where did the term west indies come from
West Indies [T]he phrase "West Indies" distinguished the territories encountered by Columbus or and claimed by Spain from discovery claims by other powers in [Asia's] "East Indies". … The term "West Indies" was eventually used by all European nations to describe their own acquired territories in the Americas. … considering British Caribbean colonies collectively as the "West Indies" had its greatest political importance in the 1950s with the movement to create a federation of those colonies that could ultimately become an independent nation... Despite the collapse of the Federation [in the early 1960s]… the West Indies continues to field a joint cricket team for international competition.[5]