The Antilles o Insular America are the set of islands that form an arc separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, the Caribbean Sea is bordered by the northern coasts of South America from Venezuela to the south and the coasts of Central America to the west..
To the north, the Yucatan peninsula (Mexico) and the Greater Antilles are located, from Cuba to Puerto Rico, while to the east are the Lesser Antilles from the Virgin Islands to Trinidad.
The Antilles form most of Insular America, although there are American islands outside the Caribbean, in the Atlantic, such as the Lucayas archipelago and some in the Pacific Ocean..
The name Antilles applied to the islands of the Caribbean Sea derives from an ancient legend from the time of the reconquest in Spain. According to this story, there was an island to the west of the Canary Islands, where religious communities went to settle fleeing from the Muslims.
These mythological lands were called Antilia and from there derived the name Antilles applied to the islands discovered in America. These islands are divided into the Greater Antilles to refer to the northern ones, generally the larger islands, and the Lesser Antilles, which is a chain of small islands east of Puerto Rico..
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It is the largest of the Antilles, with an area of 105,006 kmtwo, to which are added the Isle of Youth and minor archipelagos. Being in this case the total extension of the Republic of Cuba of 109,884 kmtwo.
The most important and capital city of the country is Havana, located in the northwest of the island. It has about 11 million inhabitants, with a multiethnic conformation of Hispanic, indigenous and African culture.
It is the second largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 76,480 km², hosting two sovereign states, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The first of them occupies 27,500 km², while the second the remaining 48,440 km².
Haiti is located to the west of the island, with its capital Port-au-Prince located to the south, its origin being a French colony. It is populated by descendants of African slaves who won their independence.
While the Dominican Republic has its origin in the Spanish colonization and its capital is Santo Domingo. This city is located in the south-central part of the country on the Caribbean coast..
This is the third largest island in the Antilles with 10,990 kmtwo, located south of Cuba and was a British colony. It is populated mainly by descendants of African slaves, as well as Hindus and Asians, and its capital is the city of Kingston, located in the southeast of the island..
This archipelago is south of Cuba and east of Jamaica, being made up of three islands, the smallest of the Greater Antilles. In fact, they are smaller than some islands of the Lesser Antilles, reaching the largest (Grand Cayman) only 196 kmtwo.
The other two islands are Cayman Brac with about 38 Kmtwo and Little Cayman with around 32 Kmtwo. It is an autonomous British overseas territory dedicated primarily to financial services.
The fourth in size of all the Antilles, it is located east of Hispaniola, with an area of 8,900 kmtwo including the smaller islands. The latter are Vieques and Culebra as permanently inhabited islands as well as Mona, Desecheo, Caja de Muertos, Monito and other uninhabited islets..
Its capital is San Juan, located northeast of the island facing the Atlantic Ocean. Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony to later move to the United States, becoming a Commonwealth.
The Vieques and Culebra islands form what are called the Spanish Virgin Islands, which together with the British Virgin Islands and those of the United States, form the so-called Virgin Islands. These islands are geologically part of the Greater Antilles, although they are generally included among the Lesser Antilles..
This archipelago includes islands that were historically conquered by the Spanish such as Culebra and Vieques, today belonging to Puerto Rico. On the other hand, there are the so-called British Virgin Islands, which are more than 50 small islands, the largest being Tortola with 55.7 kmtwo.
In Tortola is the capital, Road Town, being a British overseas territory dedicated to financial services.
For its part, the Virgin Islands of the United States constitute a series of islands where the largest is Saint Croix with 214.66 kmtwo. However, the capital of these dependencies, Charlotte Amalie, is located in Saint Thomas, which is the second island in size with 83 kmtwo.
It is another British overseas territory, formed by Anguilla Island, two smaller islands (Dog and Scrub) and several islets, a total of 91 kmtwo. It is located east of the Virgin Islands and north of the island of San Martín and its capital is El Valle, in the center of Anguilla.
It is an island of 87 kmtwo located south of Anguilla and northwest of St. Bartholomew, divided between France and the Netherlands. The northern half of the island is an overseas community of the Republic of France, whose capital is Marigot on the west coast.
While the southern half called Sint Maarten is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, its capital being Philipsburg located to the south of the island.
It is an archipelago formed by San Bartolomé Island along with others such as Fourchue Island, Coco Island and Toc Vers Island. These islands are located southeast of San Martín and constitute another French overseas community, its capital is Gustavia on the island of San Bartolomé, which has an area of 25 kmtwo.
They are two islands located to the southwest of San Bartolomé that constitute special municipalities of the Netherlands, separated from each other by about 26 km. The island of Saba is the most to the west, with an extension of 13 kmtwo and it is formed by the Mont Scenary volcano, while the Saint Eustatius island has an area of 21 kmtwo.
These two islands constitute the country called Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, with its capital Charlestown on the west coast of Nevis Island. Nevis Island has an area of 93 km2, while Saint Kitts reaches 168 kmtwo, both were British colonies and are located about 13 km southeast of St. Eustatius.
These two islands are to the east of Saint Kitts and Nevis, with Barbuda to the north and Antigua to the south, separated from each other by 43 km. It is an independent country within the British community of nations and its capital is Saint John in Antigua.
They are coral islands, with Antigua reaching an area of 281 kmtwo, while Barbuda has an area of 160.56 kmtwo. Additionally there are several other islands, including Redonda Island 50 km to the west, between the islands of Nieves and Montserrat..
The island of Montserrat is a British overseas territory located southwest of Antigua and Barbuda, with an area of 102 kmtwo. It is a volcanic island that has been recently affected by the eruptions of the Soufrière Hills volcano..
In fact, the southern half of the island has been evicted and Plymouth ceased to be the capital, temporarily relocating to Brades in the north..
It is a French overseas department made up of four main islands and several smaller ones, the two largest being very close. These are the Basse-Terre islands to the west and Grande-Terre to the east, which are located southeast of Montserrat and north of Dominica..
The island of Basse-Terre has an area of 847.8 kmtwo, while Grande-Terre is somewhat smaller with 586.68 kmtwo. The third island in extension is Marie Galante, followed by La Désirade, and then the islands des Saintes (Islands of Los Santos).
This is a volcanic island that constitutes a sovereign country, with an extension of 750 kmtwo and located south of Guadalupe. Its capital is the city of Roseau located on the southwest coast of the island, which was originally colonized by the French and later by the English..
This island is located to the south-southeast of Dominica, being a French territorial community with an extension of 1,128 kmtwo. Its capital is Fort de France (Fort of France) and it is located on the west coast in the bay of the same name..
Saint Lucia is located in the south of Martinique, with an area of 617 kmtwo, and its capital is Castries on the northwest coast. It was a colony alternating between French and British, to finally remain in the hands of the latter and is currently an independent nation member of the British community.
It is a group of islands that make up an independent country that is a member of the British community of nations. The main island is San Vincent (San Vicente) with 345 Kmtwo where the capital Kingstown is located and a good part of the Grenadines archipelago is part of the country.
It is an independent nation that is a member of the British community of nations, located at the southern tip of the Grenadine island chain. The country is made up of the island of Granada, which covers 315 kmtwo, and 6 islands of the Grenadines, the largest being Carriacou (31 Kmtwo) and Little Martinique (2.37 Kmtwo).
It is a continental island that is outside the line of the Lesser Antilles. It is located to the east, about 160 km from San Vicente and 363 km north of South America.
This island has a total area of 432 Kmtwo and its capital is Bridgetown located to the southwest. It is a sovereign country member of the British community of nations.
They are two continental islands, the largest of them Trinidad is barely 9.5 km from South America (Venezuela). The island of Trinidad is larger than any of the Lesser Antilles, with 4,768 kmtwo It is the fifth largest in the Caribbean and Tobago has an area of 300 kmtwo, located approximately 35 km northeast of Trinidad.
Trinidad and Tobago, plus other smaller islands, make up an independent nation, a member of the British community of nations. The capital is Port of Spain located northwest of the island of Trinidad.
North of Venezuela extend the islands that make up the Windward Antilles, all of which belong to Venezuela, except Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire. The largest of the Venezuelan islands is Margarita with 1,020 kmtwo, followed by the islands of Coche and Cubagua plus 12 small islands and archipelagos of coral origin.
These three islands are located off the eastern coast of Venezuela, the largest of which is the island of Aruba with 180 kmtwo and only 29 km from the South American coast. While Curaçao is located east of Aruba and has an area of 444 kmtwo.
Both islands are constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while Bonaire with an area of 294 Kmtwo, is a special municipality of the Netherlands.
This archipelago, made up of the islands of The Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands and 700 other islands, is not part of the Antilles. This is because they are located north of Cuba, in the Atlantic Ocean outside the Caribbean Sea..
Politically this archipelago is divided into two countries, the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The first of them has Nassau as its capital, located on the island of New Providence, which has 207 kmtwo.
Being the largest of the islands the Grand Bahama with 1,400 kmtwo, located just 103 km from Florida (USA). While the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands belongs to the United Kingdom and consists of 30 islands.
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