Windward Islands

This article is about the Caribbean island group. For the eastern Society Islands in French Polynesia, see Windward Islands (Society Islands). The southeastern Hawaiian Islands are also occasionally referred to as the Windward Islands.

The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies.

Contents

Name and geography

The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds in the West Indies blow east to west. The trans-Atlantic currents and winds that provided the fastest route across the ocean brought these ships to the rough dividing line between the Windward and Leeward islands. Vessels in the Atlantic slave trade departing from the African Gold Coast and Gulf of Guinea would first encounter the southeasternmost islands of the Lesser Antilles in their west-northwesterly heading to final destinations in the Caribbean and North and Central America. The chain of islands form a part of the easternmost boundary of the Caribbean Sea.[1][2]

The Antillean Windward Islands from north to south are:

Terminology

In languages other than English (i.e., Dutch, French, German and Spanish), and also in the local English of some islands, "windward" and "leeward" refer to different groups of islands. In both cases, the east/southeasternmost group are called windward, while the westernmost are called leeward. The group of islands along the Venezuelan coast is called the Leeward Antilles in English.

Language Windward Islands Leeward Islands
English
Others

References

  1. ^ "Windward Islands". Encyclopaedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/645259/Windward-Islands. ""a line of West Indian islands constituting the southern arc of the Lesser Antilles, at the eastern end of the Caribbean Sea, between latitudes 12° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W. They include, from north to south, the English-speaking island of Dominica; the French département of Martinique; the English-speaking islands of Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and Grenada; and, between Saint Vincent and Grenada, the chain of small islands known as the Grenadines. Though near the general area, Trinidad and Tobago (at the south end of the group) and Barbados (just east) are usually not considered part of the Windward Islands. "" 
  2. ^ Chapter 4 - The Windward Islands and Barbados - U.S. Library of Congress

See also

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.