BRITISH WEST INDIES. — The name “West Indies” is used to denote the archipelagoes of Central America known as the Greater and Lesser Antilles. This name dates from the time of Christopher Columbus, and today it includes independent States and French colonies called the French Antilles, as well as British and Dutch colonies. The last two are still today called the British West Indies and the Dutch West Indies rather than Antilles.
For their history and ecclesiastical organization it is necessary to refer to the individual entries, such as, for example: Antilles, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Guyana.
The British West Indies consist of six groups, five of which are in Central America: the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica and its dependencies, the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands (including Antigua). Ecclesiastically they belong to various circumscriptions, among which the apostolic vicariates of the Bahamas (q.v.) and of Jamaica (q.v.), the diocese of Roseau (q.v.) and the archdiocese of Port of Spain are dependent on the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda.