Antilles for Dummies

Antilles is a word that refers to a group of islands located in the Caribbean Sea. It's like a big family of islands where they all belong and get along with each other. Just like how you have friends or classmates in your school who are part of your own class community, these islands are part of the same island community called the Antilles.

Now, the Antilles is divided into two main sections: the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. It's kind of like splitting a big pizza into two parts. The Greater Antilles is like the bigger slice, which includes four large islands: Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico. These islands are like the cool older siblings of the Antilles family.

On the other hand, the Lesser Antilles are like the smaller slices of the pizza, represented by a chain of little islands that stretch from Puerto Rico all the way down towards Venezuela. Imagine these islands as the cute little cousins of the Antilles family. They might be smaller, but they each have their own unique charm and beauty.

The word "Antilles" comes from a Latin word called "ante," which means "before." This is because these islands were thought to be located "before" or to the west of another group of islands called the Canary Islands. It's like how in a race, the runner that finishes before someone else is called the "ante" runner.

So, to sum it all up, when we talk about the Antilles, we are talking about a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. These islands are divided into the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles, just like a big pizza divided into two slices. The Antilles family includes bigger islands like Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles, and smaller islands in the Lesser Antilles. And the word "Antilles" comes from the Latin word meaning "before," as these islands are located to the west or "before" the Canary Islands.