The Caribbean is better known for idyllic beaches than towering mountain peaks, but Pico Duarte in the western Dominican Republic still manages an impressive 10,164-foot elevation above sea level. It's the only mountain in the Caribbean to reach above 10,000 feet. Located in the Cordillera Central Mountain Range of western Dominican Republic, Duarte is high enough that it’s often shrouded in mist and sometimes even sees a dusting of snow.

The Puerto Rico Trench is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, reaching more than 27,000 feet beneath the water’s surface. Located just north of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the trench marks the boundary between two tectonic plates and separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Caribbean Sea. The Caribbean Plate and the North American Plate meet here, causing significant seismic activity.

Dominica may only be the sixteenth-largest island in the Caribbean, but it is home to the region’s longest hiking trail. The Waitukubuli Trail stretches for 115 miles through rainforest and mountains, from the island’s southern tip to its northernmost point. It's no doubt a challenging hike, taking an average of two weeks to complete, but the trail is divided into 14 sections if you don’t want to trek for the entire journey.

By both population (about 54,000) and area (100 square miles), Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest country this side of the Prime Meridian. Made up of two main semi-autonomous islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the country is located in the northern section of the Lesser Antilles. It is also a part of the Commonwealth, meaning that Queen Elizabeth II is technically its head of state.

The original colonial flag of Barbados featured a colorful scene of Poseidon carrying a trident while being carried by seahorses. As the island approached sovereignty, it sponsored a competition to design a new flag. One Bajan art teacher took inspiration from the former flag and distilled it to its most striking symbol, the trident. His design was chosen and was first hoisted on November 30, 1966, upon the country's independence.

Calypso music emerged in Trinidad in the mid-19th century, but its rhythmic origins are in the Kaiso style of music that the enslaved peoples of West Africa brought with them to the Caribbean. The music told stories and frequently made social commentary through song, often performed in an intimate call-and-response setting. Calypso became widely popular with the first commercial recordings of the 1920s and 1930s.

On October 12, 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus first landed in what Europeans called the "New World." His ships touched down on the beaches of the island of Guanahani in what is today the Bahamas. Though no one is certain which island Guanahani is today, most historians believe it is now known as San Salvador, which is what Columbus called it when he first arrived.

Sint Maarten's Princess Juliana International Airport’s 7,100-foot-runway runs almost right up to the edge of Maho Beach, requiring landing airplanes to fly very low over the beach to land. Onlookers can swim within feet of planes flying above them, and thrill-seekers can also watch and feel the jet engine power of planes taking off just beyond the airport's chain link fence.

Located in a bay west of Clarence Town in the Long Island of the Bahamas, Dean's Blue Hole is the second-deepest blue hole in the world. Blue holes are sinkholes that form underwater, and Dean's depth and location make it one of the most-visited in the world. It is a favorite spot of free-divers and many diving depth records have been set there.

Judging by the colonial architecture, the proclivity for gardens and cricket, and the other touches of Britain you see all around Barbados, “Little England” is a fitting nickname for Barbados. British rule in Barbados began in 1625, and its rich sugar-producing industry made it one of the most important colonies in the British Empire. In November 2021, the country became an independent republic and removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state.

The Rastafari religion originated among poor, socially disenfranchised Jamaican communities in the 1930s. It is estimated that there are about 1 million Rastas in the world today, most of whom live in Jamaica. The religion centers on the African diaspora and the belief that their continent is the Promised Land.

Bonaire is a long way from the Netherlands, but the tiny Caribbean island is nonetheless a special municipality of the Dutch Kingdom. It forms part of the “ABC Islands,” the westernmost island group in the Leeward Antilles. “A” stands for Aruba, and “C” stands for Curaçao. Bonaire is only about 110 square miles, but it does have a national park, Washington Slagbaai National Park.

The U.S. Army began its occupation of Puerto Rico in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. Later that year, the war would conclude with the Treaty of Paris, in which Spain ceded control of Guam, the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico to the United States. Though it no longer governs the island, Spain's influence is still felt in Puerto Rico's art, architecture, and language.

The French Caribbean includes several of the largest islands in the Lesser Antilles. France colonized Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Saint Barts in the 1600s, and hasn't yet given up control. In addition to these three islands, France also controls half of the island of Saint Martin; the other side is a Dutch territory.

Saint Lucia is named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse, a Christian martyr who died in 304 CE. Legend has it that a group of French sailors were shipwrecked near the mountainous island on December 13, 1502, which is the annual Feast Day for Saint Lucy, so they named their landing place after her.

Curaçao liqueur, which originally comes from the island of the same name, is made from the dried peel of the bitter orange laraha, a citrus fruit which is grown there. Distillers on the Dutch island have been utilizing the fruit since the 1800s to create their iconic drink, which is naturally clear before its trademark blue color is added.

The island of Hispaniola is home to two countries, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Of those, the Dominican Republic occupies the eastern 18,000 square miles of the island, while Haiti covers the other 10,000 to the west. Together, the countries' populations combine to make Hispaniola the most populous island in the Caribbean.

The Greater Antilles are made up of the larger, more northerly islands of the Caribbean, including Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. The Lesser Antilles are, as you can tell by their name, smaller, and include everything from Antigua and Barbuda to Trinidad and Tobago near Venezuela. Together, the Antilles comprise all of the Caribbean's West Indies except for the Bahamas.

Covering more than 42,000 square miles, Cuba is easily the largest island in the Caribbean Sea. Coming in second place at over 29,000 square miles is Hispaniola, which contains the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Despite its size, Cuba's 11 million residents make it only the second-most populous country in the region, just behind Haiti and just ahead of the Dominican Republic.

Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are the three "Saintly" island nations of the Caribbean. There are also the islands of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, but those are territories of France and the Netherlands. Due to the Catholic background of Christopher Columbus and other Spanish explorers at the time, many different Saints are honored in the names of Caribbean islands.