Everything about Windward Islands totally explained
» This article is about the Caribbean island group. For the eastern Society Islands in French Polynesia, see Windward Islands (Society Islands). The southeastern Hawaiian Islands are also occasionally referred to as the Windward Islands.
The
Windward Islands are the southern islands of the
Lesser Antilles.
Name and geography
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 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. Vessels in the
Atlantic slave trade departing from the
African
Gold Coast and
Gulf of Guinea would first encounter the southeasternmost islands of the Lesser Antilles in their west-northwesterly heading to final destinations in the
Caribbean and
North and
Central America.
The Antillean Windward Islands are :
Terminology
In other languages than English (for example, 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.
| Language |
Windward Islands |
Leeward Islands |
| English | |
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| Others | |
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Further Information
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