Islands Currently Under European or United States Administration
It should be noted that as of the early 21st century, not all Caribbean islands have become independent. Several islands continue to have government ties with European countries, or with the United States.
French overseas departments and territories include several Caribbean islands. Guadeloupe and Martinique are French overseas regions, a legal status that they have had since 1946. Their citizens are considered full French citizens with the same legal rights. In 2003, the populations of St. Martin and St. Barthélemy voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form separate overseas collectivities of France. After a bill was passed in the French Parliament, the new status took effect on 22 February 2007.
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are officially insular areas of the United States, but are sometimes referred to as "protectorates" of the United States. They are administered by the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) within the United States Department of Interior.
British overseas territories in the Caribbean include:
- Anguilla
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Montserrat
- Turks and Caicos
Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten are all presently separate constituent countries, formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles. Along with Netherlands, they form the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Citizens of these islands have full Dutch citizenship.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Caribbean
Famous quotes containing the words islands, european, united and/or states:
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Long accustomed to the use of European manufactures, [the Cherokee Indians] are as incapable of returning to their habits of skins and furs as we are, and find their wants the less tolerable as they are occasioned by a war [the American Revolution] the event of which is scarcely interesting to them.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“In the United States there is more space where nobody is is than where anybody is.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation.”
—William McKinley (1843–1901)