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The term Antilles dates traditionally from before the Europeans discovered the New World, when Antilia referred to semi mythical lands located somewhere west of Europe across the Atlantic. On medieval charts it was sometimes indicated as a continent or large island and sometimes as an archipelago.
The Greater Antilles are the four largest islands of the Antilles. They are Cuba, Hispagnola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Jamaica and Puerto Rico. The Bahamas is not considered as a part of the Greater Antilles. Geographically, it is located between Florida (USA) to the north, Cuba to the southwest and Hispagnola to the south. Although its global land mass is about the size of Jamaica, its low population of 287.000 thousands and the fact that it is an archipellago of 700 small island and not a solid piece of land forming one island makes it a part of the lesser Antilles. There is also the very important physiographic fact that the Bahamian plateau appeared to be part of a the same land mass than Florida. It is separated from Florida by a navigable valley. The Greater Antilles are a triangular underwater mountain range including Cuba, Jamaica, Hispagnola and Puerto Rico. On the gravimetric map below, one can see the mountain range and its prolongation by the arc shaped mountain of the Lesser Antilles which finishes with the Venezuelan isle of Margarita.