Antilles

Antilles, an archipelago in the Atlantic, composed of islands that extend in a curve from the Gulf of Florida to the Gulf of Maracaibo, embracing in their midst the Caribbean Sea. The term, however, does not apply to the Bahamas. The Greater Antilles include Cuba, Jamaica, Hayti, and Porto Rico, and the islands west and south-west of these are called the Lesser Antilles. These latter are divided, according to the prevailing trade wind, into the Leeward Islands to the north, and the Windward Islands or Caribbees to the south. But this classification is somewhat vague, the Greater Antilles and the islands off the coast of Venezuela being sometimes grouped with the Leeward Islands, whilst the Virgin Islands, west of Porto Rico, are looked on as distinct. The total area of the Antilles is about 90,000 square miles. They are divided as follows between various European Powers. Great Britain: Jamaica, Tortola, Anegada, Antigua, St. Christopher, Montserrat, Nevis, Barbuda, Anguilla, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, the Grenadines, Barbados, Tobago, and Trinidad. France: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Marie Galante, Desirade, Petite Terre, Les Saintes, and part of St. Martin. Spain: Cuba, Porto Rico, Pinos, and Vicque. Denmark: Santa Cruz, St. Thomas, St. John. Dutch: Curacoa, St. Eustace, and part of St. Martin. Sweden: St Bartholomew. As a general rule the islands are fertile, producing sugar, cocoa, coffee, drugs, fruits, timber, etc., and possess a warm climate tempered by winds from the sea. These winds at certain seasons take the form of hurricanes, or cyclones, that are destructive alike on shore and at sea. These islands are fairly healthy considering their tropical position, but are liable to occasional visitations of yellow fever. Each of the principal members of the groups will be found described under its own name. Columbus, after discovering the Bahamas, came upon Cuba, which he took to be Antilla, an imaginary island placed by the early geographers west of the Azores. Hence the name Antilles.