Where is the Caribbean Sea in which country. caribbean sea

One of the most beautiful places on Earth, it's the Caribbean Sea. It got its name from the Caribs who lived in the area. There is also a second name - Antilles, which is used much less frequently. The beauties of the Caribbean - the sea and the islands that belong to its basin are considered the most interesting and romantic places on the planet. No wonder lovers come here to hold a wedding ceremony or

Geographical position

The Caribbean Sea belongs to the basin Atlantic Ocean. On the one hand, it is bounded by the banks of the Central and South America, and on the other - the Antilles. Therefore, the sea is semi-enclosed.

The waters are Caribbean, the sea is connected with through and with the Pacific Ocean - through Panama Canal. The area of the basin is about 2,753,000 square kilometers. The sea washes the shores of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Sea is divided into five basins that limit islands and submarine ridges. The maximum depth is 7686 meters, although this sea is considered shallow.

Pearl of the Atlantic Ocean

Where the Caribbean Sea is, there is an incredible color, different corners, love and romance reign. This area is famous for its extraordinary coral reefs, big amount tropical cyclones, which are destructive and, of course, pirates. Coastline The sea is not monotonous, it is strongly indented.

There are many beautiful lagoons, bays, picturesque bays and capes. The sea coast is mostly low-lying, with white sandy beaches, but sometimes mountainous terrain is also found. Each country, whose shores are washed by the sea, has its own, unusual flavor. Therefore, a trip to the Caribbean becomes unforgettable.

Islands

bright flowers caribbean are numerous islands. All of them are united in the Antilles archipelago (Small and Greater Antilles, Bahamas). Each of the islands has its own unique landscape, flora and fauna. They are inhabited by colorful peoples, and here you can try exotic cuisine. Each sea is an amazing corner that you must definitely visit in order to feel the atmosphere of picturesque nature. It is very difficult to choose one place to visit, because you want to know all the beauty of the Caribbean Sea.

The most picturesque corners

The most passionate corner of the Caribbean is Jamaica. Amazing nature, exotic music, mountains, hot sun, sandy beaches and local flavor remain in your memory for a long time and make you come back here again and again. Incredible cascades of waterfalls, colorful jungles, beautiful lagoons and rare representatives of the animal world will appear before the eyes of tourists. Saint Lucia is an unusual island that beckons with its white sandy beaches, quiet harbors and primeval nature.

Here it is as if you find yourself in virgin forests, untouched by man, and you feel like one with the environment. Dominica Island is the best place for ecotourism. It is located in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea. Its surface is covered with impenetrable jungle, among which dormant volcanoes, waterfalls, hot springs and mountain streams are hidden. Martinique is an island of flowers, where European culture and local exoticism are surprisingly harmoniously mixed. You can endlessly enumerate beauty Caribbean, but to cover all the amazing features is simply impossible.

Bottom relief of the sea

The bottom relief of the Caribbean Sea is uneven. There are numerous depressions and uplands. The entire plateau is conditionally divided into five parts, which are delimited by underwater ridges. Among the features of the bottom surface, the Cayman Trench, the Puerto Rico Trench, and the Haiti Trench should be noted. The waters are Caribbean, the sea is a very seismically active area. Therefore, hurricanes and tsunamis often occur here, from which residents of coastal settlements suffer.

Most of the coastal soil consists of sand, but there are also rocky surfaces. A distinctive feature of the Caribbean are the white sandy beaches.

Underwater flora

The beauty of the Caribbean, the sea attract divers. And this is no coincidence. The flora of this reservoir is very rich and diverse. Here you can find whole meadows of picturesque vegetation that amaze with their beauty. The pearl of the underwater world are coral reefs. These are amazing buildings created by nature itself. Numerous types of algae will amaze the most demanding lover of underwater flora. Hurricanes also cause great damage to vegetation, bringing garbage and littering these beautiful corners of nature.

Animal world of the sea

The fauna of the Caribbean is unique. The most exotic marine mammals and fish live here. A feature of the underwater world are which are presented in a large variety of species. One of the islands got its name because of the huge number of these animals (Las Tortugas). Large mammals (whales, sperm whales) are also found in the basin. The underwater world is the most unique feature that the Caribbean has given to people. Photos of its beautiful and diverse representatives are the most colorful. This part of the planet is unique and wonderful world which pleases and caresses the eyes of those who come here.

Geological setting

The sea is located on the Caribbean lithospheric plate and, being one of largest seas transitional zone, separated from the ocean by several uneven-aged island arcs. The youngest of them runs through the Lesser Antilles from the Virgin Islands in the northeast to the island of Trinidad off the coast of Venezuela. This arc was formed during the collision of the Caribbean Plate with the South American Plate and includes the current and extinct volcanoes, such as Montagne Pele, Kiel and volcanoes national park Morne Trois Pitons. Large islands in the northern part of the sea (Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico) lie on an older island arc, to the north of which the continental and subcontinental crust has already formed. The arc from the south of Cuba, expressed by the Sierra Maestra mountains, the underwater Cayman Range, and the trough of the same name, is also relatively young. The deepest known point in the Caribbean Sea is located in the Cayman Trench - 7686 m below sea level.

The surface of the Caribbean Plate is divided into five basins: Grenada (depth 4120 m), Venezuelan (5420 m or 5630 m), Colombian (4532 m or 4263 m), Caymanova (Bartlett, 7686 m) and Yucatan (5055 m). or 4352 m.). The depressions are separated by submarine ridges (probably former island arcs) Aves, Beata, and the Nicaraguan Rise.

The Yucatan Basin is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by the Yucatan Strait, which is located between the Yucatan Peninsula and the island of Cuba and has a depth of about 1600 m. surface, forming the Cayman Islands. The Nicaraguan uplift, which has the shape of a triangle and a depth of about 1200 m, extends from the coast of Honduras and Nicaragua to the island of Haiti. The island of Jamaica is located on this rise, and the border between the Cayman and Columbia Basins also passes through it. The Colombian Basin, in turn, is partly separated from the Venezuelan by the Beata Range, which rises to 2121 m below sea level. The Colombian and Venezuelan basins are connected by the Aruba rupture, the depth of which reaches 4,000 m. The Aves Ridge separates the small Grenada basin from the Venezuelan one, which is bounded from the east by the arc of the Lesser Antilles.

Coastline

The coastline of the sea is heavily indented, the shores are mountainous in places, low in places (Caribbean Lowland). In shallow water areas there are various coral deposits and numerous reef structures. On the continental coast (western and southern parts of the sea) there are several bays, the largest of which are: Honduras, Mosquitos, Darien and Venezuela. In the northern part are the bays of Batabano, Ana Maria and Guacanaybo (the southern coast of the island of Cuba), as well as the Gulf of Gonave ( West Side islands of Haiti).

There are several bays on the east coast of the Yucatan, including Asension, Espiritu Santo and Chetumal. The Gulf of Honduras ends in Amatiche Bay, located on the border of Belize and Guatemala. The northern coast of Honduras is slightly indented, and several lagoons jut into the Mosquito Coast, including the lagoons of Caratasca, Bismuna, Perlas and Bluefields Bay. In the east of Panama, there is a large Chiriqui lagoon. Off the coast of South America, the Darien Gulf ends with the Uraba Gulf, and the Venezuelan Gulf, fenced off by the Guajira Peninsula, ends with Lake Maracaibo. To the west of the island of Trinidad lies the Gulf of Paria, which is considered part of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Caribbean Sea is located in the tropical climate zone, which is influenced by the trade wind circulation. Average monthly air temperatures vary from 23 to 27 °C. Cloudiness is 4-5 points.

The average annual rainfall in the region varies from 250 mm on the island of Bonaire to 9000 mm in the windward parts of Dominica. Northeast trade winds prevail with average speeds of 16-32 km/h, however, tropical hurricanes occur in the northern regions of the sea, the speed of which can exceed 120 km/h. On average, 8-9 such hurricanes occur per year during the period from June to November, and in September - October they are most frequent. According to the US National Hurricane Center, 385 hurricanes passed over the Caribbean Sea from 1494 to 1900, and 235 such manifestations of the elements were recorded from 1900 to 1991. The Caribbean is less prone to hurricane damage than the Gulf of Mexico or the Western Pacific (where typhoons rage from May to November). Most hurricanes form near islands Green Cape and is sent by the trade winds to the shores of America.

Severe hurricanes cause loss of life, destruction and crop failures in the region. The great hurricane of 1780, which raged from October 10 to 16, 1780, caused enormous damage to the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and, possibly, the Florida peninsula, and also led to the death of from 22 to 24 thousand people. Hurricane Mitch, which originated on October 22, 1998 off the coast of Colombia, passed through Central America, the Yucatan and Florida peninsulas, causing damage of 40 million US dollars and killing 11 - 18 thousand people.

The Caribbean Sea (Caribbean Sea) is located in the west of the Atlantic Ocean near the equator. Due to the tropical climate, numerous sandy beaches, the purest water, famous resorts And picturesque places The Caribbean region is popular with tourists. The Caribbean area hosts cruise routes of famous travel companies. Rich undersea world attracts thousands of diving enthusiasts. Mostly Caribbean resorts are visited by residents of the USA, Canada, Brazil.

Caribbean Islands Antilles and Bahamas include several large islands: Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico. Here are also Virgin Islands, Cayman islands.

The climate of the region is determined by the trade winds and the tropical region of the Atlantic Ocean. average temperature during the year they practically do not change and are +23 ... +28 degrees. The Caribbean region is less affected by tropical hurricanes than the Gulf of Mexico and East End Pacific Ocean

Flora and fauna Warm climate, coral reefs and pure water created a rich underwater world of the sea. About 500 different species of fish live here, such as goliath fish, angel fish and parrot fish, moray eels and several types of sharks. There are whales, sperm whales and dolphins in the waters of the sea. The entire coastal area is covered with tropical forests with lush vegetation and a riot of colors.

Caribbean Sea Region - favorite place rest of many oligarchs from different countries. They are not limited in money and choose really deserving places for a comfortable stay.

The area of the Caribbean Sea is 2,754,000 km². The average depth is 1225 m. The average volume of water is 6860 thousand km³.

The sea is located on the Caribbean lithospheric plate. It is divided into five basins, separated from each other by underwater ridges and a series of islands. The Caribbean Sea is considered shallow compared to other bodies of water, although its maximum depth is approximately 7,686 meters (in the Cayman Trench between Cuba and Jamaica).

The shores are mountainous in places, low in places; in the west and near the Antilles, they are bordered by coral reefs. The coastline is heavily indented; in the west and south there are bays - Honduras, Darien, Venezuelan (Maracaibo), etc.

The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas of the transition zone, separated from the ocean by a system of island arcs of different ages, of which the youngest, which has modern active volcanoes, is the Lesser Antilles arc. More mature island arcs form large islands - Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico with an already formed mainland ( Northern part Cuba) or subcontinental crust. The Caymanova-Sierra Maestra island arc is also young, expressed for the most part by the underwater Cayman Range, accompanied by the deep-sea trench of the same name (7680 m). Other submarine ridges (Aves, Beata, Marcelino threshold) are, apparently, submerged island arcs. They divide the bottom of the Caribbean Sea into a series of basins: Grenada (4120 m), Venezuelan (5420 m). Columbia (4532 m), Bartlett with the Cayman deep-sea trench, Yucatan (5055 m). The bottoms of the basins have the earth's crust of the suboceanic type. The bottom sediments are calcareous foraminiferal silts, in the southwestern part - weakly manganese, calcareous silts, in shallow water - various coral deposits, including numerous reef structures. The climate is tropical, influenced by the trade wind circulation and characterized by great uniformity. Average monthly air temperatures are from 23 to 27 °С. Cloudiness 4-5 points. The amount of precipitation is from 500 mm in the east to 2000 mm in the west. From June to October in sowing. parts of the sea are marked by tropical hurricanes. The hydrological regime is highly homogeneous. The surface current moves from east to west under the influence of trade winds. Off the coast of Central America, it deviates to the northwest and goes through the Yucatan Strait into the Gulf of Mexico. The speed of the current is 1-3 km / h, near the Yucatan Strait up to 6 km / h. The sea is an intermediate basin for waters that come from the Atlantic Ocean and, when they exit the Gulf of Mexico into the ocean, give rise to the Gulf Stream. Average monthly water temperatures on the surface are from 25 to 28 °С; annual fluctuations are less than 3 °С. Salinity is about 36.0 ‰. Density 1.0235-1.0240 kg/m3 Water color from bluish-green to green. The tides are predominantly irregular semidiurnal; their value is less than 1 m. The vertical change in hydrological characteristics occurs up to a depth of 1500 m, below which the sea is filled with homogeneous water coming from the Atlantic Ocean; its temperature is from 4.2 to 4.3 °C, salinity is 34.95-34.97‰. Sharks, flying fish, sea turtles and other species of tropical fauna live in the Caribbean Sea. There are sperm whales and humpback whales, seals and manatees off the island of Jamaica.

The Caribbean Sea is of great economic and strategic importance as the shortest sea route connecting the ports of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean through the Panama Canal. The most important ports are Maracaibo and La Guaira (Venezuela), Cartagena (Colombia), Limon (Costa Rica), Santo Domingo ( Dominican Republic), Colon (Panama), Santiago de Cuba (Cuba), etc.

The name "Caribbean" is derived from the Caribs, one of the dominant Indian tribes of America, who lived on the coast at the time of Columbus's contact with the natives in the late 15th century. After the discovery of the West Indies by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Caribbean Sea was called the Sea of Antilles, after the Spaniards who discovered the Antilles. In various countries, the Caribbean Sea is still confused with the Antilles Sea.

Marginal semi-enclosed sea of the Atlantic Ocean basin, from the west and south it is bounded by Central and South America, from the north and east by the Greater and Lesser Antilles. In the northwest, through the Yucatan Strait, it is connected to the Gulf of Mexico, in the southwest - to the Pacific Ocean through the artificial Panama Canal.

It lies between 9° and 22° N. sh. and between 89° and 60° W. D., its area is approximately 2,753,000 km. sq.
In the south it washes Venezuela, Colombia and Panama, in the west - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, in the north - Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and Puerto Rico; in the east - the states of the Lesser Antilles

coastline of the caribbean

The coastline of the sea is heavily indented, the shores are mountainous in places, low in places (Caribbean Lowland). In shallow water areas there are various coral deposits and numerous reef structures. There are several bays on the continental coast, the largest of which are: Honduras, Mosquitos, Darien and Venezuelan. In the northern part are the bays of Batabano, Ana Maria and Guacanaybo (the southern coast of the island of Cuba), as well as the Gulf of Gonave (the western part of the island of Haiti).

Islands

It is customary to include the Antilles and the Bahamas in the concept of the West Indies. The Caribbean Sea washes only the Antilles, which are subdivided into the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. The Greater Antilles border northern border sea and include four large islands: Cuba, Haiti (formerly called Hispaniola), Jamaica and Puerto Rico, as well as small nearby islands - the Los Canarreos archipelagos ( largest island Juventud) and Jardines de la Reina, lying at southern shores Cuba.

The Lesser Antilles are subdivided into the Windward and Leeward Islands (South Antilles), so named in relation to the northwest trade wind. The first group lies on eastern border sea and consists of about 50 islands, the largest of which are: Santa Cruz, St. Thomas (Virgin Islands), Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Kitts, Barbuda, Antigua (Antigua and Barbuda), Grande-Terre and Bas-Terre ( Guadeloupe), Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Barbados, Grenada, Tobago and Trinidad. The South Antilles are located along the coast of South America and include the islands of Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire (possessions of the Netherlands), Margarita, the Las Aves and Los Roques archipelagos (Venezuela) and a number of other smaller ones.

The western Caribbean Sea contains several archipelagos such as the Cayman Islands, Turneff Islands, Islas de la Bahia and Miskitos, as well as a number of individual islands (Providencia, San Andrés) and cays (Lighthouse, Glover, Media Luna and other).

Climate

The Caribbean Sea is located in the tropical climate zone, which is influenced by the trade wind circulation. Average monthly air temperatures vary from 23 to 27 °C. Cloudiness is 4-5 points.

The average annual rainfall in the region varies from 250 mm on the island of Bonaire to 9,000 mm in the windward parts of Dominica. Northeast trade winds prevail with average speeds of 16-32 km/h, however, tropical hurricanes occur in the northern regions of the sea, the speed of which can exceed 120 km/h. On average, 8-9 such hurricanes occur per year from June to November, and in September-October they are most frequent.

Vegetation of the Caribbean

The vegetation of the region is predominantly tropical, but differences in topographic, soil and climatic conditions increase species diversity. The porous limestone terraces of the islands tend to be poor in nutrients. There are an estimated 13,000 plant species in the Caribbean, of which 6,500 are endemic, such as the guaiac tree and mahogany vines. Coconut palm is common in coastal areas, lagoons and river estuaries are overgrown with dense mangroves (red and black mangrove).

Animal world

The marine biota of the region originated from representatives of the Indian and Pacific Oceans that got into the Caribbean Sea before the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama about 4 million years ago. There are approximately 450 species of fish in the Caribbean Sea, including sharks (bull shark, tiger shark, silky shark and Caribbean reef shark), flying fish, sea devils, orange-fin surgeonfish, angelfish, butterfly eyefish, parrotfish, giant perch, tarpon and moray eels. Throughout the Caribbean region, commercial fishing of lobsters, sardines (off the coast of Yucatan) and some types of tunas is carried out. Albuleys, barracudas, marlins and wahoos are popular with recreational fishermen.

mammals Caribbean represented by 90 species, there are sperm whales, humpback whales and dolphins. Seals and American manatees live off the island of Jamaica. The Caribbean monk seal, which previously lived in the region, is thought to be extinct; under the threat of extinction is representatives of the family of salmon teeth, native to the region.

All 170 amphibian species living in the region are endemic. The ranges of almost all representatives of the families of toads, poison dart frogs, tree frogs and whistlers are limited to any one island.

There are 600 bird species recorded in the Caribbean, 163 of which are endemic to the region, such as the tody, the Cuban avocet woodpecker and the palm chaser. Of the endemic species, 48 species are threatened with extinction: the Puerto Rican Amazon, the Cuban chamois, the Cuban wren, and others. The Antilles, along with Central America, lie on the migration route of birds from North America, so the size of bird populations is subject to strong seasonal fluctuations. The forests are inhabited by parrots, sugar birds and toucans, above open sea you can meet frigates and phaetons.

Tourism

With a warm climate and great beaches, the Caribbean is one of the main resort areas peace. The rich marine fauna attracts divers; except natural beauties the region is rich in cultural monuments of pre-Columbian civilizations and the colonial era. The tourism industry is an important component of the economy of the Caribbean region, serving mainly travelers from the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina. Air communication between North America and the Caribbean is better developed than within the region.