This a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in the West Indies. The West Indies can be taken to mean all the countries in and around the Caribbean Sea that lies within an area that stretches from Grand Bahama Island in the north to Curaçao in the south, and French Guiana in the east to Belize in the west. This is an expanse (mostly of ocean) which measures about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) from north to south, and over 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometres) from east to west.