CARIBBEAN CUBA BERMUDA HAITI,1894 Antique Colour Map

HISTORICAL MAP CHART SHOWING LOCAL TOPOGRAPHY - Rail and Route Map

Front - WEST INDIES - CENTRAL AMERICA Back - PANAMA CANAL - NICARAGUA CANAL The Caribbean (Spanish: Caribe; French: Caraïbe; Dutch: Caraïben; Portuguese: Caribe or Caraíbas) is a region of the Americas consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts. Located southeast of Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north and west of South America, the Caribbean is usually considered a subregion of North America. Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the area comprises more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cayes. The West Indies, in contrast to the East Indies in southeast Asia, consist of the Antilles, divided into the larger Greater Antilles which bound the sea on the north and the Lesser Antilles on the east, and the Bahamas which are northeast of the sea. Bermuda lies much further to the north in the Atlantic Ocean and is sometimes included in the West Indies. Geopolitically, the West Indies are organized into 28 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. At one time, there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies composed of ten English-speaking Caribbean territories. The name "Caribbean" is named after the Caribs, one of the dominant Amerindian groups in the region at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. The analogous "West Indies" originates from Christopher Columbus' idea that he had landed in the Indies (then meaning all of south and east Asia) when he had actually reached the Americas. The Spanish term Antillas was commonly assigned to the newly discovered lands; stemming from this, "Sea of the Antilles" is a common alternate name for the Caribbean Sea in various European languages. Most islands at some point were, or still are, colonies of European nations: * British West Indies/Anglophone Caribbean - Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bay Islands (briefly), British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Croix (briefly), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands * Danish West Indies - present-day United States Virgin Islands * Dutch West Indies - present-day Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, Virgin islands, Saint Croix (briefly), Tobago and Bay Islands (briefly) * French West Indies - Anguilla (briefly), Antigua and Barbuda (briefly), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Montserrat (briefly), Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius (briefly), St Kitts and Nevis (St Kitts, but not Nevis), Trinidad and Tobago (Tobago only), Saint Croix (briefly), and the current French overseas départements of Martinique and Guadeloupe (including Saint-Barthélemy and northern half of Saint Martin) * Spain - Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Trinidad (for some time) and Bay Islands (briefly) The British West Indies were formerly united by the United Kingdom into a West Indies Federation. The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a major ship canal that traverses the Isthmus of Panama in Central America, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The construction of the canal was one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. It has had an enormous impact on shipping, as ships no longer have to travel the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 9,500 kilometres (6,000 mi), well under half the distance of the previous 22,500 kilometre (14,000 mi) route around Cape Horn. The Nicaragua Canal is a proposed waterway that would connect the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans through Nicaragua, in Central America. Such a canal would follow rivers up to Lake Nicaragua, and then cut across the isthmus of Rivas to reach the Pacific. Construction of a canal along this route was proposed in the early colonial era, due to the favourable geography of the area. Plans by the United States to build such a canal were abandoned only in the early 20th century, after the purchase of the French interests in the Panama Canal at a reasonable cost. Speculation on a new canal continues, however; the steady increase in world shipping, together with the possibility of establishing shorter shipping routes, may make this a viable project. Alternatively, a railway, or a combined railway and oil pipeline, could be built to link ports on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

1890s Wood Engraving, Antique Map

Approximate Overall Size: 12 X 9 1/2 inches

CONDITION: Book Plate Map - Excellent Condition. Folded. German Text. Beautiful with excellent detail.FOLDED LARGE SINGLE PAGE MAP - MAP ON THE BACK SIDE.