The West Indies archipelago or group of islands extends in an arc from near southern Florida to the coast of Venezuela. It includes thousands of tiny islands, forms a breakwater 2000 miles long against the Atlantic Ocean, separating it from the Caribbean Sea.

The European explorer, Christopher Columbus gave the region the name West Indies as he thought he was travelling west on his way to India. Spain and France called the islands the Antilles, with the larger islands (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico) known as the Greater Antilles and the smaller islands known as the Lesser Antilles.

The Lesser Antilles were also divided into the Windward Islands and Leeward islands, in reference to the trade winds that blow from the northeast.