Elnur Mammadli born judoka and Olympic champion Aghasi Mammadov born boxer Alakbar Mammadov – footballer Elkhan Mammadov born judoka Ramiz Mammadov born footballer and football manager Teymur Mammadov born boxer Fariz Mammadov born boxer Zemfira Meftahatdinova born sport shooter and Olympic champion Aghasalim Mirjavadov born footballer and football manager Olokhan Musayev born athlete Oleg Panyutin born athlete Nizami Pashayev born weightlifter Zhala Piriyeva born rhythmic gymnast Natali Pronina born swimmer Teimour Radjabov born chess grandmaster Jamal Rahimov born equestrian Vidadi Rzayev born footballer and football manager Rashad Sadygov born footballer Vagif Sadygov born footballer and football manager Sharif Sharifov born wrestler and Olympic champion Samadagha Shikhlarov born footballer and football manager Mahir Shukurov born footballer Nazim Suleymanov born footballer and football manager Afag Sultanova born judoka Jeyhun Sultanov born footballer Zaur Tagizade born footballer Kazbek Tuaev born footballer and football manager Lala Yusifova born rhythmic gymnast Ilham Zakiyev born judoka Writers edit Khurshidbanu Natavan was the daughter of Mehdi Gulu–khan the last ruler of the Karabakh khanate – she is considered one of the best lyrical poets of Azerbaijan Mikayil Mushfig was an Azerbaijani poet of the s known for his resistance against the Soviet Union he was arrested and executed by the Soviet authorities at the age of Chingiz Abdullayev born best–selling detective writer Elchin Afandiyev born writer and politician Ilyas Afandiyev — writer Vidadi Babanli born writer dramatist and translator Mirza Fatali Akhundov — writer educator and philosopher and founder of Azerbaijani drama Suleyman Sani Akhundov — playwright journalist children s author and teacher Sakina Akhundzadeh — first female playwright and dramatist Mammad Araz — poet Banine — writer Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli — writer Mirvarid Dilbazi — poet Fikrat Goja born poet Madina Gulgun — poet Mahammad Hadi — poet Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev — playwright stage director politician and public figure Mehdi Huseyn — writer Ali bey Huseynzade — writer philosopher doctor and the creator of the modern Flag of Azerbaijan Hamlet Isakhanli born poet writer mathematician historian of science philosophy and culture educator Jafar Jabbarly — writer Ahmad Javad — poet and best known for composing Azerbaijan s national anthem Jafargulu agha Javanshir — poet and major–general Huseyn Javid — poet and playwright founder of the progressive romanticism in Azerbaijani literature Nusrat Kasamanli — poet Heyran Khanim — poet Jalil Mammadguluzadeh — satirist and writer Afag Masud born writer Mikayil Mushfig — poet

Begum Khaleda Zia Prime Minister – – Sheikh Hasina Prime Minister – –present Oli Ahmed Dr Col Oli Ahmad Bir Bikram President – Liberal Democratic Party Bangladesh present former Minister various portfolio in multiple cabinets Valiant & decorated Freedom Fighter One of the main founder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party BNP Shahabuddin Ahmed former president A Q M Badruddoza Chowdhury former President Leader of Bikalpa Dhara Hamidul Huq Choudhury Foreign Minister of Pakistan from until Altaf Husain minister of Commerce and Industry of Pakistan from to A B M Mohiuddin Chowdhury Member of the Chowdhury Family Abdus Samad Azad former Foreign Minister – Abdul Jolil Tofail Ahmed Ghulam Azam Islamist politician former leader of Jamaat e Islami Bangladesh accused for war crime for his role in Bangladesh Liberation War Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry Acting President of Pakistan Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan President of Muslim league accused for war crime for his role in Bangladesh Liberation War Salauddin Quader Chowdhury former Minister accused for war crime for his role in Bangladesh Liberation War son of Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry Motiya Chowdhury Moudud Ahmed Morshed Khan former Foreign Minister Mirza Ghulam Hafiz Shah Azizur Rahman Saber Hossain Chowdhury Tareq Rahman Senior vice president of Bangladesh Nationalist Party BNP son of Begum Khaleda Zia and Ziaur Rahman Suranjit Sengupta Photographers edit Anwar Hossain GMB Akash Kazi Riasat Alve Manzoor Alam Beg Munem Wasif Shahidul Alam Sarker Protick Heads of Government edit See also List of Presidents of Bangladesh and List of Prime Ministers of Bangladesh A K Fazlul Huq presented the Lahore Resolution of that established Muslim League s demand for a homeland for Muslims Pakistan Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Prime Minister of Pakistan from until founder of Awami League Tajuddin Ahmed by Appointment and Oath Prime Minister – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Chairman of the Awami League – and Prime Minister ~ Chairman of BAKSAL and President January – August Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad President August – November Ziaur Rahman Chief Martial Law Administrator CMLA under National State of Emergency November – & President – Assassinated May Hussain Mohammed Ershad by India supported Military Coup Chief Martial Law Administrator CMLA – and self declared President – December Begum Khaleda Zia elected Prime Minister – & – Sheikh Hasina elected Prime Minister – – Intellectuals edit A F Salahuddin Ahmed historian Anu Muhammad Rehman Sobhan economist Dr Kamal Hossain lawyer and politician civil rights activist Muzaffar Ahmed economist Nasreen Pervin Huq women s rights activist Munir Chowdhury Roquia Sakhawat Hussain prolific writer feminist social worker Prof Syed Modasser Ali ophthalmologist M S Khan librarian and pioneer of library science in Bangladesh Muhammed Abdul Muid Khan nominated as he Best Human Rights Lawyer of England and Wales in Government Officials and Diplomats edit Akbar Ali Khan Bangladeshi economic historian and educationist who was a civil servant until Finance Ministry Adviser Minister of Caretaker government of Bangladesh Ayub Quadri retired bureaucrat was an adviser for the ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs to Caretaker government of Bangladesh A H M Moniruzzaman a career diplomat belonging to the Bangladesh Foreign Service was the head of Bangladesh Mission to the European Commission in Brussels Belgium Luxembourg and Switzerland Kamal Uddin Siddiqui senior lecturer at the Monash University a political economist and social scientist and a bureaucrat from Bangladesh Anwar Chowdhury British High Commissioner to Dhaka first non White Briton to hold a senior diplomatic post Noted diplomats heads of major organizations edit Abul Fateh Professional Diplomat First Foreign Secretary – Irene Khan Current Secretary General of human rights organization Amnesty International she is the first woman the first Asian and the first Muslim to hold the position she won the Sydney Peace Prize Chandra Kalindi Roy Henriksen Chief Secretary of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues M Sakhawat Hossain Former Election Commissioner of Bangladesh Brigadier General retd Bangladesh Army Writer Author of more than books Columnist Speaker Freelance commentator on national & international TV channels Security & Defense analyst Religious personalities edit Shah Jalal A Muslim saint of Bengal particularly in the region of Sylhet Bangladesh Shah Paran A Muslim Sufi saint He was the nephew of Hazrat Shah Jalal R Atisa Dipamkara Shrijnana Buddhist teacher Important figure in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and in establishment and was inventor of bodhichitta or known as "mind training" Tilopa Buddhist teacher Important figure in the Tibetan Buddhist founder of the Kagyu lineage and progressor of Mahamudra method Khan Jahan Ali considered Muslim saint built the great Bagerhat Shat Gambuj Masjid dome mosque Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Hindu Saint Muhammad Asadullah Al Ghalib Reformist Islamic Scholar of modern era Sportspeople edit Archery edit Emdadul Haque Milon Archer Chess edit Niaz Morshed First Grand Master of Bangladesh as well as South Asia Rani Hamid Chess player was awarded the FIDE Woman International Master WIM title in and won British Women s Championship Ziaur Rahman Grand Master of Bangladesh Reefat Bin Sattar Grand Master of Bangladesh Abdullah Al Rakib Grand Master of Bangladesh Enamul Hossain Grand Master of Bangladesh Cricket edit Raqibul Hasan cricketer born is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in ODIs in he is widely regarded as one of the best Bangladeshi batsman of his era Athar Ali Khan a former Bangladeshi cricketer A tall technically correct right handed batsman Akram Khan cricketer He is the first ODI win captain in Bangladesh Qazi Habibul Bashar a former captain of the Bangladesh National Cricket team Mohammad Rafique the leading wicket taker for Bangladesh in Test matches Mohammad Ashraful a former captain of the National Cricket team Mashrafe Mortaza captain ODI of the National Cricket team Shakib Al Hasan a former captain of the National Cricket team Mushfiqur Rahim captain Test & t i of the National Cricket team Tamim Iqbal Wisden s Test Player of the Year Rubel Hossain a player of Bangladesh National Cricket Team Sohag Gazi a player of Bangladesh National Cricket Team Mominul Haque a player of Bangladesh National Cricket Team Anamul Haque a player of Bangladesh National Cricket Team Football edit Kazi Salahuddin Footballer Striker Sheikh Aslam Footballer striker during the s and s Syed Rumman Bin Wali Sabbir Footballer midfielder Sayeed Hassan Kanan Footballer goalkeeper Anwar Uddin British Footballer Shahed Ahmed British Footballer Ridwan Hannan Promising young footballer at the ACT Academy of Sport Mohammed Monwar Hossain Mamunul Islam Shakil Ahmed Toklis Ahmed Shahidul Alam Jahid Hasan Ameli Jamal Bhuyan Danish Footballer of Bangladeshi descent Mithun Chowdhury Mithun Nasiruddin Chowdhury Kaiser Hamid Sylheti Footballer Son of Rani Hamid Retired Raihan Hasan Aminul Hoque Goalkeeper he was contacted by Newcastle United of Premier League for recruitment Rezaul Karim footballer Mamun Khan Abdul Baten Mojumdar Komol Ashraf Mahmud Linkon Russel Mahmud Liton Atiqur Rahman Meshu his stunning diving header saw the Tajiks face their first ever defeat in history against Bangladesh Mohd Mamun Miah born in Dhaka to Sylheti Family Mohammed Ariful Islam Nasirul Islam Nasir Shakhawat Hossain Rony Saiful Bari Titu Hemanta Vincent Biswas He was the first Bangladeshi footballer to get a trial at a top European club He is Bangladeshi Christian Mohamed Zahid Hossain Alfaz Ahmed Sylheti footballer Sheikh Mohamed Mintu Golf edit Siddikur Rahman is a Bangladeshi professional golfer who plays on the Asian Tour Gymnastics edit Syque Caesar Artistic Gymnast Part of the Michigan Wolverines Margarita Mamun Rhythmic Gymnast Of Russian and Bangladeshi Descent Hockey edit Mamunur Rahman Chayan Kabaddi edit Kazi Yunus Ahmed Razu Ahmed Farzana Akhter Baby Hena Akhter Rupali Akhter Juni Chakma Of Chakma descent Mohammed Mozammal Haque Kamal Hossain kabaddi Mosharrof Hossain Abul Kalam Shahnaz Parvin Maleka Badsha Miah Sylheti Descent Marie Elena John Leonard Tim Hector Jamaica Kincaid Political leaders edit Sir Vere Cornwall Bird Lester Bird Sir James Carlisle Tim Hector Sir Wilfred Jacobs Baldwin Spencer Sydney Walling Sir George Walter Actors and comedians edit Anna Maria Horsford actress of Antiguan descent Bert Williams Artists edit Gregory Abbott singer Shermain Jeremy Marie Elena John author Jazzie B Soul II Soul Singer Athletes edit Curtly Ambrose cricketer Craig Speedy Claxton basketball player of Antiguan descent Carl Herrera former NBA basketball player Emile Heskey football player of Antiguan descent Maurice Hope boxer Colin Kazim Richards football Player of Antiguan descent Ledley King footballer Sir Issac Vivian Richards cricketer Richie Richardson cricketer Andy Roberts cricketer The Bahamas edit Writers and intellectuals edit Telcine Turner Rolle Athletes edit Luan Gabriel Tonique Williams Debbie Ferguson Chandra Sturrup Sevatheda Fynes Pauline Davis Thompson Eldece Clark Lewis Rick Fox Bahamian Father Political leaders edit Sir Milo Butler Perry Christie Dame Ivy Dumont Hubert Ingraham Fred Mitchell Sir Lynden Pindling Cynthia Pratt Sir Stafford Sands Brent Symonette Sir Roland Symonette Sir Orville Turnquest Tommy Turnquest Actors edit Calvin Lockhart Earl Maynard Sydney Poitier Roxie Roker Esther Rolle Rick Fox Barbados edit See also Bajan people People of Bajan descent List of Bajan Americans List of Bajan Britons Actors edit Stacey Dash Bajan father LL Cool J Mother is a first generation Bajan American Meagan Good Cuba Gooding Jr Father is a first generation Bajan American Mari Morrow Gwyneth Paltrow White Bajan descendant Rihanna Doug E Fresh Denzel Washington Lamman Rucker Mother is a first generation Bajan American Robert Christopher Riley Trini mother Bajan father Redd Pepper Herb Hall mother from Barbados "Clueless" Principal Drama teacher at Beverly Hills High School Jada Pinkett Smith Omar Gooding Melyssa Ford David Harewood mother and father Bajan Athletes edit Emmerson Boyce Footballer who captained the FA Cup winning Wigan Athletic side Nigel Benn Andrea Blackett Fred Brathwaite NHL goalie born in Canada both his parents are from Barbados Pierre Browne Anson Carter NHL player born in Canada to parents from Barbados Ashley Cole English footballer whose parents are from Barbados Joel Garner Joshua Gibson Aussie Rules footballer whose parents are from Barbados Gordon Greenidge Desmond Haynes George Headley Sir Conrad Hunte Paul Ince English footballer and football manager whose parents are from Christ Church Barbados Malcolm Marshall Fran Matthews Negro league baseball player Earl Maynard Anton Norris high jumper Sir Garfield Sobers Obadele Thompson Walter Tull English footballer and later first British born black Army officer whose father was from Barbados Sir Clyde Walcott Joel Ward ice hockey Both of his parents are immigrants from Barbados Sir Everton Weekes Kevin Weekes NHL goalie Born in Canada whose parents are both from Barbados Sir Frank Worrell Kemar Roach Robert Bailey American football Ramon Harewood American football Baltimore Ravens Sam Seale American football Alana Shipp American Israeli IFBB professional bodybuilder Winston Justice American Football Denver Broncos Mariners edit William Shorey Stede Bonnet Musicians edit Kelly Beckett from The Paradiso Girls Vita Chambers Cover Drive pop band consisting of Amanda Reifer T Ray Armstrong Barry "Bar Man" Hill & Jamar Harding Carl Cox producer DJ CJ Fly Rapper Grandmaster Flash Livvi Franc Doug E Fresh Cuba Gooding Sr Mighty Gabby Grynner Alison Hinds Jaicko R&B Hal Linton Zeeteah Massiah Jackie Opel Leigh Anne Pinnock from Little Mix Red Plastic Bag Rupee musician |Rupert Clarke Rayvon Rihanna Internationally famous Pop R&B singer Shontelle Pop Reggae R&B singer Arturo Tappin A AP Rocky Faith Evans Afrika Bambaataa Ryan Leslie LL Cool J Damon Dash Charlene Keys Tweet Political leaders edit Sir Grantley Adams Sir Courtney Blackman J M G Adams Owen Arthur Errol Barrow Bussa Anne C Cools Sir Clifford Husbands Clyde Mascoll Dame Billie Miller Richard B Moore Charles O Neale Clement Payne Erskine Sandiford David Thompson Shirley Chisholm Congresswoman Eric Holder Attorney General of the United States Adrian Fenty former Mayor of Washington District of Columbia Charles Gittens First black United States Secret Service agent Sylvia O Hinds Radix New York State Supreme Court Judge Thomas R Jones former Civil Court judge and Civil Rights activist in Brooklyn New York Chirlane McCray A poet public speech writer married to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Bret Schundler former Mayor of Jersey City NJ Lloyd Sealy First African American NYPD officer to command a police precinct and patrol borough Dennis M Walcott Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development in New York City New York Frank L White Original Chef Face on Cream Of Wheat Box Gwen Ifill American Political Journalist and Television Newscaster Writers and intellectuals edit Fabien Montique Adisa Andwele Edward Brathwaite Austin Clarke Tony Cozier cricket writer and broadcaster Alan Emtage Neville Goddard New Thought writer and public lecturer Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge Charles Wilton Wood Greenidge Ted Harris a Sweden based pastor theologian and writer George Lamming Glenville Lovell Agymah Kamau novelist Paule Marshall novelist Susan Taylor Essence Magazine Earl G Graves Sr Founder & Publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine Dominica edit List of British people of Dominica descent Writers and intellectuals edit Lennox Honychurch Jean Rhys Political leaders edit Phyllis Shand Allfrey Dame Eugenia Charles Pierre Charles Rosie Douglas Edison James Patrick R John Edward Oliver LeBlanc Nicholas Liverpool Sir Clarence 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of the Robert Glasper Project Dollarman Ajamu Leslie Hutchinson Finley Jeffrey David Emmanuel Sir Galba Row Lewis Jemeni Ms Dynamite Athletes edit Lewis Hamilton F driver and World Champion season Kirani James Grenadian sprinter who specialises in and meters He is the reigning meters World Champion Jason Roberts footballer currently playing for Blackburn Rovers Bradley Wright Phillips footballer currently playing for Charlton Athletic half brother of Shaun Wright Phillips Shaun Wright Phillips footballer currently playing for Manchester City half brother of Bradley Wright Phillips Guadeloupe edit Artists edit Jacques Schwarz Bart Athletes edit Lilian Thuram Christine Arron Marie José Pérec Louis Saha William Gallas Éric Abidal Teddy Riner Laura Flessel Colovic Marius Trésor Jocelyn Angloma Mickaël Piétrus Jim Bilba Pascal Chimbonda Jérôme Moïso Thierry Henry Therry Racon Writers and intellectuals edit Maryse Condé Daniel Maximin Saint John Perse Political leaders edit Louis Delgrès 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Caryl Phillips Cicely Tyson Political leaders edit Sir Clement Arrindell Robert Bradshaw Denzil Douglas Alexander Hamilton Rawlins Lowndes Sir Lee Moore Sir Cuthbert Sebastian Sir Kennedy Simmonds Paul Southwell Business and agriculture edit James Baillie c Athletes edit Keith Arthurton Kim Collins Derick Parry Stuart Williams Elquemedo Willett Saint Lucia edit See also List of Saint Lucians List of British people of Saint Lucian descent Writers and intellectuals edit Derek Walcott Brenda Emmanus Angellica Bell Political leaders edit Kenny Anthony Winston Cenac George Charles Sir John Compton Julian Hunte Sir Allen Lewis Vaughan Lewis Sir Allan Louisy Dame Pearlette Louisy George Odlum Economists edit Sir Arthur Lewis Artists edit Llewellyn Xavier Actors edit Joseph Marcell Marianne Jean Baptiste Musicians edit Ronald "Boo" Hinkson Nicole David Victor Romero Evans Trevor Nelson Shola Ama Athletes edit Ryan Charles Dominic Johnson Darren Sammy Rio Ferdinand St Lucian father Anton 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Eljero Elia Ilonka Elmont Ruud Gullit Ernesto Hoost Patrick Kluivert Anthony Nesty Frank Rijkaard Clarence Seedorf Tyrone Spong Letitia Vriesde Aron Winter Artists edit Ramdew Chaitoe Damaru Dropati Natalie La Rose Tamanisha Nisha Leeuwendal Political leaders edit Jules Ajodhia Henck Arron Bram Behr Dési Bouterse Ronnie Brunswijk Johan Ferrier Otto Huiswoud Harry Kisoensingh Jagernath Lachmon Pretaapnarian Radhakishun Ram Sardjoe Ronald Venetiaan Jules Wijdenbosch Inventors edit Jan Earnst Matzeliger Trinidad and Tobago edit List of Trinidadian Britons Writers and intellectuals edit Lloyd Best Ralph de Boissière Dionne Brand Stokely Carmichael Rosa Guy Merle Hodge C L R James Earl Lovelace Mustapha Matura Shiva Naipaul V S Naipaul Kenneth Ramchand Lall Sawh Samuel Selvon Dr Eric Williams Athletes edit Inshan Ali Stephen Ames Marvin Andrews Ian Bishop Marlon Black Ato Boldon Dwayne Bravo Darrel Brown George Bovell III Marc Burns Learie Constantine Hasely Crawford Rajindra Dhanraj Mervyn Dillon Kenwyne Jones Ansil Elcock Daren Ganga Roger Gibbon Hilary Angelo "Larry" Gomes Gerald "Gerry" Gomez Anthony Gray Shaka Hislop Clayton Ince Stern John Brian Lara Russell Latapy Leonson Lewis Augustine "Gus" Logie Clint Marcelle Wendell Mottley Deryck Murray Jerren Nixon Sonny Ramadhin Manny Ramjohn Dinanath Ramnarine Anthony Rougier Phil Simmons Jeffrey Stollmeyer Victor Stollmeyer Richard Thompson Evans Wise Dwight Yorke Political leaders edit Tubal Uriah Butler Rudranath Capildeo Simbhoonath Capildeo Stokely Carmichael a k a Kwame Ture George Chambers Carson Charles Arthur Andrew Cipriani A A Cipriani Sir Ellis Clarke Winston Dookeran Knowlson Gift Albert Gomes Geddes Granger Makandal Daaga Noor Hassanali Karl Hudson Phillips A P T James Roy Joseph Franklin Khan Fuad Khan Gillian Lucky Ramesh Maharaj Patrick Manning Bhadase Sagan Maraj Ralph Maraj Wendell Mottley George Padmore Basdeo Panday Kamla Persad Bissessar David Pitt Baron Pitt of Hampstead George Maxwell Richards A N R Robinson Keith Rowley Adrian Cola Rienzi born Krishna Deonarine Austin "Jack" Warner Dr Eric Williams Eric A Williams Gerald Yetming Musicians edit Atilla the Hun Raymond Quevado calypsonian Winifred Atwell Denise "Saucy Wow" Belfon Inga "Foxy Brown" Marchand Chalkdust Hollis Liverpool KMC Maximus Dan Destra Garcia Bunji Garlin Haddaway Heather Headley Raymond Holman Lord Invader Lord Kitchener Alwyn Roberts Lord Melody Fay Ann Lyons Alvarez Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj rapper Lennox "Bobby" Mohammed Machel Montano Billy Ocean Denise Plummer Sundar Popo Patrice Roberts David Rudder Adesh Samaroo Jit Samaroo Hazel Scott Len "Boogsie" Sharpe Lord Shorty Ras Shorty I Garfield Blackman Mighty Sparrow Slinger Francisco Mighty Spoiler Black Stalin Leroy Calliste André Tanker Rakesh Yankaran Dancers edit Pearl Primus Artists edit Isaiah James Boodhoo Michel Jean Cazabon Boscoe Holder Geoffrey Holder Filmmakers edit Horace Ové Frances Anne Solomon United States Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands edit Writers and intellectuals edit Barbara Christian Arthur Schomburg Doctors and scientists edit Dr John C Lettsome Morris Simmonds Political leaders edit Edward Blyden Frank Rudolph Crosswaith Culture edit Irving BerlinLouis B Mayer Solomon Mikhoels Hanna Rovina – Israeli actress Composers edit Irving Berlin Vladimir Dukelsky Napoleon Orda Michal Kleofas Oginski Artists edit Marc ChagallMarc Chagall Kirk Douglas Petr Elfimov Naum Gabo sculptor Scarlett Johansson actress Michel Kikoine Dmitry Koldun Pinchus Kremegne Yehudi Menuhin Mikhail Savitsky Chaim Soutine Sergey Voychenko Ossip Zadkine Writers edit Adam Mickievich Isaac Asimov Yakub KolasAles Adamovich Svetlana Alexievich Guillaume Apollinaire Belarusian mother Isaac Asimov Maksim Bahdanovich Francishak Bahushevich Siarhiej Balachonau Janka Bryl Vasil Bykau Vintsent Dunin Martsinkyevich Avraham Even Shoshan – Israeli linguist and lexicographer Nil Hilevich Nicolai Hussoviani Uladzimir Karatkevich Hienadz Kliauko Yakub Kolas Janka Kupala Janka Maur John Lettou Ivan Melezh Sergiusz Piasecki Alexander S Potupa Ryhor Reles Mendele Mocher Sforim founder of modern Yiddish and modern Hebrew literature Ivan Shamiakin Maksim Tank Singers edit Alexander Rybak Alia Alyona Lanskaya Bianka Niloo Teo singer Business edit Pavel Karoukin Leonard and Phil Chess Michael Marks Louis B Mayer Alexander S Potupa David Sarnoff Gregory "Greesha" Dykshteyn Ralph Lauren his family immigrated from Pinsk Belarus State revolution military politics edit Menachem Begin Yitzhak ShamirMenachem Begin Prime Minister of Israel Eliezer Ben Yehuda Catherine Breshkovsky Stanislau Bulak Balachovitch Faddei Bulgarin Chiang Fang liang Anatoly Chubais David Dubinsky Andrei Gromyko Isser Harel head of the Israeli Mossad Vyacheslav Kebich Tadeusz Kosciuszko Alexander Lukashenko Alaksandar Milinkievic Valeria Novodvorskaya Nasta Palazhanka activist Alexander Parvus Dmitri Pavlichenko Zyanon Paznyak Shimon Peres Prime Minister and President of Israel Rogneda of Polotsk Alexander S Potupa Yitzhak Shamir Stanislav Shushkevich Lev Sapieha Zalman Shazar President of Israel Sergey Sidorsky Chaim Weizmann President of Israel Religion edit Cyril of TurauCyril of Turau Euphrosyne of Polatsk Jazafat Kuncevic Science edit Zhores Ivanovich Alferov Nobel Prize laureate Yury Bandazhevsky Alexander Bogdanov Symon Budny Morris Raphael Cohen Jewish philosopher Ignacy Domeyko geologist Valery Fabrikant mechanical engineer mass murderer Konstanty Jelski ornithologist and zoologist Berl Katznelson Pyotr Klimuk cosmonaut Elena Korosteleva political scientist Semyon Ariyevich Kosberg Vladimir Kovalyonok cosmonaut Seymour Lubetzky Salomon Maimon Jewish philosopher Spiridon Sobol printer educator and writer Leonid Mandelstam Jewish physicist Theodor Narbut Mark Nemenman Jewish computer scientist Alexandre Okinczyc doctor Alexander S Potupa Francysk Skaryna Pavel Sukhoi Branislau Tarashkevich Immanuel Velikovsky Lev Vygotsky Oscar Zariski Journalist edit Veronika Cherkasova Ihar Hermianchuk Sports edit Victoria Azarenka Darya Domracheva Olga Korbut Yulia NestsiarenkaAndrei Aramnau Andrei Arlovski former UFC Heavyweight Champion and MMA fighter Vladimir and Alexander Artemev father and son gymnasts Anzhela Atroshchenko Victoria Azarenka Benjamin Blumenfeld chess player Svetlana Boguinskaya Darya Domracheva biathlete triple Olympic champion Yuri Foreman middleweight and World Boxing Association super welterweight boxing champion Leonid Geishtor sprint canoer Olympic champion Canadian pairs meter Boris Gelfand chess player Mikhail Grabovski ice hockey player Sergei Gurenko Alexander Hleb Alexey Ignashov K Superstar Maria Leontyavna Itkina runner Ekaterina Karsten Olga Korbut Andrei Kostitsyn ice hockey player Sergei Kostitsyn ice hockey player Abraham Kupchik chess player Vitali Kutuzov Dmitri Markov Vladimir Matyushenko MMA fighter Alexander Medved Weightlifter Artem Milevsky Max Mirnyi tennis player Georgi Mondzolevski Olympic and world champion volleyball player Yulia Nesterenko Uladzimir Parfianovich Evgenia Pavlina rhythmic gymnast Nikolai Pilipenchuk World Champion Ballroom Dancer Lev Polugaevsky chess player Yulia Raskina Olympic silver in rhythmic gymnastics Andrei Rybakou Ruslan Salei ice hockey player Vitaly Scherbo Maria Sharapova tennis player Valery Shary Olympic champion weightlifter light heavyweight Ilya Smirin chess player Ivan Tikhon Alexey Yanushevsky professional gamer Cypher Alexandra Zaretski ice dancer Olympian Roman Zaretski ice dancer Olympian Ina Žukava Natasha Zvereva tennis player Models edit Janice Dickinson – American supermodel of Belarusian and Polish descent Maryna Linchuk – Belarusian model of Russian descent Born in Minsk Belarus Tanya Dziahileva – Belarusian model of Polish Belarusian and Ukrainian descent Hubert Henry Harrison Casper Holstein Roy Innis D Hamilton Jackson J Raymond Jones William Alexander Leidesdorff T McCants Stewart Terence Todman Denmark Vesey Artists and architects edit Camille Pissarro Dr William Thornton Actors edit Kelsey Grammer Lawrence Hilton Jacobs Athletes edit Raja Bell Livingston Bramble Horace Clarke Midre Cummings Tim Duncan Julian Jackson Calvin Pickering Elmo Plaskett Valme Thomas Retrieved from "https en wikipedia org w index php title List of Eastern Caribbean people&oldid " Kochi Rani Mondal Abu Salah Musa Ismat Ara Nishi Fatema Akhter Poly Md Mizanur Rahman Bozlur Rashid Sharmin Sultana Rima Md Abdur Rouf Kazi Shahin Ara Dolly Shefali Ziaur Rahman kabaddi Martial Arts edit Ali Jacko British World Champion Lightweight Kickboxer Black belt in Jujitsu Wushu and Chinese Boxing Ruqsana Begum First British Woman in Kickboxing to be an Asian Bangladeshi and Muslim She practices Muay Thai Riaz Amin Youngest British WEKAF World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation world champion Practices Shotokan Karate and Filipino Martial Arts Mountaineering edit Wasfia Nazreen also social activist Mohammad Khaled Hossain Musa Ibrahim Shooter edit Asif Hossain Khan Gold and Silver Medalist in the Commonwealth games Sharmin Ratna Imam Hossain Sprinter edit Masbah Ahmmed m sprinter Mohan Khan personal best Mohamed Abu Abdullah personal best Beauty Nazmun Nahar personal best Swimming edit Brojen Das Swimmer first Asian to swim across the English Channel and the first person to cross it four times Karar Samedul Islam Retired Swimmer Rubel Rana Swimmer Doli Akhter Swimmer Jewel Ahmed Swimmer Mahfizur Rahman Sagor Swimmer Table Tennis edit Zobera Rahman Linu Table tennis player times national champion Guinness World Record holder Favorite Cable TV Drama Favorite TV Crime Drama Favorite Sci Fi Fantasy Show Favorite New TV Comedy Favorite New TV Drama Favorite Daytime TV Host Favorite Late Night TV Host Favorite TV Competition Show Favorite Celebrity Judge Favorite Premium Cable TV show New Talk Show Host Favorite TV Fan Following Favorite Cartoon Show Music edit Favorite Song of the Year Favorite Album of the Year Belizeans are people originating in the Central American nation of Belize whether they live there or in the Belizean diaspora Belize is a multiethnic country with residents of African Amerindian European and Asian descent or any combination of those groups Colonisation slavery and immigration have played major roles in affecting the ethnic composition of the population and as a result Belize is a country with numerous cultures languages and ethnic groups Contents Maya and early settlers Kriols Garinagu Mestizos and Spanish Other groups Emigration immigration and demographic shifts Most common surnames See also References Further reading External links Maya and early settlers edit The Maya are thought to have been in Belize and the Yucatán region since the second millennium BC however much of Belize s original Maya population was wiped out by disease and conflicts between tribes and with Europeans Three Maya groups now inhabit the country The Yucatec who came from Yucatán Mexico to escape the Caste War of the s the Mopan indigenous to Belize but were forced out by the British they returned from Guatemala to evade slavery in the th century and Kek Chi also fled from slavery in Guatemala in the th century The later groups are chiefly found in the Toledo District Kriols edit Main article Belizean Creole people Main article Baymen Kriols make up roughly of the Belizean population and about of the Diaspora They are descendants of the Baymen slave owners and slaves brought to Belize for the purpose of the logging industry These slaves were mostly Black many also of Miskito ancestry from Nicaragua and born Africans who had spent very brief periods in Jamaica and Bermuda Bay Islanders and more Jamaicans came in the late th century further adding to these already varied peoples creating this ethnic group For all intents and purposes Kriol is an ethnic and linguistic denomination Some natives even those blonde and blue eyed may call themselves Kriols The designation is more cultural than racial and is not limited to some certain physical appearance The Kriol language was invented in slavery and historically only spoken by them However this ethnicity has become synonymous with the Belizean national identity and as a result it is now spoken by about of Belizeans Kriols are found all over Belize but predominantly in urban areas such as Belize City coastal towns and villages and in the Belize River Valley Belize Kriol also written as Belize Creole is derived mainly from English Its substrate languages are the Native American language Miskito and the various West African and Bantu languages which were brought into the country by slaves These include Akan Efik Ewe Fula Ga Hausa Igbo Kikongo and Wolof Garinagu edit Main article Garifuna people The Garinagu singular Garifuna are a mix of West Central African Arawak and Carib ancestry Though they were captives removed from their homelands they were never documented as slaves The two prevailing theories is that in they were either the survivors of two recorded shipwrecks or somehow took over the ship they came on Throughout history they have been incorrectly labelled as Black Caribs When the British took over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines after the Treaty of Paris in they were opposed by French settlers and their Garinagu allies The Garinagu eventually surrendered to the British in The British separated the more African looking Garifunas from the more indigenous looking ones Garinagu were exiled from the Grenadine island of Baliceaux However only about of them survived the voyage to Roatán an island off the coast of Honduras The Garifuna language belongs to the Arawakan language family but has a large number of loanwords from Carib languages and from English Because Roatán was too small and infertile to support their population the Garinagu petitioned the Spanish authorities of Honduras to be allowed to settle on the mainland coast The Spanish employed them as soldiers and they spread along the Caribbean coast of Central America The Garinagu settled in Seine Bight Punta Gorda and Punta Negra Belize by way of Honduras as early as However in Belize November is the date officially recognised as "Garifuna Settlement Day" in Dangriga According to one genetic study their ancestry is on average is Sub Saharan African Arawak Carib and European Mestizos and Spanish edit Main article Hispanic Belizean Main article Mestizos The Mestizo culture was originated from a mixture of Spanish and Maya The Mestizos make up to of the population of Belize The Mestizo towns of Belize have much more in common with neighbouring Yucatán and most of Guatemala and Central America than central southern or coastal Belize citation needed Towns centre on a main square and social life focuses on the Catholic Church built on one side of it Most Mestizos and Spanish speak Spanish English and Creole fluently Around the s Mestizo Spanish and Yucatec settlers from Mexico began to settle in the north because of the Caste War of Yucatán They predominate in the Corozal Orange Walk and much of the Cayo district as well as San Pedro town in Ambergris Caye Other groups edit The remaining or so of the population consist of a mix of Mennonite farmers Indians Chinese whites from the United States and Canada and many other foreign groups brought to assist the country s development During the s a large influx of East Indians who spent brief periods in Jamaica and American Civil War veterans from Louisiana and other Southern states established Confederate settlements in British Honduras and introduced commercial sugar cane production to the colony establishing settlements in the interior The th century saw the arrival of more Asian settlers from mainland China South Korea India Syria and Lebanon Central American immigrants and expatriate Americans and Africans also began to settle in the country Emigration immigration and demographic shifts edit Kriols and other ethnic groups are emigrating mostly to the United States but also to the United Kingdom and other developed nations for better opportunities Based on the latest U S Census the number of Belizeans in the United States is approximately including legal residents and naturalised citizens consisting mainly of Kriols and Garinagu Because of conflicts in neighbouring Central American nations Mestizo refugees from El Salvador Guatemala and Honduras have fled to Belize in significant numbers during the s and have been significantly adding to this group These two events have been changing the demographics of the nation for the last years According to estimates by the CIA in Belize s total fertility rate currently stands at approximately children per woman Its birth rate is births population and the death rate is deaths population Most common surnames edit A list of the most common surnames in Belize by order of incidence in Smith Castillo Flowers Young Williams García Martínez López Reyes Usher Tillett Jones Rodríguez Gillett Pérez Cal González Vásquez Flores Novelo Sánchez Hernández Guerra Núñez Garbutt Gómez Marín Leslie Chan Bradley Palacio Thompson Magaña Wade Méndez Zetina Cruz Requena Ramírez Torres Waight Neal Romero Vernon Góngora Longsworth Lewis Westby Herrera August Gutiérrez Gentle Arnold Cayetano Rosado Briceño Silva Coleman Mai Salazar Ávila Samuels Coc Parham Guerrero Brown Santos Arzú Cáliz Augustine Ramos Rivero Pech Ramclam Banner Castellanos Hyde Humes Tun Sosa Gill Ayuso Reneau Acosta Chun Zúñiga Sutherland Cho Johnson Leiva Anderson Carrillo Villanueva Espat Pott Alpuche Habet Dawson Ferguson Dueck Haylock Aguilar Wagner Belisle Blanco Díaz Urbina Enríquez Bol Contreras Swift Staine Mejía Escalante Thomas Álvarez Bermuda b?r'mju?d? also referred to in legal documents as fully "the Bermudas or Somers Isles" is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean located off the east coast of North America Its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras United States about kilometres mi to the west northwest It is about kilometres mi south of Cape Sable Island Canada and kilometres mi north of Puerto Rico Its capital city is Hamilton The first known European explorer to reach Bermuda was Spanish sea captain Juan de Bermúdez in after whom the islands are named He claimed the apparently uninhabited islands for the Spanish Empire Paying two visits to the archipelago Bermúdez never landed on the islands but did create a recognisable map of the archipelago Shipwrecked Portuguese mariners are now thought to have been responsible for the inscription in Portuguese Rock previously called Spanish Rock Subsequent Spanish or other European parties are believed to have released pigs there which had become feral and abundant on the island by the time European settlement began In the English Virginia Company which had established Jamestown in Virginia a term originally applied to all of the North American continent two years earlier permanently settled Bermuda in the aftermath of a hurricane when the crew and passengers of the Sea Venture steered the ship onto the surrounding reef to prevent its sinking then landed ashore The island was administered as an extension of Virginia by the Company until Its spin off the Somers Isles Company took over in and managed the colony until At that time the company s charter was revoked and the English Crown took over administration The islands became a British colony following the unification of the parliaments of Scotland and England which created the Kingdom of Great Britain After when Newfoundland became part of Canada Bermuda was automatically ranked as the oldest remaining British Overseas Territory Since the return of Hong Kong to China in it is the most populous Territory Its first capital St George s was established in and is the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the New World Bermuda s economy is based on offshore insurance and reinsurance and tourism the two largest economic sectors Bermuda had one of the world s highest GDP per capita for most of the th century and several years beyond Recently its economic status has been affected by the global recession It has a subtropical climate Bermuda is the northernmost point of the Bermuda Triangle a region of sea in which according to legend a number of aircraft and surface vessels have disappeared under supposedly unexplained or mysterious circumstances The island is in the hurricane belt and prone to severe weather However it is somewhat protected from the full force of a hurricane by the coral reef that surrounds the island Contents Geography Parishes and municipalities Demographics Culture Arts Main sights Climate Flora and fauna History Pre settlement Settlement by the English Company colony Maritime economy Bermuda and the American War of Independence Fortress Bermuda Anglo Boer War Economic and political development Politics State organisation Role in international relations Asylum offered to four former Guantánamo detainees Caribbean Community Military Economy Education Health care Sports Representation in other media See also Notes References Further reading External links Geography edit View from the top of Gibb s Hill Lighthouse Landsat satellite image Bermuda pictured from the International Space Station Topographic map of BermudaMain article Geography of Bermuda Bermuda is a group of low forming volcanoes located in the Atlantic Ocean near the western edge of the Sargasso Sea roughly nautical miles km mi east southeast of Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and about nautical miles km mi southeast of Martha s Vineyard of Massachusetts It is nautical miles km mi northeast of Miami Florida and nautical miles km mi from Cape Sable Island in Nova Scotia Canada The islands lie due east of Fripp Island South Carolina west of Spain and north of Puerto Rico The archipelago is formed by high points on the rim of the caldera of a submarine volcano that forms a seamount The volcano is one part of a range that was formed as part of the same process that formed the floor of the Atlantic and the Mid Atlantic Ridge The top of the seamount has gone through periods of complete submergence during which its limestone cap was formed by marine organisms and during the Ice Ages the entire caldera was above sea level forming an island of approximately two hundred square miles It has km mi of coastline The two incorporated municipalities in Bermuda are the City of Hamilton and the Town of St George Bermuda is divided into nine parishes which have some localities called villages such as Flatts Village and Somerset Village Although usually referred to in the singular the territory consists of islands with a total area of square kilometres square miles The largest island is Main Island sometimes called Bermuda Compiling a list of the islands is often complicated as many have more than one name as does the entire archipelago which has also been known historically as La Garza Virgineola and the Isle of Devils Somers Isles is often rendered "Somers Islands" or mistaken for "Summer Isles" Despite the small land mass place names are repeated there are for example two islands named Long Island three bays named Long Bay on Somerset Main and Cooper s islands two Horseshoe Ho down Bays one in Warwick on the Main Island the other at Morgan s Point formerly Tucker s Island there are two roads through cuttings called Khyber Pass one in Warwick the other in St George s Parish and St George s Town is located on St George s Island within St George s Parish each known as St George s There is a Hamilton Parish in addition to the City of Hamilton which is in Pembroke Parish Parishes and municipalities edit Parishes of Bermuda Bermuda is divided into nine parishes and two incorporated municipalities Bermuda s nine parishes are Devonshire Hamilton Paget Pembroke Sandys Smith s Southampton St George s Warwick Bermuda s two incorporated municipalities are Hamilton city St George s town Bermuda s two informal villages are Flatts Village Somerset Village Jones Village in Warwick Cashew City St George s Claytown Hamilton Middle Town Pembroke and Tucker s Town St George s are neighbourhoods Dandy Town and North Village are sports clubs and Harbour View Village is a small public housing development Demographics edit Main article Demographics of Bermuda Bermuda s Census put Bermuda s population at and with an area of km sq mi it has a calculated population density of km² To get this in a wider context an average population density of km² was found for the "World land only excluding Antarctica " as of July The racial makeup of Bermuda as recorded by the census was black white multiracial Asian and other races although these numbers are based on self identification and the majority of those who answered "black" have any mixture of black white and indigenous American ancestry Native born Bermudians made up of the population compared to non natives The image of the Lord Holy Christ of the Miracles in Hamilton devoted by all the Azoreans in Bermuda islands The island experienced large scale immigration over the th century especially after the Second World War Bermuda has a diverse population including both those with relatively deep roots in Bermuda extending back for centuries and newer communities whose ancestry results from recent immigration especially from Britain North America the West Indies and the Portuguese Atlantic islands especially the Azores although these groups are steadily merging About of the population identified themselves with Bermudian ancestry in which was a decrease from the who did so in the census Those identifying with British ancestry dropped by to although those born in Britain remain the largest non native group at persons The number of people born in Canada declined by Those who reported West Indian ancestry were The number of people born in the West Indies actually increased by A significant segment of the population is of Portuguese ancestry the result of immigration over the past years of which have residency status Deeper ancestral demographics of Bermuda s population have been obscured by the ethnic homogenisation of the last four centuries There is effectively no ethnic distinction between black and white Bermudians other than those characterising recent immigrant communities In the th Century this was not so For the first hundred years of settlement white Protestants of English heritage were the distinct majority with white minorities of Irish the native language of many of whom can be assumed to have been Gaelic and Scots sent to Bermuda after the English invasions of their homelands that followed the English Civil War Non white minorities included Spanish speaking free indentured blacks from the West Indies black chattel slaves primarily captured from Spanish and Portuguese ships by Bermudian privateers and Native Americans primarily from the Algonquian and other tribes of the Atlantic seaboard but possibly from as far as Mexico By the th Century the white ethnically English Bermudians had lost their numerical advantage Despite the banning of the importation of Irish and the repeated attempts to force free blacks to emigrate and the owners of black slaves to export them the merging of the various minority groups along with some of the white English had resulted in a new demographic group "coloured" which term in Bermuda referred to anyone not wholly of European ancestry Bermudians gaining a slight majority Any child born before or since then to one coloured and one white parent has been added to the coloured statistic Most of those historically described as "coloured" are today described as "black" or "of African heritage" which obscures their non African heritage those previously described as "coloured" who were not of African ancestry had been very few though the numbers of South Asians particularly is now growing The number of persons born in Asian countries doubled between the and the censuses blacks have remained in the majority with new white immigration from Portugal Britain and elsewhere countered by black immigration from the West Indies Bermuda s modern black population contains more than one demographic group Although the number of residents born in Africa is very small it has tripled between and this group also includes non blacks The majority of blacks in Bermuda can be termed "Bermudian blacks" whose ancestry dates back centuries between the th Century and the end of slavery in Bermuda s black population was self sustaining with its growth resulting largely from natural expansion This contrasts to the enslaved blacks of the plantation colonies who were subjected to conditions so harsh as to drop their birth rate below the death rate and slaveholders in the United States and the West Indies found it necessary to continue importing more enslaved blacks from Africa until the end of slavery the same had been true for the Native Americans that the Africans had replaced on the New World plantations The indigenous populations of many West Indian islands and much of the South East of what is now the United States that had survived the th and th Century epidemics of European introduced diseases then became the victims of large scale slave raiding with much of the region completely depopulated When the supply of indigenous slaves ran out the slaveholders looked to Africa The ancestry of Bermuda s black population is distinguished from that of the British West Indian black population in two ways firstly the higher degree of European and Native American admixture secondly the source of the African ancestry In the British West Indian islands and also in the United States the majority of enslaved blacks brought across the Atlantic came from West Africa roughly between modern Senegal and Ghana Very little of Bermuda s original black emigration came from this area The first blacks to arrive in Bermuda in any numbers were free blacks from Spanish speaking areas of the West Indies and most of the remainder were recently enslaved Africans captured from the Spanish and Portuguese As Spain and Portugal sourced most of their slaves from South West Africa the Portuguese through ports in modern day Angola the Spanish purchased most of their African slaves from Portuguese traders and from Arabs whose slave trading was centred in Zanzibar Genetic studies have consequently shown that the African ancestry of black Bermudians other than those resulting from recent immigration from the British West Indian islands is largely from the a band across southern Africa from Angola to Mozambique which is similar to what is revealed in Latin America but distinctly different from the blacks of the West Indies and the United States Most of Bermuda s black population trace some of their ancestry to Native Americans although awareness of this is largely limited to St David s Islanders and most who have such ancestry are unaware of it During the colonial period hundreds of Native Americans were shipped to Bermuda The best known examples were the Algonquian peoples who were exiled from the southern New England colonies and sold into slavery in the th century notably in the aftermaths of the Pequot and King Philip s wars Today several thousand expatriate workers principally from Britain Canada the West Indies South Africa and the US reside in Bermuda They are primarily engaged in specialised professions such as accounting finance and insurance Others are employed in various trades such as hotels restaurants construction and landscaping services Of the total workforce of persons in government employment figures stated that were non Bermudians Culture edit Main article Culture of Bermuda See also Holidays in Bermuda This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January Bermuda s culture is a mixture of the various sources of its population Native American Spanish Caribbean English Irish and Scots cultures were evident in the th century and became part of the dominant British culture English is the primary and official language Due to years of immigration from Portuguese Atlantic islands primarily the Azores though also from Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands a portion of the population also speaks Portuguese There are strong British influences together with Afro Caribbean ones A second wave of immigration from the West Indies was sustained throughout the th century the more recent arrivals have primarily come from English speaking countries also bringing aspects of their cultures This new infusion of West Indians has both accelerated social and political change and diversified Bermuda s culture The first notable and historically important book credited to a Bermudian was The History of Mary Prince a slave narrative by Mary Prince It is thought to have contributed to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire Ernest Graham Ingham an expatriate author published his books at the turn of the th and th centuries In the th century numerous books were written and published locally though few were directed at a wider market than Bermuda The latter consisted primarily of scholarly works rather than creative writing The novelist Brian Burland – achieved a degree of success and acclaim internationally More recently Angela Barry has won critical recognition for her published fiction Bermuda s proximity to the United States as well as its origin as part of Virginia means that many aspects of US culture are reflected in or incorporated into Bermudian culture Many non Bermudian writers have also made Bermuda their home or have had homes here including A J Cronin and F Van Wyck Mason who wrote on Bermudian subjects Actors such as Ernest Trimingham Oona O Neill Earl Cameron Diana Dill Lena Headey Will Kempe and most famously Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones grew up here or have lived here as adults Other native or resident film and television figures in Bermuda include producer Arthur Rankin Jr and cartoonist and Muppet man Michael Frith Arts edit West Indian musicians introduced calypso music when Bermuda s tourist industry was expanded with the increase of visitors brought by post Second World War aviation While calypso appealed more to the visitors than to the locals reggae has been embraced by many Bermudians since the s with the influx of Jamaican immigrants Gombey dancers from Bermuda at Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC Bermuda s early literature consisted of non Bermudian writers commenting on the island These included John Smith s The Generall Historie of Virginia New England and the Summer Isles and Edmund Waller s poem "Battle of the Summer Islands" Music and dance are important in Bermuda Noted musicians have included local icons The Talbot Brothers who performed for many decades both in Bermuda and the United States and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show jazz pianist Lance Hayward singer songwriter Heather Nova and her brother Mishka tenor Gary Burgess classical musician and conductor Kenneth Amis and more recently dancehall artist Collie Buddz Bermuda is the only placename in the New World specifically mentioned in the works of Shakespeare in The Tempest in Act Scene line "the still vexed Bermoothes" The dances of the colourful Gombey dancers seen at many events are strongly influenced by African Caribbean Native American and British cultural traditions In summer they performed in Washington DC at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Mall see photo Bermudian Gina Swainson was crowned "Miss World" in Bermuda hosts an annual international film festival which shows many independent films One of the founders is film producer and director Arthur Rankin Jr co founder of the Rankin Bass production company Bermuda watercolours painted by local artists are sold at various galleries Hand carved cedar sculptures are another speciality One such ft m sculpture created by Bermudian sculptor Chesley Trott is installed at the airport s baggage claim area In his sculpture The Arrival was unveiled near the bay to commemorate the freeing of slaves from the American brig Enterprise in Local artwork may also be viewed at several galleries around the island Alfred Birdsey was one of the more famous and talented watercolourists his impressionistic landscapes of Hamilton St George s and the surrounding sailboats homes and bays of Bermuda are world renowned Local resident Tom Butterfield founded the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art in initially featuring works about Bermuda by artists from other countries He began with pieces by American artists such as Winslow Homer Charles Demuth and Georgia O Keeffe who had lived and worked here He has increasingly supported the development of local artists arts education and the arts scene In the museum opened its new building constructed within the Botanic Gardens Main sights edit One of Bermuda s pink sand beaches at Astwood Park Bermuda s pink sand beaches and clear cerulean blue ocean waters are popular with tourists Many of Bermuda s hotels are located along the south shore of the island In addition to its beaches there are a number of sightseeing attractions Historic St George s is a designated World Heritage Site Scuba divers can explore numerous wrecks and coral reefs in relatively shallow water typically – ft or – m in depth with virtually unlimited visibility Many nearby reefs are readily accessible from shore by snorkellers especially at Church Bay Bermuda s most popular visitor attraction is the Royal Naval Dockyard which includes the Bermuda Maritime Museum Other attractions include the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute the Botanical Gardens and Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art lighthouses and the Crystal Caves with stalactites and underground saltwater pools It is not possible to rent a car on the island public transport is available or visitors can hire scooters for use as private transport Climate edit Main article Climate of Bermuda Residential scene in BermudaBermuda has a humid subtropical climate on the border of tropical climate Bermuda is warmed by the nearby Gulf Stream and low latitude The islands does get some cooler temperatures in January February and March average F F The lowest temperature on record was F There has never been a frost or freeze on record in Bermuda Summertime heat index in Bermuda can be high although mid August temperatures rarely exceed °C °F The highest recorded temperature was °C °F in August Bermuda is in the hurricane belt Located along the Gulf Stream it is often directly in the path of hurricanes recurving in the westerlies although they usually begin to weaken as they approach Bermuda whose small size means that direct landfalls of hurricanes are rare The most recent hurricane to cause significant damage to Bermuda was category Hurricane Gonzalo on October Before that Hurricane Fabian on September was the last major hurricane to hit Bermuda directly The only source of fresh water in Bermuda is rainfall which is collected on roofs and catchments or drawn from underground lenses and stored in tanks Each dwelling usually has at least one of these tanks forming part of its foundation The law requires that each household collect rainwater that is piped down from the roof of each house The average annual temperature of the Atlantic Ocean around Bermuda is °C °F from °C °F in February to °C °F in August Bermuda is on the same parallel as the Portuguese archipelago Madeira a further few time zones east in the Atlantic The two archipelagos are the only land in the Atlantic on the nd parallel north The two have a relatively similar climate but Bermuda has warmer and wetter summers much like the typical subtropical coastal region of North America on similar parallels However winter temperatures between Hamilton and Madeira s capital Funchal are nearly identical Climate data for Hamilton – capital of Bermuda Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C °F Average high °C °F Daily mean °C °F Average low °C °F Record low °C °F Average precipitation mm inches Average precipitation days = inch Mean monthly sunshine hours Source Bermuda Weather Service weather travel com for data of sunshine hours Climate data for Hamilton – capital of Bermuda Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Average high °C °F Daily mean °C °F Average low °C °F Average precipitation mm inches Source Weatherbase Flora and fauna edit Main article Flora and fauna in Bermuda Young Bermuda cedar at Ferry ReachWhen discovered Bermuda was uninhabited and mostly dominated by forests of Bermuda cedar with mangrove marshes along its shores Only of the island s current vascular plant species are considered native Of those including the eponymous cedar are endemic Settlers have introduced many species of palm trees to Bermuda Coconut palms are found on Bermuda making it the northernmost location for the natural growth of this species However the climate is usually too cool to allow the palms to properly set fruit The only indigenous mammals of Bermuda are five species of bats all of which are also found in the eastern United States Lasionycteris noctivagans Lasiurus borealis Lasiurus cinereus Lasiurus seminolus and Perimyotis subflavus Other commonly known fauna of Bermuda include its national bird the Bermuda petrel or cahow It was rediscovered in after having been thought extinct since the s It is important as an example of a Lazarus species The government has a programme to protect it including restoration of a habitat area The Bermuda rock skink was long thought to have been the only indigenous land vertebrate of Bermuda discounting the marine turtles that lay their eggs on its beaches Recently through genetic DNA studies scientists have discovered that a species of turtle the diamondback terrapin previously thought to have been introduced pre dated the arrival of humans in the archipelago As this species spends most of its time in brackish ponds some question whether it should be classified as a land vertebrate to compete with the skink s unique status History edit Main article History of Bermuda Pre settlement edit Bermuda was discovered in by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez It is mentioned in Legatio Babylonica published in by historian Pedro Mártir de Anglería and was also included on Spanish charts of that year Both Spanish and Portuguese ships used the islands as a replenishment spot to take on fresh meat and water Legends arose of spirits and devils now thought to have stemmed from the calls of raucous birds most likely the Bermuda petrel or Cahow and the loud noise heard at night from wild hogs Combined with the frequent storm wracked conditions and the dangerous reefs the archipelago became known as the Isle of Devils Neither Spain nor Portugal tried to settle it Settlement by the English edit John Smith wrote one of the first histories of Bermuda in combined with Virginia and New England For the next century the island is believed to have been visited frequently but not settled After the failure of the first two English colonies in Virginia a more determined effort was initiated by King James I of England James VI of Scotland who granted a Royal Charter to the Virginia Company It established a colony at Jamestown Virginia in Two years later a flotilla of seven ships left England under the Company s Admiral Sir George Somers and the new Governor of Jamestown Sir Thomas Gates with several hundred settlers food and supplies to relieve the colony of Jamestown Somers had previous experience sailing with both Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh The flotilla was broken up by a storm As the flagship the Sea Venture was taking on water Somers drove it on the reef and gained the shores safely with smaller boats – all passengers and a dog survived William Shakespeare s play The Tempest in which the character Ariel refers to the "still vex d Bermoothes" I ii is thought to have been inspired by William Strachey s account of this shipwreck They stayed months starting a new settlement and building two small ships to sail to Jamestown The island was claimed for the English Crown and the charter of the Virginia Company was later extended to include it In all but three of the survivors of the Sea Venture sailed on to Jamestown Among them was John Rolfe whose wife and child died and were buried in Bermuda Later in Jamestown he married Pocahontas a daughter of the powerful Powhatan leader of a large confederation of about Algonquian speaking tribes in coastal Virginia In the English began intentional settlement of Bermuda with the arrival of the ship Plough St George s was settled that year and designated as Bermuda s first capital It is the oldest continually inhabited English town in the New World In the colony was passed to a new company the Somers Isles Company named after the admiral who saved his passengers from the Sea Venture Many Virginian place names refer to the archipelago such as Bermuda City and Bermuda Hundred The first English coins to circulate in North America were struck in Bermuda Company colony edit Because of its limited land area Bermuda has had difficulty with over population In the first two centuries of settlement it relied on steady human emigration to keep the population manageable citation needed Before the American Revolution more than ten thousand Bermudians over half of the total population through the years gradually emigrated primarily to the Southern United States As Great Britain displaced Spain as the dominant European imperial power it opened up more land for colonial development A steady trickle of outward migration continued With seafaring the only real industry in the early decades by the end of the th century at least a third of the island s manpower was at sea at any one time The archipelago s limited land area and resources led to the creation of what may be the earliest conservation laws of the New World In and acts were passed banning the hunting of certain birds and young tortoises In the English Civil War raged and King Charles I was beheaded in Whitehall London In Bermuda related tensions resulted in civil war on the island it was ended by militias The majority of colonists developed a strong sense of devotion to the Crown Dissenters such as Puritans and independents were pushed to the Bahamas Bermuda Gazette of November calling for privateering against Spain and its allies it has advertisements for crew for two privateer vessels In the th century the Somers Isles Company suppressed shipbuilding as it needed Bermudians to farm to generate income from the land Agricultural production met with limited success however The Bermuda cedar boxes used to ship tobacco to England were reportedly worth more than their contents citation needed The colony of Virginia far surpassed Bermuda in both quality and quantity of tobacco produced Bermudians began to turn to maritime trades relatively early in the th century but the Somers Isles Company used all its authority to suppress turning away from agriculture This interference led to the islanders demanding and receiving the revocation of the Company s charter in and the Company was dissolved Maritime economy edit Bermudians rapidly abandoned agriculture for shipbuilding replanting farmland with the native juniper Juniperus bermudiana called Bermuda cedar trees that grew thickly over the whole island Establishing effective control over the Turks Islands Bermudians deforested their landscape to begin the salt trade It became the world s largest and remained the cornerstone of Bermuda s economy for the next century Bermudian sailors and merchants relied on more than export of salt however They vigorously pursued whaling privateering and the merchant trade Vessels sailed the normal shipping routes but were required to engage an enemy vessel no matter the size or strength As a result many ships were destroyed citation needed The Bermuda sloop became highly regarded for speed and manoeuvrability The Bermuda sloop HMS Pickle one of the fastest vessels in the Royal Navy carried the news of the victory at Trafalgar and the death of Admiral Nelson to England Bermuda and the American War of Independence edit This section does not cite any references sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed June American independence led to great changes for Bermuda Prior to the war with no useful landmass or natural resources Bermuda was largely ignored and left to its own devices by the London government By being so deeply involved in trade Bermuda merchants and financiers had played roles out of proportion to the colony s size in relation to the development of the Triangle Trade and the trans Atlantic English and British empires Its people were settlers and founders of new colonies especially in the American South Its merchant fleet and a web of expatriate Bermudian merchants dominated trade through a number of American Atlantic Seaboard ports and the West Indies Bermudians fished for cod on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and were involved in the lumber industry in Central America Most importantly they dominated the North American salt trade with de facto control of the Turks Islands