Antilles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Antilles (disambiguation).
See also West Indies, Caribbean

Map of the Antilles

The Antilles (n't?li?z; Antilles [?~.tij] in French; Antillas in Spanish; Antillen
in Dutch and Antilhas in Portuguese) is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean
Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic
Ocean to the north and east.

The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings the Greater Antilles
and the Lesser Antilles. The Greater Antilles includes the larger islands of Cuba,
Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola (subdivided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic)
and the Cayman Islands. The Lesser Antilles contains the northerly Leeward Islands,
the southeasterly Windward Islands, and the Leeward Antilles just north of
Venezuela. The Lucayan Archipelago (consisting of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos
Islands), though part of the West Indies, are generally not included among the
Antillean islands.[1]

Geographically, the Antillean islands are generally considered a subregion of North

America. Culturally speaking, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico and
sometimes the whole of the Antilles are included in Latin America[citation
needed], although some sources avoid this socio-economic oversimplification by
using the phrase Latin America and the Caribbean instead (see Latin America, In
Contemporary Usage). In terms of geology, the Greater Antilles are made up of
continental rock, as distinct from the Lesser Antilles, which are mostly young
volcanic or coral islands.

Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Demographics
3 Nations and territories
3.1 Lucayan Archipelago
3.2 Greater Antilles
3.3 Lesser Antilles
3.3.1 Leeward Antilles
3.3.2 Leeward Islands
3.3.3 Windward Islands
3.4 Other islands
4 See also
5 References
Background[edit]

Map of Antilles Caribbean in 1843.

The word Antilles originated in the period before the European conquest of the New
World, Antilia being one of those mysterious lands which figured on the medieval
charts, sometimes as an archipelago, sometimes as continuous land of greater or
lesser extent, its location fluctuating in mid-ocean between the Canary Islands and
India.[2]

After the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus's expedition in what was later
called the West Indies, the European powers realized that the dispersed lands
constituted an extensive archipelago inhabiting the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico.[citation needed] The Antilles were called multiple names before their
current name became the norm. Early Spanish visitors called them the Windward
Islands. They were also called the Forward Islands by 18th-century British.[3]
Thereafter, the term Antilles was commonly assigned to the formation, and Sea of
the Antilles became a common alternative name for the Caribbean Sea in various
European languages.[citation needed]

Demographics[edit]
The Antilles were described in 1778 by Thomas Kitchin as once being called the
Caribbee Isles in homage to the Carib people who were the islands' first
inhabitants.

Nations and territories[edit]

Main article List of islands in the Antilles
Lucayan Archipelago[edit]
Main article Lucayan Archipelago
Bahamas
Turks and Caicos Islands (United Kingdom)
Greater Antilles[edit]
Main article Greater Antilles
Cuba
Hispaniola
Haiti
Dominican Republic
Jamaica
Puerto Rico (United States)
Cayman Islands (United Kingdom)
Lesser Antilles[edit]
Main article Lesser Antilles
Leeward Antilles[edit]
Main article Leeward Antilles
Aruba (Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Bonaire (Netherlands)
Curaao (Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Venezuela Federal Dependencies of Venezuela
Los Monjes Archipelago
La Tortuga Island
La Sola Island
Los Testigos Islands
Los Frailes Islands
Patos Island
Los Roques Archipelago
Blanquilla Island
Los Hermanos Archipelago
Orchila Island
Las Aves Archipelago
Aves Island
Venezuela Nueva Esparta State
Margarita Island
Coche
Cubagua
Leeward Islands[edit]
Main article Leeward Islands
Anguilla (United Kingdom)
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua
Barbuda
Redonda
British Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
Guadeloupe (France)
La Dsirade
Marie-Galante
Les Saintes
 Montserrat (United Kingdom)
Saba (Netherlands)
Saint Barthlemy (France)
Saint Martin
Saint Martin (France)
Sint Maarten (Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts
Nevis
Sint Eustatius (Netherlands)
U.S. Virgin Islands (United States)
Saint Croix
Saint Thomas
Saint John
Windward Islands[edit]
Main article Windward Islands
Dominica
Grenada
Martinique (France)
Saint Lucia