Windward Islands
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English: Windward Islands French: Îles du Vent |
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Political Windward Islands. Clockwise: Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica.
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Geography | |
Location | Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean |
Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
Total islands | 90+ |
Major islands | Dominica Martinique Saint Lucia Saint Vincent Grenada |
Area | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). |
Highest elevation | 1,467 m (4,813 ft) |
Highest point | La Grande Soufrière, Guadeloupe |
Country | |
Largest settlement | Roseau |
Largest settlement | Castries |
Largest settlement | Kingstown |
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.
Contents
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.[1][2]
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:[1][3]
Dominica (formerly administered as part of the colonial Leeward Islands)
Martinique
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Grenada
See also
See also
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Windward Islands. |
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Chapter 4 - The Windward Islands and Barbados - U.S. Library of Congress
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- Windward Islands
- Archipelagoes of the Caribbean Sea
- Lesser Antilles