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The Leeward Antilles are a chain of island
Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s in the Caribbean
Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
 – specifically, the southerly islands of the Lesser Antilles
Lesser Antilles

The Lesser Antilles, also known as the Caribbees, are part of the Antilles, which together with the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Greater Antilles form the West Indies....
 (and, in turn, the Antilles
Antilles

The Antilles Antillas in Spanish language; Antillen in Dutch language) refers to the islands forming the greater part of the Caribbean in the Caribbean Sea....
 and the West Indies
Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
) along the southeastern fringe of the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the mid-latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the Americas, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest....
, just north of the Venezuela
Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
n coast of the South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
n mainland. The Leeward Antilles, while among the Lesser Antilles, are not to be confused with the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain of islands, part of the West Indies. They are situated where the Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean....
 (also of the Lesser Antilles) to the northeast.

Largely lacking in volcanic
Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
 activity, the Leeward Antilles island arc occurs along the deformed southern edge of the Caribbean Plate
Caribbean Plate

The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic crust tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America....
 and was formed by the plate's subduction
Subduction

In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundary by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate, sinking into the Earth's mantle, as the plates converge....
 under the South American Plate
South American Plate

The South American Plate is a tectonic plate covering the continent of South America and extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.The easterly side is a divergent boundary with the African Plate forming the southern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge....
.






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Locationleewardantilles
The Leeward Antilles are a chain of island
Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s in the Caribbean
Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
 – specifically, the southerly islands of the Lesser Antilles
Lesser Antilles

The Lesser Antilles, also known as the Caribbees, are part of the Antilles, which together with the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Greater Antilles form the West Indies....
 (and, in turn, the Antilles
Antilles

The Antilles Antillas in Spanish language; Antillen in Dutch language) refers to the islands forming the greater part of the Caribbean in the Caribbean Sea....
 and the West Indies
Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
) along the southeastern fringe of the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the mid-latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the Americas, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest....
, just north of the Venezuela
Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
n coast of the South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
n mainland. The Leeward Antilles, while among the Lesser Antilles, are not to be confused with the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain of islands, part of the West Indies. They are situated where the Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean....
 (also of the Lesser Antilles) to the northeast.

Largely lacking in volcanic
Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
 activity, the Leeward Antilles island arc occurs along the deformed southern edge of the Caribbean Plate
Caribbean Plate

The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic crust tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America....
 and was formed by the plate's subduction
Subduction

In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundary by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate, sinking into the Earth's mantle, as the plates converge....
 under the South American Plate
South American Plate

The South American Plate is a tectonic plate covering the continent of South America and extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.The easterly side is a divergent boundary with the African Plate forming the southern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge....
. Recent studies indicate that the Leeward Antilles are accreting
Accretion (geology)

Accretion is a process by which material is added to a tectonic plate or a landmass. This material may be sediment, volcanic arcs, seamounts or other igneous features....
 to South America.

Islands


The Leeward Antilles comprise (roughly from west to east):

  • ABC islands:
    • Aruba
      Aruba

      Aruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguan? Peninsula, Falc?n State, Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Cura?ao it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles....
    • Curaçao
      Curaçao

      Cura?ao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The island area of Cura?ao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Cura?ao , is one of five islands of the Netherlands Antilles of the Netherlands Antilles, and as such, is a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands....
       (Netherlands Antilles
      Netherlands Antilles

      The Netherlands Antilles , previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles and consists of two island group in the Caribbean Sea: Cura?ao and Bonaire, just off the Venezuelan coast, and Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten, located southeast of the Virgin Islands....
      )
    • Bonaire
      Bonaire

      The Island Territory of Bonaire is one of five islands of the Netherlands Antilles of the Netherlands Antilles, consisting of the main island of Bonaire and, nestled in its western crescent, the uninhabited islet of Klein Bonaire....
       (Netherlands Antilles
      Netherlands Antilles

      The Netherlands Antilles , previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles and consists of two island group in the Caribbean Sea: Cura?ao and Bonaire, just off the Venezuelan coast, and Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten, located southeast of the Virgin Islands....
      )


  • Venezuelan archipelago
    Federal dependencies of Venezuela

    The Federal Dependencies of Venezuela encompass all of Venezuela's off shore islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Venezuela. These islands, with a total area of 342 square kilometres, are sparsely populated - according to official sources only 3000 people live there permanently, with another hundred from Isla Margarita who live there...
    :
    • Las Aves
      Las Aves Archipelago

      The Las Aves Archipelagois a pristine archipelago in the Caribbean Sea, and is part of the Federal dependencies of Venezuela of Venezuela. It is located north of the Venezuelan states of Aragua and Carabobo, between Bonaire in the west, and the Los Roques Archipelago in the east, at ....
    • Los Roques
      Los Roques Archipelago

      The Los Roques islands are a Federal dependencies of Venezuela of Venezuela, consisting of about 350 islands, cays or islets. The archipelago is an atoll located 80 miles directly north of the port of La Guaira, and is a 40-minute flight....
    • La Orchilla
      La Orchila

      La Orchila is a military base off the coast of Venezuela, north of Caracas. It has numerous beaches, including one where the sand is markedly pink ....
    • La Blanquilla
    • Los Hermanos
      Los Hermanos

      Los Hermanos is a pop rock musical group from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The group was formed in 1997 by Marcelo Camelo , Rodrigo Amarante , Rodrigo Barba , and Bruno Medina ....
    • Los Testigos


Though nearby, Isla Margarita
Isla Margarita

Margarita Island is the largest island of the Nueva Esparta States of Venezuela in Venezuela, situated in the Caribbean Sea, off the northeastern coast of the country....
 is not included in this island group.