Caribbean culture is a creole blend forged over five centuries — Indigenous, African, European, Indian, Chinese and Lebanese influences fused into something entirely new. Music is the heartbeat: reggae and ska from Jamaica, calypso and soca from Trinidad and Tobago, merengue and bachata from the Dominican Republic, salsa from Cuba and Puerto Rico, zouk from the French Antilles, tumba from Curaçao, dancehall, reggaeton — every island contributes.\n\nCarnival is the most spectacular cultural expression. Trinidad and Tobago Carnival — the largest in the Caribbean — features mas (costume) bands, steelpan competitions and the J'Ouvert dawn celebration. Other major carnivals: Junkanoo in The Bahamas (Boxing Day and New Year), Crop Over in Barbados (summer harvest), Vincy Mas in Saint Vincent, Carnival in Saint Lucia, Antigua, Aruba and Curaçao.\n\nReligion is woven into daily life. Catholicism dominates Spanish and French Caribbean. Protestant denominations are strong in English Caribbean. Caribbean syncretic religions blend Christian and African traditions — Santería (Cuba), Vodou (Haiti), Obeah (English Caribbean), Espiritismo (Puerto Rico). Rastafari was born in Jamaica in the 1930s.\n\nCricket is the unifying sport of English Caribbean — the West Indies team plays as a regional unit. Baseball dominates Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Dominoes is the social game of every island.\n\nLanguages: English (most islands), Spanish (Cuba/DR/PR), French (Haiti/Martinique/Guadeloupe), Dutch (ABC + SSS), Haitian Creole, Jamaican Patois, Papiamento (ABC), French Creole (Lesser Antilles).\n\nLiterature has Caribbean Nobel laureates — Derek Walcott (Saint Lucia, 1992), V.S. Naipaul (Trinidad, 2001) — and a strong tradition: Aimé Césaire, Édouard Glissant, Jamaica Kincaid, Maryse Condé.\n\nThe Caribbean has given the world more cultural impact per capita than perhaps any region — from rum to rhythm, from cricket to carnival.