What is the Caribbean chain?

Physiographically, the Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea. To the north, the region is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the east and northeast. To the south lies the coastline of the continent of South America.



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The Antilles is an archipelago, or chain of islands, stretching more than 1,500 miles between in North and South America, bordered by the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. The Antilles are divided into two sections, the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles.

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The largest Caribbean islands are Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, known as the Greater Antilles. Trinidad, the larger island of Trinidad and Tobago, is situated just north of the Venezuelan coast.

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The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, and north of South America. Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region has more than 700 islands, islets, reefs, and cays.

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Jamaica is a mountainous island in the Caribbean Sea about 600 miles (965 kilometers) south of Miami, Florida. It is part of the chain of Caribbean islands called the Greater Antilles, along with Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico.

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The islands of the Caribbean are sorted into three main island groups: The Bahamas, the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. The Greater Antilles consists of Cuba, Jamaica, the island of Hispaniola (composed of Haiti on the west side and the Dominican Republic on the east side) and Puerto Rico.

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The name Caribbean derives from the Caribs, one of the region's dominant Native American groups at the time of European contact during the late 15th century.

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Good to know: Bimini, the westernmost island of The Bahamas is the nearest of these islands to Miami, Florida.

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Puerto Rico is an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea consisting of the main island, four small islands, and hundreds of cays and islets. The island territory is only 100 miles long and 35 miles wide (8,870 square kilometers).

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