Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands /ˈliːwərd/ area group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean.Starting with the Virgin Islands eastof Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In English, theterm Leeward Islands refers to the northern islands ofthe Lesser Antilles chain.The more southerly part of this chain, starting with Dominica, is called the Windward Islands. Dominica was originally considereda part of the Leeward Islands, but was transferred from the British Leeward Islands tothe British Windward Islands in1940.

The name of this island group, LeewardIslands, dates from previous centuries, when sailing ships were the sole form oftransportation across the Atlantic Ocean. In sailing terminology, 'windward' meanstowards the source of the wind (upwind), while 'leeward' is theopposite direction (downwind). In the West Indies, the prevailing winds, known as the trade winds, blow predominantly out of the northeast.Therefore, a sailing vessel departing from the British Gold Coast andthe Gulf of Guinea,driven by the trade winds, would normally first encounter Dominica andMartinique,^[1] islands most to windward, in theirwest-northwesterly heading to the final destinations in the Caribbean, Central America, and Northern America.^[2] This location, Dominica andMartinique, becomes the rough dividing line between the Windward Islands andthe Leeward Islands.

The early Spanishcolonizers called Puerto Rico and the islands to the west Sotavento,meaning 'leeward'. The islands to the south and east of Puerto Rico were thencalled Islas de Barlovento, meaning 'windward islands'. When theBritish gained control of many of the Lesser Antilles, they designated Antigua, Montserrat and the islands to the north as the'Leeward Islands'. Guadeloupe andthe islands to the south were designated as the 'Windward Islands'. Later on,all islands north of Martinique becameknown as the Leeward Islands.^[3] Dominica was transferred to the British Windward Islands in1940, and is now considered to be part of the Windward Islands.^[4]

However, even in modern usage in languagesother than English, notably, Dutch, French, and Spanish, all of the LesserAntilles from the Virgin Islands to Trinidad and Tobago areknown as 'the Windward Islands' (Bovenwindse Eilanden inDutch, Îles du Vent in French, and Islas de Barlovento inSpanish). The ABCislands and the other islands along the Venezuelan coast, knownin English as the Leeward Antilles,are known in languages other than English as 'the Leeward Islands'.

The islands are affected by active volcanism, and notable eruptions have occurredin Montserrat in the 1990s and in 2009 to 2010. At1467 m, the highest point is La Grande Soufrière in Guadeloupe.

The Caribs, after whom the Caribbean is named, are believed to havemigrated from the Orinoco Riverarea in Venezuela in South America tosettle in the Caribbean islands about1200 AD, according to carbon dating.Over the century leading up to Columbus'arrival in the Caribbean archipelago in 1492, the Caribs mostly displacedthe Maipurean-speaking Taínos, who settled the island chains earlier inhistory, by warfare, extermination and assimilation.^[5]

The islands were among the first parts ofthe Americas to fall under the control of the Spanish Empire. European contact commenced with Christopher Columbus'ssecond voyage; many of the islands' names originate from this period:Montserrat was named in honour of Santa Maria de Montserrat (OurLady of Montserrat), after the Blessed Virgin of the Monastery of Montserrat,which is located on the Mountain of Montserrat,the national shrine of Catalonia. 'Montserrat' in Catalan means'saw mountain',referring to the serrated appearance of the mountain range.

British colony of the Leeward Islands[edit]

Mainarticle: British LeewardIslands

The Leeward Islands became a British colony in 1671, with WilliamStapleton as its first governor.

Although comparatively much smaller thanthe surrounding islands in the Caribbean, the Leeward Islands posed the mostsignificant rebellion to the British Stamp Act, though it was decidedly less severe incomparison to that of the mainland North American colonies.^[6]

In 1660, there were about 8,000 whitesettlers and approximately 2,000 African slaves in the Leeward Islands.However, that ratio narrowed over succeeding years. In 1678, there were 10,408white settlers and 8,449 black slaves. By 1708, there was a huge disparitybetween the number of white settlers, which had declined to 7,311, while thenumber of black slaves was estimated at 23,500.^[7]

In 1816, the colony as a federation ofislands was dissolved, and the individual islands were ruled individually.However, the colony of the Leeward Islands was re-established in 1833.^[8]

There are two countries and eleventerritories in the Leeward Islands. From the northwest to the southeast, themain islands are:

·        Spanish VirginIslands (Puerto Rico)

o   Culebra (Municipality of Puerto Rico)

o   Vieques (Municipality of Puerto Rico)

·        U.S. VirginIslands (United States)

o  SaintThomas

o  Saint John

o  Saint Croix

o  WaterIsland

·        British VirginIslands (United Kingdom)

o  Jost Van Dyke

o  Tortola

o  Virgin Gorda

o  Anegada

·        Anguilla (United Kingdom)

·       Saint Martin Island

o   Saint Martin (France)

o   Sint Maarten (Netherlands)

·        Saint Barthélemy (France)

·        Saba (Netherlands)

·        Sint Eustatius (Netherlands)

·        Saint Kitts and Nevis

o   Saint Kitts

o   Nevis

·        Antigua and Barbuda

o   Barbuda

o   Antigua

o   Redonda – uninhabited

·        Montserrat (United Kingdom)

·        Guadeloupe (France)

o  La Désirade (dependency ofGuadeloupe) – literally 'The Desired', also called La Deseada^[9]

o  Îles des Saintes (dependencyof Guadeloupe)

o  Marie-Galante (dependency of Guadeloupe)