Antilles, Greater and Lesser

Antilles, Greater and Lesser

Two groups of islands in the West Indies, bounding the Caribbean Sea on the north and east, respectively. The Greater Antilles include the largest islands (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico), the Lesser Antilles all being much smaller. The name Antilia originally referred to semimythical lands located somewhere west of Europe across the Atlantic. After Christopher Columbus's discoveries, the Spanish name Antillas was commonly assigned to the new lands; “Sea of the Antilles” in various European languages is used as an alternative name for the Caribbean Sea.