The Lesser Antilles are a vast arc of volcanic Islands at the western end of the Caribbean Sea. When Europeans first landed in that region in the early 16th Century, it had been occupied for centuries by populations who had originally migrated there from the South American mainland.
Through colonial times, a brutal regime of sugar cane plantations relied on slaves of African origins while original populations were mostly killed through wars and infectious diseases. Politically, those islands were under the control of rival European powers, and some of them changed sovereignty many times.
Today, the population of those islands is mostly of African origin, with a mix of European and native ancestry. Eight former British colonies have become sovereign nations, while other islands are still under the sovereignty of Britain, France and the Netherlands.
Morre on the Caribbean at quickworld.com
The Lesser Antilles in 2022
