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West Indies (DANISH ly hot and the islands)

DANISH ly hot, and the islands abound in tropical productions, as sugar, cotton, coffee, cacao, tobacco, maize, etc.; oranges, lemons, limes, pomegranates, citrous pineapples, manioc, yams, potatoes, etc. Except Cuba, Haiti (in which there are two republics); Porto Rico and other islands acquired by the United States from Spain, Virgin Islands acquired by the United States from Denmark, and a few islands off the coast of South America, the West Indian Islands are in the possession of European powers. The chief British possessions are: Jamaica, Barbadoes, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad, Tobago, Antigua, St. Kitt's, Dominica, Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas; Dutch St. Eustatius, Saba, St. Martin (partly French), Bonaire or Buen Ayre, Curaçao, and Oruba or Aruba; and French, Martinique, Deseada, Guade loupe, Marie Galante, St. Martin (partly Dutch), St. Bartholomew, and Les Saintes. Two-thirds of the inhabitants are negroes. Total pop. about 6,000,000.