The Caracol people are an ethnic people of mainly European/English-African-Caribbean descent, who have been concentrated in Northern Honduras (specifically, the Bay Islands) since the early 19th century. They speak an English-based creole. Caracol is a Spanish term that literally translates as conch, or snail shell; it associates the people of the Bay Islands to their environment and seafaring culture. In its current usage, the term Caracol refers to all people born in the Bay Islands region and their descendants. The region of the Bay Islands encompasses the three major islands of Roatán, Útila, Guanaja, and the smaller islands or keys.