominican Republic occupies the eastern half.
What is another name for the caribbean region?
Very often the Caribbean Sea is referred to as the Gulf of Mexico.
What continent do the pacific islands belong to?
They are often referred to as Oceania.
