9781422286265

(Opposite) Shadows over Havana, the capital of Cuba and the largest city in the Caribbean. (Right) The U.S. Virgin Islands.

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The Land

THE CARIBBEAN SEA is home to thousands of large and small islands, which arc from Florida’s tip to the coast of Venezuela. These islands are sometimes called the West Indies. Cuba, the largest and most populous island in the Caribbean Sea, lies just 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Key West, Florida. To Cuba’s north are the Bahamas, comprising some 700 islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. To the southeast lie Jamaica and the island of Hispaniola, which is divided between the countries of Haiti on the west and the Dominican Republic on the east. Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States, lies further east. Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico make up the island group called the Greater Antilles, the largest islands of the Caribbean. A collection of smaller islands curving to the southeast makes up the Lesser Antilles. Beginning with the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, the chain

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