The West Indies is a sub region of North America surrounded by the North Atlantic ocean and the Carribean sea that includes 13 independent island countries. It was discovered by Christopher Columbus, when he arrived on the islands in 1492 . After Columbus, Europeans began to use the term West Indies to distinguish this region from both original Indies (India) and East Indies (South-East Asia). The West Indies cover a total area of 275,410km2 with a population of over 43 million.