Geographically speaking, St. John can be classified as belonging to the following island groups: What do these classifications mean?
West Indies
Caribbean
Greater Antilles
Virgin Islands
United States Virgin
Islands
The West Indies
The West Indies usually refers to the non Latin islands of the Caribbean,
but can also mean all the Caribbean Islands plus the Bahamas and Turks
and Caicos. The term "West Indies" came into being to differentiate
these islands from the East Indies, the territory that Columbus was seeking
when he first ventured across the Atlantic.
The Caribbean
The Caribbean Sea is defined by the continental landmass of South and
Central America on the south and west and by the islands of the Caribbean
on the north and east. The Caribbean also refers to the islands that border
or lie within the Caribbean Sea and sometimes to the adjacent mainland
countries.
Greater
Antilles
The northern border of the Caribbean is formed by a vast underwater mountain
range whose giant peaks break through the surface of the ocean to form
the larger islands of the Caribbean, such as Cuba, Hispañola and
Puerto Rico. Because of their size (compared to the smaller islands of
the Lesser Antilles that make up the eastern extreme of the Caribbean)
they are known as the Greater Antilles.
St. John is part of a mostly underwater mountain plateau called the Puerto Rican Bank. This plateau, or shelf, extends from Puerto Rico on the west to Anegada and the Anegada reef on the east. The highest sections of this plateau rise above the sea to form Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, and the American and British Virgin Islands with the exception of St Croix. The lower areas of the shelf lie under relatively shallow water, seldom more than 180 feet deep. In fact, during the last ice age, about 20,000 years ago, when the depth of the Earth's oceans was two to three hundred feet lower than it is today, the entire bank was above water and constituted one large island.
St. Croix is technically not part of the Greater Antilles because it is separated from the Puerto Rican Bank by extremely deep water.
Although geographically part of the Greater Antilles, the Virgin Islands are comparable in size to the Lesser Antilles and are not far from the northern end of this island group, separated only by the relatively narrow Anegada Passage. Moreover, historically, culturally, linguistically and politically, the Virgin Islands have more in common with the islands of the Lesser Antilles than with the Greater Antilles.
The Virgin
Islands
Geographically the Virgin Islands belong to the archipelago of small islands
and cays that lie on the Puerto Rican Bank east of Puerto Rico. They include
the Puerto Rican islands of Culebra and Vieques and the United States
and British Virgin Islands with the exception of St. Croix.
The United States
Virgin Islands
The United States Virgin Islands is a political term for the islands that
used to be known as the Danish West Indies until they were purchased by
the United States in 1917. These islands including St. Thomas, St. John
and St. Croix then became known as the United States Virgin Islands.
Until the Americans changed the name of the Danish West Indies, what is today called the British Virgin Islands were simply, the Virgin Islands. To avoid confusion after the 1917 purchase, the English renamed their Caribbean colony, the British Virgin Islands."