The West Indies are a crescent-shaped group of islands enclosing the Caribbean Sea, separating it and the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic Ocean to the east and north. The island chain stretches over 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometres).
The islands of the West Indies are divided into the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The Greater Antilles include Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico. The Lesser Antilles include the Virgin Islands, Windward Islands chain, Barbados, and the islands in the southern Caribbean Sea north of Venezuela and the Bahamas. Bermuda is not physiographically part of the West Indies, but is often included because of its historical political ties to the region.
The highest mountain ranges exist in the the greater Antilles. With Hispaniola having the first and second highest mountains (Dominican Republic and Haiti respectively), Jamaica the third highest mountain and Cuba the fourth highest.
Island | Mountain | Elevation | Mapit |
---|---|---|---|
Dominican Republic | Pico Duarte | 10,128ft / 3087m | |
Haiti | Pic la Selle | 8,793ft / 2,680m | |
Jamaica | Blue Mountain Peak | 7,402ft / 2,256m | |
Cuba | Pico Turquino | 6,469ft / 1,972m | |
Guadeloupe | La Grande Soufrière | 4,813ft / 1,467m | |
Dominica | Morne Diablotin | 4,747ft / 1,447m | |
Martinique | La Montagne Pelée | 4,524ft / 1,397m | |
Puerto Rico | Cerro de Punta | 4,390ft / 1,338m | |
St Vincent & the Grenadines | La Soufriere | 4,049ft / 1,234m | |
St Kitts & Nevis | Mount Liamuiga | 3,793ft / 1,156m | |
Montserrat | Soufriere Hills | 3,573ft / 1,089m | |
St Lucia | Mount Gimie | 3,118ft / 950 m | |
Trinidad & Tobago | El Cerro del Aripo | 3,084 feet / 940m | |
Saba | Mount Scenery | 2,864ft / 873 m | |
Grenada | Mount Saint Catherine | 2,756ft / 840m | |
St Eustatius | The Quill | 1,968ft / 600m | |
British Virgin Islands | Mount Sage | 1,709ft / 521m | |
St Thomas, US Virgin Islands | Crown Mountain | 1,555ft / 474m | |
St Martin/Sint Maarten | Pic Paradis | 1,391ft / 424m | |
Antigua & Barbuda | Mount Obama/Boggy Peak | 1,319ft / 402m | |
Curacao | Sint Christoffelberg | 1,237ft / 377m | |
Barbados | Mount Hillaby | 1,102ft / 336m | |
St Barthelemy | Morne du Vitet | 986ft / 286m | |
Bonaire | Monte Brandaris | 791ft / 241m | |
Aruba | Mount Jamanota | 617ft / 188m | |
Anguilla | Crocus Hill | 213ft / 65m | |
Bahamas | Mount Alvernia | 206ft / 63m | |
Turks and Caicos Islands | Blue Hills | 163ft / 50m | |
Cayman Islands | The Bluff | 141ft / 43m |