Title: Caribbean Landforms and Land Statistics
Headings: Caribbean Geography
Caribbean Geography
Content: The largest islands in the Caribbean are Cuba, Jamaica,Hispaniola ( divided into the two separate political units of Haiti and the Dominican Republic ), and Puerto Rico. THE ANTILLES: The majority of the Caribbean islands (called the West Indies) form a large arc extending eastward from the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and south from the Florida peninsula in the United States, ending off the northeastern coastline of South America. The Lesser Antilles, are part of the Antilles, which together with the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos and Greater Antilles all form the West Indies. The Lesser Antilles begin to the east of Puerto Rico. This long chain of smaller islands, bordered in the east by the Atlantic Ocean, curve southward, terminating in Trinidad just off the northern coast of Venezuela. Those Lesser Antilles are subdivided into the Leeward Islands group in the north and the Windward Islands group in the south. Also included in the Antilles are the Leeward Antilles consisting of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and a small group of Venezuelan islands. VOLCANOES: Most of the Caribbean is volcanic in origin, and many of the smaller ( as well as larger) islands have a central volcanic peak or a mountainous interior.