Windward Islands

From CrisisWiki

Introduction

The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. The prevailing trade winds in the West Indies blow from east to west. The trans-Atlantic currents and winds that provided the fastest route across the ocean brought sailing ships to the rough dividing line between the Windward and Leeward Islands. Wikipedia:Windward Islands

Definitions: Windward - the direction from which the wind is coming. Leeward - the direction in which the wind is blowing

The Antillean Windward Islands from north to south are:

• Dominica
• Martinique (an overseas department of France)
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent
• Grenadines
• Grenada

Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago do not consider themselves part of the Windward Islands but are sometimes included due to proximity and the fact that they are windward relative to other Caribbean isles.

Language differences

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. Wikipedia:Windward Islands

See also

• Caribbean see for list of all Caribbean Islands
  • Lesser Antilles
    • Leeward Islands
    • Leeward Antilles
• Wikipedia:Windward Islands