THE WEST INDIES - About the Caribbean The West Indies
archipelago, which includes thousands of tiny islands, forms a
massive breakwater 2,000 miles long consisting of islands and
reefs, which protects the Caribbean Sea against the Atlantic
Ocean. This barriar provides the Caribbean its much touted calm
and clear waters. The West Indies is known by a variety of
names. The earliest name, and the one most frequently used, is
West Indies. Christopher Columbus gave the region that name
erroneously when he arrived in 1492. He thought that he had
circumnavigated the earth and that the islands were off the
coast of India. Over time other names came into use. Old
Caribbean Map GEOGRAPHY: Spain and France called the islands the
Antilles, after the mythological Atlantic island of Antilia. The
larger islands (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico) came
to be known as the Greater Antilles, while the remaining smaller
islands were called the Lesser Antilles. Today we break the area
into four island chains: The Bahamas