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The term 'British West Indies' refers to territories in and around the Caribbean which were at one time colonised by the United Kingdom.^[1] Collectively these territories are also now known as the Anglophone Caribbean. Between 1958 and 1962 all of the island territories except the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Bahamas were organised into the West Indies Federation. It was hoped that the Federation would become independent as a single nation, but it had limited powers, many practical problems and a lack of popular support, and was consequently dissolved. Most of the territories, including all the larger ones, are now independent as separate countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, while some of the smaller ones remain British dependencies. All the nations of the British West Indies, except Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago, are Commonwealth Realms.
The former British territories that form the British West Indies are;

★ Antigua and Barbuda

★ The Bahamas

★ Barbados

★ Dominica

★ Grenada

★ Jamaica

★ Saint Kitts and Nevis

★ Saint Lucia

★ Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

★ Trinidad and Tobago
The current British territories that form the British West Indies are;

★ Anguilla

★ British Virgin Islands

★ Cayman Islands

★ Montserrat

★ Turks and Caicos Islands
The anglophone countries of Central America and South America are also historically considered to be part of the British West Indies. These are;

★ Belize (formerly British Honduras)

★ Guyana (formerly British Guiana)

Contents

Cricket

Fraudulent documents and other activities

Trivia

See also

Footnotes

Cricket

Main articles: West Indies cricket team

Cricket is traditionally the main sport in the the British West Indies (though others sports such as football and basketball have challenged its dominance from around the 1990s onwards). Most of the countries and territories listed above field a combined cricket team called the West Indies cricket team or "Windies", which is one of the ten elite international teams that play Test match cricket. The British West Indies hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Fraudulent documents and other activities

There have been a number of fraudulent documents and other deceptions (including motor vehicle license plates) sold by various parties claiming to be issued by the British West Indies, playing on the confusion with the British Virgin Islands. [1] [2] [3] The British West Indies is ''not'' a country, nor is there any official "British West Indies" governmental authority using that name, and any documents supposedly issued by that "government" are invalid.

★ Scan of a fake "BWI" Driver's License

Trivia

★ Citizens of current British West Indian territories often call themselves "Belongers".

See also

★ Anglophone Caribbean

★ BWIA West Indies Airways

★ British colonization of the Americas

★ British North America

★ Indo-Caribbean

Footnotes

1. definition