Caribbean Islands

British West Indies

The British West Indies are a diversified group of Caribbean islands, all are dependent areas of the United Kingdom. They are a subset of the Caribbean Islands, which are also called the West Indies. The name goes back to Christopher Columbus, who tried to find India by sailing west. He found islands he thought belonged to India, so he called them Indies. As it was clear it was not India he found, they were renamed West Indies to distinguish them from the eastern India.