Antilles
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2008-07-15T06:57:56Z
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Updated dashes.
[[Image:CaribbeanIslands.png|right|400px|thumb|Map of the Antilles]]
The '''Antilles''' (the same in [[French language|French]]; ''Antillas'' in [[Spanish language|Spanish]]; ''Antillen'' in [[Dutch language|Dutch]]) refers to the islands forming the greater part of the [[Caribbean|West Indies]] in the [[Caribbean Sea]]. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "[[Greater Antilles]]" to the north including the larger islands of [[Cuba]], [[Jamaica]], [[Hispaniola]] ([[Haiti]] and the [[Dominican Republic]]), and [[Puerto Rico]]; and the smaller "[[Lesser Antilles]]" on the southeast—comprising the northerly [[Leeward Islands]], the southeasterly [[Windward Islands]], and the [[Leeward Antilles]] just north of [[Venezuela]]. [[The Bahamas]], though part of the West Indies, are generally not included among the Antillean islands.<ref> Some sources, such as Encarta in Spanish, consider the Bahamas part of the Antilles. [http://es.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555176/Antillas.html] {{es icon}} </ref>
[[Geography|Geographically]], the Antilles are generally considered part of [[Americas|America]]. Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico—due to the prevalence of [[Spanish language|Spanish]]—are included in [[Latin America]].
In terms of [[geology]], the Greater Antilles are made up of [[continent]]al rock, as distinct from the Lesser Antilles, which are mostly young [[volcano|volcanic]] or [[coral]] islands.
== Background ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Caribbean]] -->
[[Image:Carte antilles 1843.jpg|thumb|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]] [[chart]]s, 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]].
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 comprised an extensive archipelago enclosing the [[Caribbean Sea]] and the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. Thereafter, the term ''Antilles'' was commonly assigned to the formation, and "Sea of the Antilles" became a common alternate name for the Caribbean Sea in various European languages.
== Greater Antilles ==
{{main|Greater Antilles}}
* {{flagicon|Cuba}} [[Cuba]]
* [[Hispaniola]]
** {{flagicon|Dominican Republic}} [[Dominican Republic]]
** {{flagicon|Haiti}} [[Haiti]]
* {{flagicon|Jamaica}} [[Jamaica]]
* {{flagicon|Puerto Rico}} [[Puerto Rico]] ([[Unites States of America|U.S.]] [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|commonwealth]])
== Lesser Antilles ==
{{main|Lesser Antilles}}
* {{flagicon|Anguilla}} [[Anguilla]] (UK)
* {{flagicon|Antigua and Barbuda}} [[Antigua and Barbuda]]
** [[Redonda]] (Ant.)
* {{flagicon|Aruba}} [[Aruba]] (Neth.)
* {{flagicon|Barbados}} [[Barbados]]
* {{flagicon|British Virgin Islands}} [[British Virgin Islands]] (UK)
* {{flagicon|Dominica}} [[Dominica]]
* {{flagicon|Grenada}} [[Grenada]]
* {{flagicon|Guadeloupe|local}} [[Guadeloupe]] (Fr.), known as the [[French Antilles]] together with Martinique.
* {{flagicon|Martinique|local}} [[Martinique]] (Fr.), known as the [[French Antilles]] together with Guadeloupe.
* {{flagicon|Montserrat}} [[Montserrat]] (UK)
* [[Netherlands Antilles]] (Neth.)
** {{flagicon|Bonaire}} [[Bonaire]] (Neth. Ant.)
** {{flagicon|Curaçao}} [[Curaçao]] (Neth. Ant.)
** {{flagicon|Saba}} [[Saba]] (Neth. Ant.)
** {{flagicon|Sint Eustatius}} [[Saint Eustatius]] (Neth. Ant.)
* {{flagicon|Saint Barthélemy|local}} [[Saint Barthélemy]] (Fr.)
* {{flagicon|Saint Kitts and Nevis}} [[Saint Kitts and Nevis]]
* {{flagicon|Saint Lucia}} [[Saint Lucia]]
* [[Saint Martin]]
** {{flagicon|Saint Martin|local}} [[Saint Martin (France)|Saint Martin]] (Fr.)
** {{flagicon|Sint Maarten}} [[Sint Maarten]] (Neth. Ant.)
* {{flagicon|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}} [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]]
* {{flagicon|Trinidad and Tobago}} [[Trinidad and Tobago]]
** [[Tobago]]
** [[Trinidad]]
* {{flagicon|U.S. Virgin Islands}} [[U.S. Virgin Islands]]
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
== References ==
*{{1911}}
[[Category:Caribbean islands]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes]]
[[Category:Greater Antilles| ]]
[[Category:Lesser Antilles| ]]
[[ar:جزر الأنتيل]]
[[ca:Antilles]]
[[cs:Antily]]
[[de:Antillen]]
[[es:Antillas]]
[[eo:Antiloj]]
[[eu:Antillak]]
[[fr:Antilles]]
[[fy:Antillen]]
[[ko:안틸레스 제도]]
[[is:Antillaeyjar]]
[[it:Antille]]
[[he:האיים האנטילים]]
[[lt:Antilai]]
[[nl:Antillen]]
[[ja:アンティル諸島]]
[[no:Antillene]]
[[nn:Antillane]]
[[pl:Antyle]]
[[ru:Антильские острова]]
[[scn:Antilli]]
[[sk:Antily]]
[[sr:Антили]]
[[tr:Antiller]]
[[uk:Антильські острови]]
[[vec:Antiłe]]
[[zh:安的列斯群島]]