Antilles

The Antilles are a geographic region in the Caribbean comprising two main island groups: the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. Spanning roughly from the Florida Straits in the north to the coast of Venezuela in the south, and from the coasts of South America to the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Antilles form a curved arc separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the Spanish Antillas, meaning “the islands.”

Geographically, the Greater Antilles include Cuba, Hispaniola (comprising Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. The Lesser Antilles extend in a long arc from the Virgin Islands to Trinidad and Tobago and are subdivided into the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands. The region includes many volcanic and limestone islands and exhibits significant geological variety due to the Caribbean Plate and surrounding microplates.

Politically, the Antilles are not a single entity; they comprise independent nations and overseas territories. Independent states include Cuba, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago, among others. The archipelago also contains territories of other countries, such as Puerto Rico (United States), Guadeloupe and Martinique (France), and Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten (the Kingdom of the Netherlands).

They have diverse languages and cultures, with Spanish predominating in the Greater Antilles, English in Jamaica and many Caribbean islands, French in Guadeloupe and Martinique, and Dutch in the Leeward and Windward Islands. The climate is tropical, with a hurricane season influencing agriculture, tourism, and the economy.