Caribbean (region), archipelago in the northern part of the western hemisphere, separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Christopher Columbus, the first European to visit the region during his search for a westward route to Asia, mistakenly named the islands of the archipelago "the Indies"; the region was subsequently generally known, particularly in the English-speaking world, as the West Indies to distinguish it from the East Indies, the name given to the Malay archipelago. The appellation "West Indies" today, however, is properly used only in specific contexts, such as the West Indies cricket team, the term "Caribbean" being used to describe the region.