The Caribbean is made up of more than 700 islands, reefs, and cays, which are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. Many of these territories speak English, French, Spanish, or a local Creole dialect.

The Caribbean is a vast archipelago comprising more than 700 islands, islets, and cays. However, this number is a matter of geographic definition; if you count every single rock and coral outcrop that stays above sea level at high tide, the number exceeds several thousand. These are organized into roughly 30 different territories, including 13 sovereign island nations and various overseas dependencies of the UK, France, the Netherlands, and the US. The region is traditionally divided into the Greater Antilles (the larger islands like Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico), the Lesser Antilles (the smaller chain to the east and south), and the Lucayan Archipelago (The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos). In 2026, while only about 100 of these islands are permanently inhabited, they represent an incredible diversity of cultures, languages, and ecosystems. For the modern traveler, the "Big 700" remains the standard figure used to describe the total number of distinct landmasses within this tropical region, ranging from the volcanic peaks of Dominica to the flat coral cays of the Grenadines.