The Antilles

The Greater Antilles are made up of Continent al rock, as distinct from the Lesser Antilles , which are mostly young Volcanic or coral islands.

Geographically , the Antilles are typically reckoned as part of North America . Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico – due to the prevalence of Spanish – are included in Latin America .

BACKGROUND

Like the name '' Brazil '', the word ''Antilles'' dates from a period before the discovery of the New World , " Antilia " being one of those mysterious lands which figured on the medieval Chart s sometimes as an Archipelago , sometimes as continuous land of greater or lesser extent, constantly fluctuating in mid-ocean between the Canaries and East India .

After discovery of the West Indies by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and the realisation that they comprised an extensive archipelago enclosing the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf Of Mexico , the Spanish term ''Antillas'' was commonly assigned to the new lands. Stemming from this, "Sea of the Antilles" is a common alternate name for the Caribbean Sea in various European languages.

GREATER ANTILLES

''Main article: Greater Antilles .''