Location of the Lesser Antilles (green) in relation to the rest of the Caribbean

Islands of the Lesser Antilles

The Lesser Antilles, also known as the Caribbees,^[1] are part of the Antilles, which together with the Bahamas and Greater Antilles form the West Indies. The Antilles (the same in French; Antillas in Spanish; Antillen in Dutch) refers to the islands forming the greater part of the The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an independent sovereign English -speaking country consisting of two thousand Cays and The Greater Antilles is one of three island groups in the Caribbean. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting The islands are part of a long volcanic island arc, most of which wraps around the eastern end of the Caribbean Sea on the western boundary with the Atlantic Ocean, and some of which lies on the southern fringe of the sea just north of South America. A volcanic arc is a chain of volcanic islands or Mountains formed by Plate tectonics as an oceanic Tectonic plate subducts under A volcanic arc is a chain of volcanic islands or Mountains formed by Plate tectonics as an oceanic Tectonic plate subducts under For the region see Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea (kəˈrɪbiən or /ˌkærɨˈbiːən/ is a tropical Sea in the Western Hemisphere South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a The Lesser Antilles more or less coincide with the outer edge of the Caribbean Plate, and many of the islands were formed by subduction, as one or more other plates slipped under the Caribbean Plate. The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic Tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South In Geology, a subduction zone is an area on Earth where two tectonic plates meet and move towards one another with one sliding underneath the other

Regional terminology

The two main groups of the Lesser Antilles are the Windward Islands in the south and the Leeward Islands in the north. This article is about the Caribbean island group For the eastern Society Islands in French Polynesia, see Windward Islands (Society Islands. The Leeward Islands are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain of islands part of the West Indies. 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 blow northeast to southwest. 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. Another group of the Lesser Antilles, is the Leeward Antilles which are found just north of Venezuela. Leeward Antilles are a chain of Islands in the Caribbean – specifically the southerly islands of the Lesser Antilles (and in turn the Antilles Venezuela (ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə) officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a country on the The Netherlands Antilles are divided into two groups, one in the southwest (Leeward Antilles) off the coast of Venezuela and one in northeast (Leeward Islands), although it uses different naming conventions locally, with the southwest grouping being known as the Leeward Islands and northeast group being known as the Windward Islands. The Netherlands Antilles ( Dutch:) previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles Venezuela (ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə) officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a country on the

Islands

The main Lesser Antilles are (from north to south to west):

Leeward Islands:

• U.S. Virgin Islands: St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix
• British Virgin Islands: Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Jost Van Dyke
• Anguilla (UK)
• Saint Martin/Sint Maarten (France/Neth. The Leeward Islands are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain of islands part of the West Indies. The United States Virgin Islands is a group of Islands in the Caribbean that are an Insular area of the United States. Saint Thomas is an Island in the Caribbean Sea, a County and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI an unincorporated DSC00835JPG|thumb|250px| Trunk Bay Beach in St John US Virgin Islands. The British Virgin Islands ( BVI) is a British overseas territory, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands which form part of the Archipelago of the Virgin Islands. Virgin Gorda is the third-largest (after Tortola and Anegada) and second most populous of the British Virgin Islands (BVI Anegada is the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands which form part of the Archipelago of the Virgin Islands. At roughly 8 square kilometers Jost Van Dyke is the smallest of the four main islands of the British Virgin Islands, the northern portion of the archipelago of the Anguilla (English pronunciation ang-GWILL-ah, æŋˈɡwɪlə is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean, one of the most northerly of the Leeward Saint Martin is a tropical Island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 300 km (186 miles east of Puerto Rico. Antilles)
• Saint-Barthélemy (Fr. Saint Barthélemy (Saint-Barthélemy officially the Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy (French Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy) is an Overseas collectivity )
• Saba (Neth. SABA was a German manufacturer for electronic equipment from the Black Forest up to the 1980s )
• Sint Eustatius (Neth. Sint Eustatius, also known as Statia, or Saint Eustace, is one of the islands which make up the Netherlands Antilles; it is in the northern Leeward )
• Saint Kitts
• Nevis
• Barbuda
• Antigua
• Redonda
• Montserrat (UK)
• Guadeloupe (Fr. Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island ( Saint-Christophe in French) is an Island in the West Indies NEVIS, or New Exhaust Valve & Intake System, is a type of Internal combustion engine developed by Cesare Bortone in cooperation with the University Barbuda is an Island in the Eastern Caribbean, and forms part of the state of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua (ænˈtiːgə an-TEE-gah) is an Island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region the main Redonda is a very small uninhabited Caribbean Island or Islet which is politically a part of the nation of Antigua and Barbuda, in the Montserrat (ˌmɒntsəˈræt is British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles Guadeloupe is an island group or Archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at, with a land area of 1628 square kilometres (629  sq )
• La Désirade (Fr. La Désirade is an island in the French overseas ''région'' and ''département'' of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. )
• Les Saintes (Fr. The Îles des Saintes (literally "Islands of the Saints" also called simply Les Saintes, are a group of Islands within the French overseas department )
• Marie-Galante (Fr. Marie-Galante is an island of the Caribbean Sea located in the Guadeloupean archipelago )

Windward Islands:

• Dominica
• Martinique (Fr. This article is about the Caribbean island group For the eastern Society Islands in French Polynesia, see Windward Islands (Society Islands. The Commonwealth of Dominica, commonly known as Dominica, is an Island nation in the Caribbean Sea. Martinique is an Island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, having a land area of 1128 km² )
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent
• Barbados
• Grenadines
• Grenada

Trinidad and Tobago (sometimes erroneously considered part of the windward islands)^[1][2]

Leeward Antilles – islands north of the Venezuelan coast (from west to east):

• Aruba (Neth. Saint Lucia (ˌseɪnt ˈluːʃɪə is an Island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. You may be looking for St Vincent Island Florida Saint Vincent is a volcanic Island in the Caribbean, the largest island Barbados ( Portuguese word for bearded-ones, bɑrˈbeɪdoʊz -dɒs situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent Island nation The Grenades are a Caribbean island chain of over 600 islands in the Windward Islands. Grenada (grɪˈneɪdə is an Island nation that includes the southern Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic Republic in the southern Caribbean which consists of numerous landforms Leeward Antilles are a chain of Islands in the Caribbean – specifically the southerly islands of the Lesser Antilles (and in turn the Antilles Venezuela (ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə) officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a country on the Aruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela )
• Curaçao (Neth. Curaçao (ˈkjuːrəsaʊ in English Dutch: Curaçao, Papiamento: Kòrsou) is an Island in the southern Caribbean Sea, )
• Bonaire (Neth. The Island Territory of Bonaire ( Dutch: Eilandgebied Bonaire, Papiamento: Teritorio Insular di Boneiru) is one of five island areas )
• Margarita Island (Ven)
• Coche (Ven)
• Cubagua (Ven)
• Venezuelan Archipelago

References

• Rogonzinski, Jan. A Brief History of the Caribbean. New York: Facts on File, 1992.