Direct answer: The West Indies are a group of islands in the Caribbean region and the adjacent Atlantic Ocean, stretching from the northern coast of South America up to roughly the Bahamas and the southern coast of Florida. They include a chain of greater and lesser Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago, comprising 13 independent countries and many dependent territories. Details to help you locate them geographically and politically:
- Location in the Caribbean: The core of the West Indies lies in the Caribbean Sea, with some islands in the adjacent Atlantic Ocean. They form a crescent from Cuba in the northwest to Trinidad and Tobago at the southern end, and include the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos in the northern Atlantic area. This archipelago layout places the West Indies between North and South America and surrounding the Caribbean basin.
- Political composition: The West Indies comprises 13 independent countries and a number of dependencies/territories. The independent states typically cited are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. In addition, numerous territories belong to countries like the United States, United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and others.
- Geographical subregions:
- Greater Antilles: larger islands including Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Jamaica, and Puerto Rico (a U.S. territory).
- Lesser Antilles: a chain of smaller islands split into the Leeward and Windward Islands, with various political statuses.
- Lucayan Archipelago: islands in the Atlantic northeast of Cuba, including the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
If you’d like, I can tailor this to a specific subset (for example, just the independent countries, or the major island groups) or provide a simple map- oriented description with coordinates for each island.
