One of Costa Rica’s wettest regions, the Caribbean extends along 125 miles (200 km) of the coastline between the Nicaraguan and Panamanian borders. The first inhabitants of the islands just off the coast were the Taínos, part of the Arawak nation, who were skilled agriculturists, fishermen, and potters. In 1502, Christopher Columbus landed in Costa Rica’s Caribbean, specifically Playa Uvita, on his fourth voyage. After the closure of the port of Puerto Limón to trade in 1665, the Spanish made little attempt to settle the region. This drew pirates and smugglers, who induced the enslaved population to cut precious hardwoods for illicit trade. In the late 19th century, Jamaican and Chinese laborers and their families arrived to build the Atlantic Railroad and work on banana plantations. Succeeding generations adopted a subsistence life of farming and fishing, which continues in today’s Creole culture. A network of canals, created in the 1960s to link Puerto Limón with Barra, immediately opened up this otherwise virtually inaccessible region to both trade and tourism, and led to the creation of several important conservation areas.