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The Lesser Antilles, also known as the Caribbees, are part of 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....
, which together with the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands

The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the West Indies, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, known for tourism and as an offshore financial centre....
, and Greater Antilles
Greater Antilles

File:LocationGreaterAntilles.pngThe Greater Antilles is one of three island groups in the Caribbean. Comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico--the four largest islands of the Antilles--the Greater Antilles constitutes almost 90% of the land mass of the entire West Indies....
 form the West Indies.






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Why are the Lesser Antilles considered as a separate region totally?
What tectonic activity is said to have formed the Lesser Antilles?
Are the Windward and Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles?
Are there any other islands apart from the Windward and Leeward Islands?
What nations own part of the Lesser Antilles?








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Locationlesserantilles
Lesserantillesislands
The Lesser Antilles, also known as the Caribbees, are part of 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....
, which together with the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands

The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the West Indies, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, known for tourism and as an offshore financial centre....
, and Greater Antilles
Greater Antilles

File:LocationGreaterAntilles.pngThe Greater Antilles is one of three island groups in the Caribbean. Comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico--the four largest islands of the Antilles--the Greater Antilles constitutes almost 90% of the land mass of the entire West Indies....
 form the West Indies. The islands are a long partly volcanic
Volcanic arc

A volcanic arc is a chain of volcanos or mountains formed by plate tectonics as an oceanic tectonic plate subduction under another tectonic plate and produces magma....
 island arc, most of which wrap around the eastern end 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....
 on the western boundary with the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
, and some of which lie on the southern fringe of the sea just north of 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....
. The Lesser Antilles more or less coincide with the outer 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 many of the islands were formed as a result of 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....
 when one or more Atlantic plates slipped under the Caribbean Plate.

Regional terminology

The two main groups of the Lesser Antilles are the Windward Islands
Windward Islands

The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles....
 in the south and 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....
 in the north. 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 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. Another group of the Lesser Antilles, is the Leeward Antilles
Leeward Antilles

The Leeward Antilles are a chain of islands in the Caribbean ? specifically, the southerly islands of the Lesser Antilles along the southeastern fringe of the Caribbean Sea, just north of the Venezuelan coast of the South American mainland....
 which are found just north of 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....
.

The 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....
 are divided into two groups, one in the southwest (Leeward Antilles) off the coast of 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....
 and one in northeast (Leeward Islands), although it uses different naming conventions locally, with the southwest grouping being known as the Leeward Islands and northeast group being known as the Windward Islands.

Islands

The main Lesser Antilles are (from north to south to west): 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....
:
  • Virgin Islands
    Virgin Islands

    The Virgin Islands are an archipelago, part of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea. The Leeward Islands are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles, where the Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean....
    :
    • U.S. Virgin Islands: St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix
    • British Virgin Islands
      British Virgin Islands

      The British Virgin Islands is a British overseas territory, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands, the remaining islands constituting the United States Virgin Islands....
      : Tortola
      Tortola

      Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands which form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands....
      , Virgin Gorda
      Virgin Gorda

      Virgin Gorda is the third-largest and second most populous of the British Virgin Islands . Located at approximately 18 degrees, 48 minutes North, and 64 degrees, 30 minutes West, it covers an area of about 8 square miles ....
      , Anegada
      Anegada

      Anegada is the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands which form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It lies approximately north of Virgin Gorda....
      , Jost Van Dyke
      Jost Van Dyke

      At roughly 8 square kilometers, Jost Van Dyke is the smallest of the four main islands of the British Virgin Islands, the northern portion of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea....
  • Anguilla
    Anguilla

    Anguilla is a British overseas territories in the Caribbean, one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. It consists of the main island of Anguilla itself, approximately 26 km long by 5 km wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population....
     (UK)
  • Saint Martin/Sint Maarten
    Saint Martin

    Saint Martin is a tropical island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 300 km east of Puerto Rico. The 87 km? island is divided roughly in half between France and the Netherlands Antilles ; it is the smallest inhabited List of divided islands....
     (France/Neth. Antilles)
  • Saint-Barthélemy
    Saint-Barthélemy

    Saint Barth?lemy , officially the Collectivity of Saint Barth?lemy , is an overseas collectivity of France. To the northwest lies St. Martin, to the southwest Saba, to the south St....
     (Fr.)
  • Saba
    Saba

    Saba is the smallest island of the Netherlands Antilles, located at . It consists largely of the dormant volcano, Mount Scenery , the highest point of the Kingdom of the Netherlands....
     (Neth.)
  • Sint Eustatius
    Sint Eustatius

    Sint Eustatius, also known as Statia, or Saint Eustace, is one of the islands which make up the Netherlands Antilles; it is in the northern, Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, southeast of the Virgin Islands....
     (Neth.)
  • Saint Kitts
    Saint Kitts

    Saint Kitts The island is situated at , about 1,300 miles southeast of Miami, Florida, Florida, in the United States. It has a land area of about 68 sq....
  • Nevis
    Nevis

    Nevis is an island in the Caribbean, located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 220 miles southeast of Puerto Rico and 50 miles west of Antigua....
  • Barbuda
    Barbuda

    Barbuda is an island in the Eastern Caribbean, and forms part of the state of Antigua and Barbuda. It has a population of about 1,500, most of whom live in the town of Codrington, Barbuda....
  • Antigua
    Antigua

    Antigua is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda....
  • Redonda
    Redonda

    Redonda is a very small, uninhabited Caribbean island or islet which is politically a part of the nation of Antigua and Barbuda, in the Leeward Islands, West Indies....
  • Montserrat
    Montserrat

    Montserrat is British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea....
     (UK)
  • Guadeloupe
    Guadeloupe

    Guadeloupe is an island group or archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at , with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres . It is an overseas department of France....
      (Fr.)
  • La Désirade
    La Désirade

    La D?sirade is an island in the France overseas region and Overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles.It has a land area of 20.64 km? and a population of 1,595 in 2006 , with a population density of 77 inh....
     (Fr.)
  • Les Saintes (Fr.)
  • Marie-Galante
    Marie-Galante

    Marie-Galante is an island of the Caribbean Sea located in the Guadeloupean archipelago. Marie-Galante is constitutionally part of France, as Guadeloupe is an R?gion d'outre-mer and D?partement d'outre-mer....
     (Fr.)


Windward Islands
Windward Islands

The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles....
:
  • Dominica
    Dominica

    The Commonwealth of Dominica, commonly known as Dominica, is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. To the north/northwest lies Guadeloupe, to the southeast Martinique....
  • Martinique
    Martinique

    Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, having a land area of 1,128 km?. It is an overseas department of France. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia....
     (Fr.)
  • Saint Lucia
    Saint Lucia

    Saint Lucia is an island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique....
     
  • Saint Vincent
    Saint Vincent (island)

    Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean, the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada....
  • Grenadines
    Grenadines

    The Grenadines are a Caribbean island chain of over 6 islands in the Windward Islands. They are divided between the island nations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada....
     
  • Grenada
    Grenada

    Grenada is an island nation that includes the southern Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines....
  • Barbados
    Barbados

    Barbados , situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent Continental Island-island nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. Located at roughly 13? North of the equator and 59? West of the prime meridian, it is considered a part of the Lesser Antilles....
     (Barbados is a Continental Island found 100 miles east of the Windward chain)
  • Trinidad and Tobago
    Islands of Trinidad and Tobago

    Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelago republic in the southern Caribbean which consists of numerous landforms....
     (are sometimes erroneously considered part of the Windward Islands. They are the most southern islands of the Caribbean region.


Leeward Antilles
Leeward Antilles

The Leeward Antilles are a chain of islands in the Caribbean ? specifically, the southerly islands of the Lesser Antilles along the southeastern fringe of the Caribbean Sea, just north of the Venezuelan coast of the South American mainland....
 – islands 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 (from west to east):
  • 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....
     (Neth.)
  • 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....
     (Neth.)
  • 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....
     (Neth.)
  • Margarita Island (Ven)
  • Coche (Ven)
  • La Tortuga
    La Tortuga Island

    La Tortuga Island is an uninhabited island dependency of the government of Venezuela. It is part of a chain of islands that include the Tortuguillas, the Palaquines, and others....
     (Ven)
  • Cubagua
    Cubagua

    Cubagua or Isla de Cubagua is the smallest and least populated of the three islands constituting the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, after Isla Margarita and Coche, Venezuela....
     (Ven)
  • 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...
     (Ven)