Greater Antilles
| Greater Antilles | |
|---|---|
| Waters | Caribbean Sea |
| archipelago | West Indies |
| Geographical location | 21 ° 59 ′ N , 79 ° 2 ′ W |
 |
|
| Main island |
 Cuba
|
The Greater Antilles are a group of islands in the Caribbean .
geography
Together with the Lesser Antilles , the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas , the Greater Antilles form the West Indies .
The adjective “large” refers to the four major islands (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico), but the archipelago includes a large number of smaller islands and archipelagos. Together, the four main islands make up about 90% of the area of the Caribbean islands .
Geologically, they have a similar structure to the Central American mainland, made of slate, gneiss and old igneous rocks as well as young mussel and coral limestone in the north.
Surname
The name Antilles for these islands is first recorded in writing by the Spanish humanist Petrus Martyr von Anghiera in 1493 . It is possibly derived from the legendary island of Antilia , which was suspected to be in the Atlantic during the Middle Ages , or from the Latin ante "before", since the islands are offshore from Central America .
Islands and archipelagos
| location | Group / main island | Political status | Islands |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cuba
|
Island nation | Cuba (island) |
| Archipelago de Sabana | |||
| Jardines del Rey | |||
| Archipelago de Camagüey | |||
| Archipelago de los Canarreos | |||
| Jardines de la Reina | |||
|
 Cayman Islands
|
British overseas territory | Grand Cayman |
| Little Cayman | |||
| Cayman Brac | |||
|
 Jamaica
|
Island nation | Jamaica (island) |
| Pedro Cays | |||
| Morant Cays | |||
| Port Royal Cays | |||
|
.svg){kind=small} Navassa
|
American territory | Navassa |
|
Hispaniola and surrounding islands | Island state of Haiti
|
Hispaniola (western part) |
| Ile de la Tortue | |||
| Île de la Gonâve | |||
| Île Grande Cayemite | |||
| Ile à Vache | |||
Island state of Dominican Republic (eastern part of Hispaniola)
 |
Hispaniola (eastern part) | ||
| Cayos de Siete Hermanos | |||
| Isla Beata | |||
| Isla Saona | |||
|
Puerto Rico Archipelago
|
island state associated with the USA | Puerto Rico (island) |
| Mona and Monita | |||
| Desecheo | |||
| Caja de Muertos | |||
| Vieques | |||
| Culebra Archipelago: Culebra , Culebrita and 22 other islands |
The islands off the east coast of Puerto Rico are also known locally as the "Spanish Virgin Islands". In this respect, along with the Virgin Islands , they can also be geographically assigned to the Lesser Antilles .
