Caribbean

Salt River Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve are located on the island of Saint Croix, USVI. The protected area preserves upland watersheds, mangrove forests and marine environments. It also contains the only known site where a Columbus expedition set foot on what is now U.S. territory.

This massive series of fortifications on a rocky promontory was built to protect the important port of Santiago de Cuba. This intricate complex of forts, magazines, bastions and batteries is the most complete, best-preserved example of Spanish-American military architecture.

After Christopher Columbus's arrival on the island in 1492, Santo Domingo became the site of the first cathedral, hospital, customs house and university in the Americas. The colonial town, founded in 1498, was laid out on a grid pattern that became the model for the New World.

The Seaflower Biosphere Reserve encompasses the entire land and marine territory of the Archipelago of San Andres, Old Providence and Santa Catalina in the southwestern Caribbean Sea. The archipelago supports diverse marine and bird life as well as extensive coral reefs.

The Sierra del Rosario Biosphere Reserve is located in the eastern part of Cuba's Guaniguanico mountain range. It protects over 100 square miles of tropical forests with evergreen and semi-deciduous environments. It was also the site of the first significant coffee plantation in the New World.

Turquino National Park is located in Santiago de Cuba Province, southeastern Cuba. The park is situated within the Sierra Maestra mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast.

The Sint Eustatius National Marine Park encircles the entire Caribbean island and extends up to 3 km (1.8 miles) offshore. The park protects habitats, including pristine, biologically-diverse coral reefs, seagrass beds, sandy seabed, and open ocean communities.

The Tobago Cays are an archipelago located in the Southern Grenadines of the Lesser Antilles, comprising five small islands and extensive coral reefs. The cays are the key elements of the Tobago Cays Marine Park, owned and operated by the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines government.

Trinidad, together with the nearby Valle de los Ingenios was founded in the early 16th century but owes its existence to the sugar industry that flourished there and in the nearby valley from the late 18th century to the late 19th century.