Caribbean Islands: Complete Greater & Lesser Antilles List

The Caribbean archipelago divides into two main chains:

Greater Antilles (Large Islands, West)

• Cuba — Largest (109,884 km²); 11M people
• Hispaniola — Haiti (west) + Dominican Republic (east); 22M combined
• Jamaica — 10,991 km²; 2.8M
• Puerto Rico — U.S. territory; 3.2M
• Cayman Islands — UK territory; financial hub

Note: Bahamas & Turks & Caicos are geologically separate (Lucayan Archipelago) but often grouped politically.

Lesser Antilles (Volcanic Arc, East/South)

Leeward Islands (North)

• U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix)
• British Virgin Islands (Tortola, Virgin Gorda)
• Anguilla (UK)
• St. Martin / Sint Maarten (FR/NL — smallest shared island)
• St. Barthélemy (FR)
• Saba (NL — volcanic peak)
• Sint Eustatius (NL)
• St. Kitts & Nevis (independent)
• Antigua & Barbuda (independent)
• Montserrat (UK — active volcano)
• Guadeloupe (FR — butterfly-shaped)

Windward Islands (South)

• Dominica (independent — "Nature Island")
• Martinique (FR)
• St. Lucia (independent — Pitons)
• St. Vincent & the Grenadines (independent)
• Grenada (independent — "Spice Isle")

Leeward Antilles (Off Venezuela — Dutch ABC Islands)

• Aruba (NL — autonomous)
• Bonaire (NL — special municipality)
• Curaçao (NL — autonomous)

Trinidad & Tobago

Geologically South American (continental shelf); culturally Caribbean. Southernmost.

Quick Reference

• 13 sovereign states
• 17+ territories (UK, FR, NL, US)
• ~44M total population

The Caribbean is a geological, political, and cultural mosaic—not a monolith.