Chapter 5: The Caribbean Countries

African diaspora

The forced removal of Africans from their native areas to localities around the globe, especially due to slavery. It can also refer to contemporary migration flows from Africa due to violence or poverty that result in African communities forming in other regions in the world.

brain drain

Migration of the best-educated people from developing countries to developed nations where economic opportunities are greater.

brain gain

The potential of return migrants to contribute to the social and economic development of their country of origin with the experiences they have gained abroad.

capital leakage

The gap between the gross receipts an industry (such as tourism) brings into a developing area and the amount of capital retained.

Caribbean diaspora

The recent large-scale movement of people from the Caribbean to major cities in North America and Europe.

chain migration

A pattern of migration in which people in a sending area become linked to a particular destination, such as Dominicans with New York City.

circular migration

Temporary labor migration, in which an individual seeks short-term employment overseas, earns money, and then returns home.

Creolization

The blending of African, European, and even some Amerindian cultural elements into the unique sociocultural systems found in the Caribbean.

Greater Antilles

The four large Caribbean islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico.

Hurricanes

Tropical storms in the Atlantic Basin with abnormally low-pressure centers and with sustaining winds of 74 mph or higher. Each year during hurricane season (July–October), a half dozen to a dozen hurricanes form in the warm waters of the Atlantic and Caribbean, bringing destructive winds and heavy rain.

Lesser Antilles

The arc of small Caribbean islands from St. Maarten to Trinidad.

Maroons

Runaway slaves who established communities rich in African traditions throughout the Caribbean and Brazil.

offshore banking

Financial services offered by certain European dependencies and microstates, often located on islands, that are typically confidential and tax exempt. As part of a global financial system, offshore banks have developed a unique niche, offering their services to individual and corporate clients for set fees. The Bahamas and the Cayman Islands are leaders in this sector.

Rimland

The mainland coastal zone of the Caribbean, beginning with Belize and extending along the coast of Central America to northern South America.

transnational migration

Complex social and economic linkages that form between home and host countries through international migration. Unlike earlier generations of migrants, 21st century immigrants can maintain more enduring and complex ties to their home countries as a result of technological advances.