Vacation has always been a way for people to escape the monotonous activities of daily life. It's a way to escape the real world and spend a few days with nothing to worry about other than figuring out what to do. For some people, the idea of ​​vacation means going somewhere warm and intriguing, a place that could entertain and captivate a person for days. For many people, that place might be the Caribbean Islands. The Caribbean is a place of wonder and attracts thousands of people each year because of its diverse history and culture. The Caribbean Islands are a chain of more than 7,000 islands in the Caribbean Sea, located directly south of Florida and east of Mexico. The majority of Caribbean islands are small, around 100 square miles. However, there are still large islands. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, but it is still smaller than the state of Ohio. (West) Some of the well-known Caribbean islands include Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, and the US Virgin Islands. These islands all make up the area known today as the West Indies. The Antilles are so named to differentiate the East Indian Islands found in the Pacific Ocean. When Columbus first landed on these islands, he believed them to be part of the Indies in the Pacific Ocean. When it was discovered that the islands were not actually part of the Indies, the islands were given their current names to differentiate them. Although these islands are still called the West Indies today, people know them better as the Caribbean Islands. In the Antilles, the islands are further classified into Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles. The...... middle of paper ......://www.school.eb.com/all/comptons/article-9272832>."Latin America." Compton's by Britannica. Online school edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. November 11, 2011."Lesser Antilles." Compton's by Britannica. Online school edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. November 27, 2011. "travel and tourism." Compton's by Britannica. Online school edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. November 11, 2011. "West Indies." Compton's by Britannica. Online school edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. November 11. 2011..