Windward Islands 276897 224326643 2008-07-08T10:34:42Z 170.194.32.52 :''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== [[Image:Windward Islands.jpg|right|The Windward Islands]] The ''Windward'' Islands are called such because they were more [[windward]] to [[sailing ship]]s arriving in the [[New World]] than the [[Leeward Islands]], given that the prevailing [[trade wind]]s in the [[British West Indies|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 [[Africa]]n [[Gold Coast (British colony)|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 America|North]] and [[Central America]]. The Antillean Windward Islands are : *[[Martinique]] (an [[overseas department]] of [[France]]; all the others are part of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]]) *[[Saint Lucia]] *[[Saint Vincent (island)|Saint Vincent]] *[[Grenadines]] *[[Grenada]] *[[Dominica]] ==Terminology== In languages other than English (i.e., 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. {| class="wikitable" ! Language || Windward Islands || Leeward Islands |- ! English |[[Image:Caribbean - Windward Islands.PNG|thumb]] |[[Image:Caribbean - Leeward Islands.PNG|thumb]] |- ! Others |[[Image:Caribbean - Bovenwindse eilanden.PNG|thumb]] |[[Image:Caribbean - Benedenwindse eilanden.PNG|thumb]] |} ==See also== *[[Leeward Islands]] *[[British Windward Islands]] *[[Lesser Antilles]] [[Category:Windward Islands]] [[de:Inseln unter dem Winde]] [[es:Islas de Barlovento]] [[eo:Alventaj Insuloj]] [[fa:جزایر بادگیر]] [[fr:Îles du Vent (Antilles)]] [[id:Kepulauan Windward]] [[is:Kulborðseyjar]] [[it:Isole Sopravento meridionali]] [[he:איי וינדווארד]] [[lt:Priešvėjinės Antilų salos]] [[pl:Wyspy Zawietrzne (Morze Karaibskie)]] [[ru:Наветренные острова]] [[sr:Острва приветрине]]