Lesser Antilles

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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 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. 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.

Regional terminology

The two main groups of the Lesser Antilles are the Windward Islands in the south and the Leeward Islands in the north. 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 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. Another group of the Lesser Antilles, is the Leeward Antilles which are found just north of Venezuela. The Netherlands Antilles, 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 and northeast group being known as the Windward Islands.

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. Antilles)
Saint-Barthélemy (Fr.)
Saba (Neth.)
Sint Eustatius (Neth.)
Saint Kitts
Nevis
Barbuda
Antigua
Redonda
Montserrat (UK)
Guadeloupe (Fr.)
La Désirade (Fr.)
Les Saintes (Fr.)
Marie-Galante (Fr.)
Dominica

Barbados

Windward Islands:

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):

References

↑ ^a ^b "West Indies." Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary, 3rd ed. 2001. (ISBN 0-87779-546-0) Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc., p. 1298.
^ Cohen, Saul B., ed. "West Indies" The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. New York: Columbia University Press – Bartleby. Accessed: 19 September 2006