Latin American and Caribbean Place Names -- Reference
Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2020 12:16 pm
Reading place names mentioned in the logbooks and locating the places can be challenging. So, we have created topics like this to help. In this topic we have links to Latin American and Caribbean place name resources on the internet. We also have a Custom Google Earth map for Latin American and Caribbean, an Alphabetical list of Latin American and Caribbean place names found in the logbooks and Transcriber created maps.
You can make this topic better by contributing to the Latin American and Caribbean -- Discussion!
Note: Place names include lighthouses.
Links to Latin American and Caribbean Place Name Resources
Modern Maps:
For more general place name resources, see the Welcome topic.
To ask for help or to contribute place name information and links to place name resources (strongly encouraged!), see Latin American and Caribbean Place Names -- Discussion
To view place names in nearby regions, see US (non-Alaskan) Place Names -- Reference and China Station, Japan, Pacific and Indian Ocean -- Reference
Spanish Geographical Terms
Archipielago - islands (archipelago)
Arrecife - reef, rock, shoal
Bahia - bay, cove, fjord, harbor
Banco - shoal, reef, bank
Cabo - point, headland
Caleta - cove, bay
Canal - marine channel, ditch, fjord, canal, narrows
Cerro - mountain, hill, spur, slope, ridge
Ensenada - bay, bight, cove, estuary, inlet, lagoon, tidal creek
Estrecho - marine channel, fjord, strait
Golfo - gulf, bay, sound
Isla - island
Islote - islet, rock
Loma - hill, mountain, ridge
Monte - mountain, hill
Morro - mountain, hill, headland
Paso - marine channel, pass
Peninsula - peninsula
Puerto - port, harbor, bay, cove, anchorage - also part of name of populated places
Punta - point, cape, spur - also part of name of populated place
Quebrada - stream
Rada - road (roadstead = an open anchorage affording less protection than a harbor)
Rio - river, stream
Roca - rock
Seno - bay, fjord, sound, marine channel
Portuguese Geographical Terms
Arquipelago - islands (archipelago)
Atol - island (atol)
Baia/Bahia - bay, cove, fjord, harbor
Baixo/Bajo - reef, shoal
Cabo - point, headland
Coroa - shoal, bank, bar, reef
Ilha - island
Monte - mountain, hill
Morro - mountain, hill, headland
Ponta - point, cape, spur - also part of name of populated place
Recife - reef
Rio - river, stream
Rochedo - cliff, headland
You can make this topic better by contributing to the Latin American and Caribbean -- Discussion!
Note: Place names include lighthouses.
Links to Latin American and Caribbean Place Name Resources
Modern Maps:
- Geographical Names List by Country
- Mapcarta - South America
- LoadMap (only if you can read cyrillic - almost whole world covered)
- Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection (both modern and historical maps)
- i-boating free marine charts
- Garmin Active Captain
- OW Tools Map finder
- From Coast Survey's Historical Map & Chart Collection (NOAA)
Note: This site has very useful information, but at times it is very slow. - From David Rumsey Collection
- Commercial Atlas of America - Composite: Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentine Republic, 1924
- Commercial Atlas of America - Bermuda, 1924
- Bermuda Islands. France, 1901
- TCI - Brasile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Guaiana, 1929
- West Indies, 1849
- Valparaiso. Buenos Aires. Rio de Janeiro Galapagos Islands. Rio de Janeiro Harbour. La Plata, 1906
- Central America, 1865
- Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, 1880
- South America (southern sheet), 1911
- Brazil and Guayana, 1886
- Brazil, Guiana, 1897
- General chart of the coasts of Brasil, &c. from the River Para to Buenos-Ayres, 1853
- West Indies, 1859
- West India Islands, 1906
- Isla de Puerto Rico, 1851
- New Chart of the Windward Passages, 1846
- Mapa Historico Pintoresca Moderno de al Isla De Cuba, 1853
- West Indies, 1857
- Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, 1857
- Cuba & Jamaica 43, 1892
- Cuba, 1873
- Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, 1874
- Old Maps Online
- Puerto Rico Island Map with Lighthouses, 1885 from Coast Guard Compass - The Long Blue Line: Domingo Suarez y Rosa—Towerman of Puerto Rico
- Central America and Mexican pilot (East Coast), 1920, US Hydrographic Office
- South American Pilot, Part I, 1864 by Great Britain Hydrographic Dept
- South America pilot, Part II, 1860 by Great Britain Hydrographic Dept
- South America Pilot, Volume II, 1916, US Hydrographic Office
- South America pilot, Volume III, West Coast, 1928, US Hydrographic Office
- The search for and destruction of SMS Dresden provides a detailed map of the Magellan Straits and southern Argentina and Chile.
- Falkland Islands topographic map
- The Colombian Navigator, 1823
- The New American Practical Navigator, 1841
- The American coast pilot, 1833
- Explore Panama - Travel
- Military notes on Cuba, 1898
- The Escape of Karlsruhe and Dresden, 1914 provides a map of the West Indies.
- The stranger in the tropics speaks about Havana Harbour approach
- The Navigation of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico: Supplement, Volume II, US Hydrographic Office
- West Indies Directory, 1897
- A Naval Encyclopædia, 1881, L. R. Hamersly & Co., Philadelphia
- Mexican and Central American Pilot (Pacific Coast), 1918, US Hydrographic Office
- West Coast of Mexico and Central America, 1893, US Hydrographic Office
- The West Coast of Mexico, 1880, US Hydrographic Office
- MarineTraffic.com - Lighthouses & Aids to Navigation searchable by country
- ARLHS World List of Lights (WLOL) searchable by country
- Lighthouse Explorer Database searchable by country
- Lighthousefriends contains Puerto Rico Lighthouses and other South American and Caribbean Lighthouses subdivided by country
For more general place name resources, see the Welcome topic.
To ask for help or to contribute place name information and links to place name resources (strongly encouraged!), see Latin American and Caribbean Place Names -- Discussion
To view place names in nearby regions, see US (non-Alaskan) Place Names -- Reference and China Station, Japan, Pacific and Indian Ocean -- Reference
Spanish Geographical Terms
Archipielago - islands (archipelago)
Arrecife - reef, rock, shoal
Bahia - bay, cove, fjord, harbor
Banco - shoal, reef, bank
Cabo - point, headland
Caleta - cove, bay
Canal - marine channel, ditch, fjord, canal, narrows
Cerro - mountain, hill, spur, slope, ridge
Ensenada - bay, bight, cove, estuary, inlet, lagoon, tidal creek
Estrecho - marine channel, fjord, strait
Golfo - gulf, bay, sound
Isla - island
Islote - islet, rock
Loma - hill, mountain, ridge
Monte - mountain, hill
Morro - mountain, hill, headland
Paso - marine channel, pass
Peninsula - peninsula
Puerto - port, harbor, bay, cove, anchorage - also part of name of populated places
Punta - point, cape, spur - also part of name of populated place
Quebrada - stream
Rada - road (roadstead = an open anchorage affording less protection than a harbor)
Rio - river, stream
Roca - rock
Seno - bay, fjord, sound, marine channel
Portuguese Geographical Terms
Arquipelago - islands (archipelago)
Atol - island (atol)
Baia/Bahia - bay, cove, fjord, harbor
Baixo/Bajo - reef, shoal
Cabo - point, headland
Coroa - shoal, bank, bar, reef
Ilha - island
Monte - mountain, hill
Morro - mountain, hill, headland
Ponta - point, cape, spur - also part of name of populated place
Recife - reef
Rio - river, stream
Rochedo - cliff, headland