While most of the Greater Antilles consists of independent countries, Puerto Rico and Navassa Island areunincorporated territories of theUnited States, while the Cayman Islands are aBritish Overseas Territory. The largest island is Cuba, which extends to the western end of the island group. Puerto Rico lies on the eastern end, and the island of Hispaniola, the most populated island, is located in the middle. Jamaica lies to the south of Cuba, while the Cayman Islands are located to the west. The state ofFlorida is the closest point in the U.S. mainland to the Greater Antilles, while theFlorida Keys, though not part of the Greater Antilles, is an island group north of Cuba.
The wordAntilles originated in the period before theEuropean conquest of theNew World. Europeans used the termAntillia as one of the mysterious lands featured on medieval charts, sometimes as an archipelago, sometimes as continuous land of greater or lesser extent, its location fluctuating mid-ocean between the Canary Islands and Eurasia.
The first European contact with the Greater Antilles came from Christopher Columbus'first voyage to the Americas, as he sailed south from theBahamas, exploring the northeast coast of Cuba and northern coast of Hispaniola. The Spanish began to create permanent settlements on Cuba and Hispaniola. TheAtlantic slave trade brought many Africans to the islands. France began to exert influence over Haiti from 1625, dividing Hispaniola into two halves. Neighbouring Jamaica wasinvaded by the British, defeating the Spanish colonists.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Spanish began to colonize the island of Puerto Rico. Despite theLaws of Burgos of 1512 and other decrees protecting indigenous populations, some Taíno Indians were forced into anencomienda system offorced labor in the early years of colonization.
Citadelle Laferrière, 19th-century fortress in Haiti. It was built by freed slaves as a defence againstFrance
The Dominican Republic regained independence from Haitian rule in 1844 after theDominican War of Independence. The rest of the Greater Antilles would remain under colonial rule for another hundred years. Along withthe Philippines in Asia, Spain transferred possession of Cuba and Puerto Rico to the United States as a result of its loss in theSpanish-American War in 1898, coinciding with theCuban War of Independence. This was the final loss of Spain's territorial possessions in the Americas.U.S. military rule over the island lasted until 1902, when Cuba was granted formal independence.
In 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the Jones–Shafroth Act (popularly known as the Jones Act), granting U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans born on or after April 25, 1898. In 1947, the U.S. Congress passed the Elective Governor Act, signed by President Truman, allowing Puerto Ricans to vote for their own governor. TheCuban Revolution in 1959 established Cuba as the onlycommunist state in the Greater Antilles.[3] Jamaica was granted independence from the U.K in August 1962 becoming the last currently independent state in the Greater Antilles to achieve independence.
The Greater Antilles comprises four major islands and numerous smaller ones. The island of Cuba is the largest island in the Greater Antilles, inLatin America, and in the Caribbean. It is followed by Hispaniola. Geologically, theVirgin Islands are also part of the Greater Antilles, though politically they are considered part of theLesser Antilles. With an area of 207,411 square kilometres (80,082 sq mi), not counting the Virgin Islands, the Greater Antilles constitute nearly 90% of the land mass of the entireWest Indies,[4] as well as over 90% of its population.
The remainder of the land belongs to the archipelago of theLesser Antilles, which is a chain of islands to the east, running north–south and encompassing the eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea where it meets theAtlantic Ocean, as well as to the south, running east–west off the northern coast ofSouth America.
TheLucayan Archipelago is not considered part of the Antilles archipelagos but rather of the North Atlantic.
The islands exist because of the relative motion of theCaribbean Plate and surrounding plates.Obduction has scraped accumulated rock onto the North American plate, islands and intrusions have been formed byvolcanism, and the local crust has become deformed in other ways.
The Greater Antilles is considered part of Latin America. With a population of 38 million, it makes up 6% of Latin America's population. The capital of the Dominican Republic,Santo Domingo, with a population of over 2 million, is the largest city in the Greater Antilles. Other large cities includeHavana,Port-au-Prince,Kingston andSan Juan.[5]
In 2018, the quality of life was similar in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, whoseHuman Development Index categorized them as "high human development". Cuba, the independent nation with the highest HDI, ranked below Puerto Rico and the Cayman Islands, both of which are categorized as "very high". Haiti had the lowestHuman Development Index in the Greater Antilles and in all of the Americas at 0.498, which categorizes it as having "Low human development".[6]
Languages spoken in the Greater Antilles are mostly colonial languages, along with some Creole influence. Spanish is the main language in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Haiti has a Creole language,Haitian Creole, as one of its official languages, alongside French. English is the main language in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, though it is also an official language of Puerto Rico, where it is spoken as a second language. In Jamaica, a Creole language is spoken but carries no official recognition.
†Physiographically, thesecontinental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically.
#Bermuda is an isolatedNorth Atlanticoceanic island, physiographically not part of the Lucayan Archipelago, Antilles, Caribbean Sea nor North American continental nor South American continental islands. It is grouped with theNorthern American region, but occasionally also with the Caribbean region culturally.
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