Where are the Lesser Antilles, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands?
The few dozen islands that dot the landscape in the Caribbean Sea have a few different geographic names.
When hurricanes or tropical systems approach the Caribbean, you may hear of alerts issued for the Lesser Antilles or, alternatively, the Leeward Islands. Many of the few dozen islands that dot the landscape in the Caribbean Sea have overlapping regional names.
(FOX Weather)
The Lesser Antilles are a group of several small Caribbean Islands that make a chain reaching from the Virgin Islands in the north to Grenada in the south.
(FOX Weather)
The islands considered in the Lesser Antilles include:
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- British Virgin Islands
- Anguilla
- St. Martin & St. Maarten
- Saba
- St. Eustatius
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Antigua
- Barbuda
- Montserrat
- Guadeloupe
- Dominica
- Martinique
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Farther west in the Caribbean Sea, you’ll find the larger islands that make up the Greater Antilles. These islands include:
- Cuba
- Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti)
- The Cayman Islands
- Jamaica
- Puerto Rico
(FOX Weather)
Those islands account for 90% of the land area of the West Indies, according to Britannica.
What are the Leeward and Windward Islands?
Alternatively, you may hear of a storm threatening the same region but denoted as Leeward and Windward islands. The same islands that make up the Lesser Antilles have another geographic moniker, broken up by the northern and southern islands.
The Leeward Islands are considered the northern islands in the Lesser Antilles.
Those include:
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- British Virgin Islands
- Anguilla
- St. Martin & St. Maarten
- Saba
- St. Eustatius
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Antigua
- Barbuda
- Montserrat
- Guadeloupe
The Windward Islands are the southern part of the island chain and include:
- Dominica
- Martinique
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Barbados
- Trinidad and Tobago