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Show . Pirate Lairs Pcti? ! In Delense Planning I j West Indies Federation rv.-; Some New Questions. WASHINGTON. - T . n--, federation of British U-.,- : - : the West Indies puts n.nd-n eca nomic and defense id. inning n front in the affairs of land.- unta linked with pirate gold slave trat fic, and colonial struggle for n j prizes of tropical plantations. Great Britain holds a half-dozer colonies along the intemationa' Island chain that curves out into the Atlantic between Florida and South America, ' notes National Geographic Geo-graphic society. In addition are two mainland areas British Honduras In Central America, and, just beyond the island is-land arc, British Guiana in South America. On many of the islands, as well as on British Guiana, United States air and naval stations were set up ? during World War II as the result jj of the . "destroyers-for-bases" ex- j ; ! change of 1940. There were bases on Jamaica, Trinidad, and members of the Lee- ; ; ward and Windward groups. The ;) scattered Bahamas, also included ' In the exchange, have remained ; outside federation plans. Altogether, the Britush West In- : dian territories cover about 110,000 .' square miles. Their combined are is greater than that of Great Brit- ; a in. So varied, however, are the Individual In-dividual fragments in size, popula- : tion, and "local color" that each ii like a different country. Some of the smaller islands green and coral bits under the blue : Caribbean skies can be walked : over in an hour. British Guiana, by far the largest single unit, is twice as big as Ohio, with vast jungles, ; mountains, below-sea-level coasts and spectacular waterfalls. The estimated . 2,t00,000 people scattered throughout ,the British : West Indies are mixture of races : and nationalities European, African Afri-can and Asiatic. ' Barbados island, often called i "Little England," is one of the : world's most densely populated spots. It has nearly 1,200 people to each square mile. |