Western part of the Atlantic Ocean between the southern coast of North America and the northern coasts of South America. Central America is to the W and the West Indies are the islands within the sea, which is about 2,740 km/1,700 mi long and 650–1,500 km/400–900 mi wide. It is from here that the Gulf Stream turns toward Europe.
The Caribbean Sea was named for the Carib Indians who inhabited the area when it was discovered by Spanish explorers, beginning with Christopher Columbus 1492. It is a major maritime trade route for oil, other raw materials, seafood, and tropical agricultural products. It is heavily polluted by untreated sewage, which destroys mangrove forests and coral reefs.
A number of continental American nations lie on its shores, and it contains the West Indies archipelago, which consists of independent island nations as well as dependencies of the US, France, the Netherlands, and the UK.