Islands Between Florida and Venezuela

The island chain stretching from the Florida Straits to the Venezuelan coast forms the Greater and Lesser Antilles—the Caribbean's backbone:

Major Islands (West to East)

1. The Bahamas – 700+ islands/cays; starts ~50 mi east of Miami.
2. Turks & Caicos (UK) – Southeast of Bahamas.
3. Cuba – Largest Caribbean island; 90 mi south of Key West.
4. Jamaica – 90 mi south of Cuba.
5. Hispaniola – Haiti (west) + Dominican Republic (east).
6. Puerto Rico (US) – East of Hispaniola.
7. Virgin Islands – USVI (St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix) + BVI (Tortola, Virgin Gorda) (UK).
8. Lesser Antilles (volcanic arc) – North to south:
   • Anguilla, St. Martin/Sint Maarten, St. Barthélemy
   • Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts & Nevis
   • Antigua & Barbuda
   • Montserrat (UK)
   • Guadeloupe (France)
   • Dominica
   • Martinique (France)
   • St. Lucia
   • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
   • Grenada
9. Trinidad & Tobago – Just 11 km off Venezuela's Paria Peninsula.

Netherlands Antilles remnants (Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire) lie west of Trinidad, on the South American continental shelf.

This arc defines the Caribbean Plate boundary and has shaped centuries of trade, colonization, and culture.