Tortuga
Encyclopedia
Tortuga is a Caribbean
island
that forms part of Haiti
, off the northwest coast of Hispaniola
. It constitutes the commune of Île de la Tortue in the Port-de-Paix
arrondissement of the Nord-Ouest Department
of Haiti. The island covers an area of 180 km² (69 mi²) and its population was 25,936 at the 2003 Census. In the 17th century, it was a major center of Caribbean piracy
. Its tourist industry and reference in many works has made it one of the most recognized regions of Haiti.
into the New World
. Local belief is that the name was originally given to the island by Christopher Columbus, meaning "land of the Turtle" (Isla de la Tortuga). In actuality Columbus named the island Santa Ana. The Dutch settled, and dubbed it Ter Tholen, after an island off the west coast of the Netherlands.
Tortuga was originally settled by a few Spanish
colonists. In 1625 French
and English settlers arrived on the island of Tortuga after initially planning to settle on the island of Hispaniola
. The French and English settlers were attacked in 1629 by the Spanish commanded by Don Fadrique de Toledo, who fortified the island, and expelled the French and English. As most of the Spanish army left for Hispaniola to root out French colonists there, the French returned in 1630 to occupy the fort and expanded on the Spanish-built fortifications.
From 1630 onward, the island of Tortuga was divided into French and English colonies allowing buccaneer
s to use the island more frequently as their main base of operations. In 1633, the first slaves were imported from Africa
to aid in the plantations. The new slave trend did not stand, and by 1635 the use of slaves had ended. The slaves were said to be out of control on the island, while at the same time there had been continual disagreements and fighting between French and English colonies. In 1635 the Spanish returned and quickly conquered the English and French colonies for a second time, only to leave again because the island was too small to be of major importance. This abandonment of Tortuga allowed the return of both French and English pirates. In 1638, the Spanish returned for a third time to take the island and rid it of all French and newly settled Dutch. They occupied the island, but were expelled by the French and Dutch colonists in 1640, following which the French built Fort de Rocher
in a natural harbour which enabled the French to defeat a Spanish invasion force the following year.
By 1640, the buccaneers of Tortuga were calling themselves the Brethren of the Coast
. The pirate population was mostly made up of French and Englishmen, along with a small number of Dutchmen. In 1645, in an attempt to bring harmony and control over the island, the acting French governor imported roughly 1,650 prostitutes, hoping to normalize the unruly pirates' lives. In 1654 the Spanish captured the island for the fourth and last time
. In 1655 Tortuga was reoccupied by English and French interlopers under Elias Watts, who secured a commission from Col. William Brayne, acting as military Governor on Jamaica, to serve as "Governor" of Tortuga. In 1660 the English appointed a Frenchman Jeremie Deschamps as Governor who proclaimed the King of France, set up French colours, and defeated several English attempts to reclaim the island. By the year 1670, as the buccaneer era was in decline, many of the pirates seeking a new source of trade, turned to log cutting and wood trading from the island. At this time, however, a Welsh pirate named Henry Morgan
started to promote himself and invite the pirates on the island of Tortuga to set sail under him. They were hired by the French as a striking force that allowed France to have a much stronger hold on the Caribbean region. Consequently, the pirates were never really controlled and kept Tortuga as a neutral hideout for pirate booty. In 1680, new Acts of Parliament
forbade sailing
under foreign flag
s (in opposition to former practice). This was a major legal blow to Caribbean pirates. Settlements were finally made in the Treaty of Ratisbon of 1684, signed by the European powers, that put an end to piracy. Most of the pirates after this time were hired out into the Royal services to suppress their former buccaneer allies. The capital of the French Colony of Saint-Domingue
was moved from Tortuga to Port-de-Paix
on the mainland of Hispaniola in 1676.
. It is very mountainous and full of rocks; yet, it is hugely dense of lofty trees that grow upon the hardest of those rocks. The rocks are abundant on the northern part of the island. At the beginning of the 17th century the population lived on the southern coast of the island. This part contained a port that allowed several entries to ships.
The southern part of the island was divided into four; the first part was called Low Land or Low Country. This was the main part of the southern coast because it contained the island's port. The town was called Cayona, and there lived the richest planters of the island. The second was called the Middle Plantation. Its territory could only grow Tobacco
. The third part was named Ringot. These places were situated towards the Western part of the island. The fourth was called the Mountain; it is there that the first cultivated plantation was established upon the island.
L'ile de la Tortue's best beach is Pointe Saline at the western tip of the small island. This area is very dry and offers little shade. At the Les Palmiste on the eastern coast visit a pre-Columbian rock carving of a goddess at La Grotte au Bassin and two big caves at Trou d'Enfer and La Grotte de la Galerie. Basse-Terre, on the southeastern coast, is home to the remains of Fort de la Roche, once the island's biggest fortress. Along with a 15 m high lime kiln, three cannons and the foundations of a wall are all that is left of Fort Ogeron, built in the mid-17th century.
in the 17th and 18th century.
’s Captain Blood
series and the movies based on it (the most famous one is Captain Blood with Errol Flynn
). It is the place where Blood and his crew find refuge after their escape from Barbados
in 1685. Blood receives a Letter of Marque
from Tortuga’s governor, D’Ogeron, and the island becomes his main base for the next four years. He starts his raids from Cayona, and several events in the books take place on Tortuga itself or on ships anchoring in the harbour of Cayona.
Sabatini used Exquemelin’s History of the Bouccaneers of America as a main source for his description of Tortuga, and therefore the island is portrayed as a place where many buccaneer
s, prostitutes and other dubious professions operate, but the French West India Company
, which rules Tortuga, makes profit off of those affairs.
Tortuga also features in Sabatini’s novel, The Black Swan and the 1942 movie
based on it.
(1931), The Black Swan
(1942), The Spanish Main
(1945), Double Crossbones
(1950), Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
(1952), Pirates of Tortuga
(1961). It has been featured in the video games Crimson Skies
,Sea Legend, Tortuga - Two Treasures, "Cutthroats: Terror on the High Seas", Tortuga: Pirates of the New World
, Sid Meier's Pirates!
, Curse of Monkey Island, Pirates of the Caribbean Online
, Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
, Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales
, Voyage Century Online
, Pirates of the Burning Sea
, and Walkmyplank.net.
Books featuring the island include "Tortuga" by Valerio Evangelisti, James Michener's Caribbean (1989), and Michael Crichton's last novel, Pirate Latitudes.
Tortuga is mentioned in the song "Jonas Psalter" (1973) by the rock band Styx. The island is also mentioned in the chorus of the song "Jack Sparrow" by The Lonely Island
which also features Michael Bolton
.
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
that forms part of Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, off the northwest coast of Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
. It constitutes the commune of Île de la Tortue in the Port-de-Paix
Port-de-Paix
Port-de-Paix is a city and the capital of the département of Nord-Ouest in Haïti on the Atlantic coast. It has a population of 250,000 ....
arrondissement of the Nord-Ouest Department
Nord-Ouest Department
Nord-Ouest is one of the ten departments of Haiti as well as the northernmost one. It has an area of 2,176 km² and a population of 445,080 . Its capital is Port-de-Paix....
of Haiti. The island covers an area of 180 km² (69 mi²) and its population was 25,936 at the 2003 Census. In the 17th century, it was a major center of Caribbean piracy
Piracy in the Caribbean
] The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 16th century and died out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began combating pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1690s until the 1720s...
. Its tourist industry and reference in many works has made it one of the most recognized regions of Haiti.
History
Although Tortuga was already known by the native peoples, it was never used as a permanent settlement until European pirates made it into a launching ground for piracy activities. The first Europeans to land on Tortuga were the Spaniards in 1493 during the first voyage of Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
into the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. Local belief is that the name was originally given to the island by Christopher Columbus, meaning "land of the Turtle" (Isla de la Tortuga). In actuality Columbus named the island Santa Ana. The Dutch settled, and dubbed it Ter Tholen, after an island off the west coast of the Netherlands.
Tortuga was originally settled by a few Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
colonists. In 1625 French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and English settlers arrived on the island of Tortuga after initially planning to settle on the island of Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
. The French and English settlers were attacked in 1629 by the Spanish commanded by Don Fadrique de Toledo, who fortified the island, and expelled the French and English. As most of the Spanish army left for Hispaniola to root out French colonists there, the French returned in 1630 to occupy the fort and expanded on the Spanish-built fortifications.
From 1630 onward, the island of Tortuga was divided into French and English colonies allowing buccaneer
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...
s to use the island more frequently as their main base of operations. In 1633, the first slaves were imported from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
to aid in the plantations. The new slave trend did not stand, and by 1635 the use of slaves had ended. The slaves were said to be out of control on the island, while at the same time there had been continual disagreements and fighting between French and English colonies. In 1635 the Spanish returned and quickly conquered the English and French colonies for a second time, only to leave again because the island was too small to be of major importance. This abandonment of Tortuga allowed the return of both French and English pirates. In 1638, the Spanish returned for a third time to take the island and rid it of all French and newly settled Dutch. They occupied the island, but were expelled by the French and Dutch colonists in 1640, following which the French built Fort de Rocher
Fort de Rocher
Fort de Rocher was a seventeenth-century fortress on the Caribbean island of Tortuga. It was built and utilized by buccaneers as the primary defense of the island to prevent encroachment of Spanish forces...
in a natural harbour which enabled the French to defeat a Spanish invasion force the following year.
By 1640, the buccaneers of Tortuga were calling themselves the Brethren of the Coast
Brethren of the Coast
The Brethren or Brethren of the Coast were a loose coalition of pirates and privateers commonly known as buccaneers and active in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico....
. The pirate population was mostly made up of French and Englishmen, along with a small number of Dutchmen. In 1645, in an attempt to bring harmony and control over the island, the acting French governor imported roughly 1,650 prostitutes, hoping to normalize the unruly pirates' lives. In 1654 the Spanish captured the island for the fourth and last time
Capture of Fort Rocher
The Capture of Fort Rocher took place on 9 February 1654, during the Anglo-Spanish War. Equipped with one siege battery, a Spanish expedition of 700 troops attacked the buccaneer stronghold of Tortuga, capturing the fort and 500 prisoners including 330 buccaneers and goods valued at approximately...
. In 1655 Tortuga was reoccupied by English and French interlopers under Elias Watts, who secured a commission from Col. William Brayne, acting as military Governor on Jamaica, to serve as "Governor" of Tortuga. In 1660 the English appointed a Frenchman Jeremie Deschamps as Governor who proclaimed the King of France, set up French colours, and defeated several English attempts to reclaim the island. By the year 1670, as the buccaneer era was in decline, many of the pirates seeking a new source of trade, turned to log cutting and wood trading from the island. At this time, however, a Welsh pirate named Henry Morgan
Henry Morgan
Admiral Sir Henry Morgan was an Admiral of the Royal Navy, a privateer, and a pirate who made a name for himself during activities in the Caribbean, primarily raiding Spanish settlements...
started to promote himself and invite the pirates on the island of Tortuga to set sail under him. They were hired by the French as a striking force that allowed France to have a much stronger hold on the Caribbean region. Consequently, the pirates were never really controlled and kept Tortuga as a neutral hideout for pirate booty. In 1680, new Acts of Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
forbade sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
under foreign flag
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...
s (in opposition to former practice). This was a major legal blow to Caribbean pirates. Settlements were finally made in the Treaty of Ratisbon of 1684, signed by the European powers, that put an end to piracy. Most of the pirates after this time were hired out into the Royal services to suppress their former buccaneer allies. The capital of the French Colony of Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
was moved from Tortuga to Port-de-Paix
Port-de-Paix
Port-de-Paix is a city and the capital of the département of Nord-Ouest in Haïti on the Atlantic coast. It has a population of 250,000 ....
on the mainland of Hispaniola in 1676.
Geography
The island of Tortuga stands off the northern coast of HaitiHaiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. It is very mountainous and full of rocks; yet, it is hugely dense of lofty trees that grow upon the hardest of those rocks. The rocks are abundant on the northern part of the island. At the beginning of the 17th century the population lived on the southern coast of the island. This part contained a port that allowed several entries to ships.
The southern part of the island was divided into four; the first part was called Low Land or Low Country. This was the main part of the southern coast because it contained the island's port. The town was called Cayona, and there lived the richest planters of the island. The second was called the Middle Plantation. Its territory could only grow Tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
. The third part was named Ringot. These places were situated towards the Western part of the island. The fourth was called the Mountain; it is there that the first cultivated plantation was established upon the island.
L'ile de la Tortue's best beach is Pointe Saline at the western tip of the small island. This area is very dry and offers little shade. At the Les Palmiste on the eastern coast visit a pre-Columbian rock carving of a goddess at La Grotte au Bassin and two big caves at Trou d'Enfer and La Grotte de la Galerie. Basse-Terre, on the southeastern coast, is home to the remains of Fort de la Roche, once the island's biggest fortress. Along with a 15 m high lime kiln, three cannons and the foundations of a wall are all that is left of Fort Ogeron, built in the mid-17th century.
Tortuga in fiction
Tortuga was portrayed in many works depicting piracy in the CaribbeanPiracy in the Caribbean
] The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 16th century and died out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began combating pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1690s until the 1720s...
in the 17th and 18th century.
Tortuga in the Pirates of the Caribbean films
Tortuga in Rafael Sabatini’s works
Tortuga is featured in SabatiniRafael Sabatini
Rafael Sabatini was an Italian/British writer of novels of romance and adventure.-Life:Rafael Sabatini was born in Iesi, Italy, to an English mother and Italian father...
’s Captain Blood
Captain Blood (novel)
Captain Blood: His Odyssey is an adventure novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1922.- Synopsis :The protagonist is the sharp-witted Dr...
series and the movies based on it (the most famous one is Captain Blood with Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
). It is the place where Blood and his crew find refuge after their escape from Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
in 1685. Blood receives a Letter of Marque
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
from Tortuga’s governor, D’Ogeron, and the island becomes his main base for the next four years. He starts his raids from Cayona, and several events in the books take place on Tortuga itself or on ships anchoring in the harbour of Cayona.
Sabatini used Exquemelin’s History of the Bouccaneers of America as a main source for his description of Tortuga, and therefore the island is portrayed as a place where many buccaneer
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...
s, prostitutes and other dubious professions operate, but the French West India Company
French West India Company
In the history of French trade, the French West India Company was a chartered company established in 1664. Their charter gave them the property and seignory of Canada, Acadia, the Antilles, Cayenne, and the terra firma of South America, from the Amazon to the Orinoco...
, which rules Tortuga, makes profit off of those affairs.
Tortuga also features in Sabatini’s novel, The Black Swan and the 1942 movie
The Black Swan (film)
The Black Swan is a 1942 swashbuckler Technicolor film by Henry King, based on a novel by Rafael Sabatini, and starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, and won one for Best Cinematography, Color.-Plot:...
based on it.
Other appearances
Tortuga also has been featured in the movies Safe in HellSafe in Hell
Safe in Hell is a 1931 pre-Code Warner Bros. melodrama film directed by William Wellman and starring Dorothy Mackaill and Donald Cook with featured performances by Morgan Wallace, Ralf Harolde, Noble Johnson and Nina Mae McKinney.-Plot:...
(1931), The Black Swan
The Black Swan (film)
The Black Swan is a 1942 swashbuckler Technicolor film by Henry King, based on a novel by Rafael Sabatini, and starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, and won one for Best Cinematography, Color.-Plot:...
(1942), The Spanish Main
The Spanish Main
The Spanish Main is an adventure film starring Paul Henreid, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak and Binnie Barnes, and directed by Frank Borzage. It was RKO's first all-Technicolor film since Becky Sharp ten years before....
(1945), Double Crossbones
Double Crossbones
Double Crossbones is a 1951, American, Technicolor film starring Donald O'Connor, Helena Carter, and Will Geer.-Plot:After being accused falsely of dishonesty, Davey Crandall decides to become a pirate.-Cast:...
(1950), Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd is a 1952 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, along with Charles Laughton, who reprised his role as the infamous pirate from the 1945 film Captain Kidd.-Plot:...
(1952), Pirates of Tortuga
Pirates of Tortuga
Pirates of Tortuga is a 1961 American film which invented an alternate history for the actual Welsh privateer Henry Morgan. It was released in October 1961 in the United States.-Plot:...
(1961). It has been featured in the video games Crimson Skies
Crimson Skies
Crimson Skies is a media franchise and fictional universe created by Jordan Weisman and Dave McCoy. The series' intellectual property is currently owned by Microsoft Game Studios , although Weisman's new company, Smith & Tinker Inc., has announced that it has licensed the electronic entertainment...
,Sea Legend, Tortuga - Two Treasures, "Cutthroats: Terror on the High Seas", Tortuga: Pirates of the New World
Tortuga: Pirates of the New World
Tortuga: Pirates of the New World is an action game created by Ascaron Entertainment UK Ltd, released in 2003.-Gameplay:...
, Sid Meier's Pirates!
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Sid Meier's Pirates! is a video game created by Sid Meier and published and developed by MicroProse in 1987. It was the first game to include the name "Sid Meier" in its title as an effort by MicroProse to attract fans of Meier's earlier games, most of which were flight simulators...
, Curse of Monkey Island, Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Pirates of the Caribbean Online, sometimes shortened to Pirates Online or POTCO, is a MMORPG , created by the Walt Disney Company. It is based on the film series and theme park attraction of the same name...
, Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned was an action role-playing video game in development by Propaganda Games to be published by Disney Interactive Studios for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows...
, Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales
Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales
Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales, known in Russia as Corsairs III , is a computer game developed by Akella. Due to legal issues, it does not bear the name of the developers' previous pirate games Sea Dogs and Pirates of the Caribbean...
, Voyage Century Online
Voyage Century Online
Voyage Century Online is a free nautical MMORPG developed by Snail Games and published by IGG. There is also a European distribution of the game that goes under the name of which is published by . It is set in 16th century Earth and features accurate historical representations of several...
, Pirates of the Burning Sea
Pirates of the Burning Sea
Pirates of the Burning Sea is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Flying Lab Software...
, and Walkmyplank.net.
Books featuring the island include "Tortuga" by Valerio Evangelisti, James Michener's Caribbean (1989), and Michael Crichton's last novel, Pirate Latitudes.
Tortuga is mentioned in the song "Jonas Psalter" (1973) by the rock band Styx. The island is also mentioned in the chorus of the song "Jack Sparrow" by The Lonely Island
The Lonely Island
The Lonely Island is an American comedy troupe composed of Akiva "Kiv" Schaffer, Jorma "Jorm" Taccone, and David Andrew "Andy" Samberg, best known for their comedic music. Originally from Berkeley, California, the group is currently based in New York City. The group broke out due to their...
which also features Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
.
See also
- BuccaneerBuccaneerThe buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...
s - Piracy in the CaribbeanPiracy in the Caribbean] The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 16th century and died out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began combating pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1690s until the 1720s...
- Geography of Pirates of the CaribbeanGeography of Pirates of the CaribbeanThis is a complete list of islands and other locations in the Pirates of the Caribbean films series. Some locations in the series of films are real, others are fictional...