Category: Guide to Caribbean

The Caribbean region has felt a significant increase in human activity since its colonization period. The sea is one of the largest oil production areas in the world, with approximately 170 million tons per year. In the Venezuelan Caribbean has important deposits of oil and natural gas, which debit a production of 3.081 billion barrels of daily oil (2005) and 29.7 billion of cubic meters of gas (2003). The area also generates an extensive fishing industry in the surrounding countries, accounting for half a million tones of annual fish. It is a large producer of sugarcane with an annual production of about 30 million tons in 2005, which represents approximately 2% of the world’s production. Human activity in the area also causes a significant increase in pollution: the estimates of the Pan American Health organization of 1993 report that only about 10% of the wastes from Central America and the Caribbean islands are adequately treated.