The Caribean is th Geographic region that includes mainland Central America and part of Northern South America (basically the Caribbean Sea basin) as well as the better known island nations stretching from Cuba in the North to Trinidad, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao n the South. The West Indies is a more Historic region made up of the islands discovered by Columbus. These include not only the island nations of the Caribbean Sea itself, but also the islands of the Bahamas (which are Atlantic) and the nation of Guyana on the Northern South American mainland.