Windward Islands

This article is about the Caribbean island group. For the eastern islands of French Polynesia, see Windward Islands (Society Islands). For the main islands of Hawaii, see Hawaiian Windward Islands.

Windward Islands

English: Windward Islands French: Îles du Vent
Political Windward Islands. Clockwise: Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica.
Geography
Location	Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates
Total islands	90+
Major islands	Dominica Martinique Saint Lucia Saint Vincent Grenada
Area
Highest elevation	1,467 m (4,813 ft)
Highest point	La Grande Soufrière, Guadeloupe
Country
Dominica
Largest settlement	Roseau
Saint Lucia
Largest settlement	Castries
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Largest settlement	Kingstown
Grenada
Largest settlement	St. George's
Demographics
Population	476,425
Density	227 /km2 (588 /sq mi)

The Windward Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies. They lie south of the Leeward Islands, approximately between latitudes 12° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W. As a group they start from Dominica and reach southward to the north of Trinidad & Tobago and west of Barbados.

Name and geography

The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving to 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.

Dominica is the dividing line between the Windward and Leeward islands. [Martinique] and the islands to the south were designated "Windward Islands". [Guadeloupe] and islands to the north became known as the "Leeward Islands".

Vessels in the Atlantic slave trade departing from the British Gold Coast and Gulf of Guinea in Africa would first encounter the southeasternmost "Windward" islands of the Lesser Antilles in their west-northwesterly heading to final destinations in the Caribbean and North and Central America. The chain of Windward Islands forms a part of the easternmost boundary of the Caribbean Sea.

Most of the present "Windward Islands" were once colonial island territories of France, also known as the French Antilles.

List of the Windward Islands

The Windward Islands are as follows:

• Dominica (formerly administered as part of the colonial Leeward Islands)
• Martinique
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Grenada

See also

• Lesser Antilles topics
  • Windward Islands topics
  • Leeward Islands topics
• Windward Islands cricket team

The Windward Islands are shown/labelled on the map's lower right side.

See also

• Southern Caribbean

External links

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