Most residents of the islands are descendants of African slaves. They were brought to work in sugar plantations and as slavery ended, they remained in the paradise like conditions. The culture, religions and languages of each country / dependency are unique, due to the different monarchies that ruled during the said slavery days. For example, the islands of: Haiti, Martinique and Guadeloupe have a very rich French heritage; while Cuba and Puerto Rico are strongly Spanish based. Religious beliefs also go with the former rulers and ancestors. For instance, in Haiti, voodoo (voodu) is very rampant, because of the African slaves, who brought that form of witchcraft to the West Indies.