Lesser Antilles
| |
|---|---|
 Location within the Caribbean | |
| Region | Caribbean |
| Island States |
|
| Area | |
| • Total | 14,364 km2 (5,546 sq mi) |
| Population (2009) | |
| • Total | 3,949,250 |
| • Density | 274.9/km2 (712/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Lesser Antillean |
| Time zone | UTC−4 (AST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−3 (ADT) |
The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most form a long, partly volcanic island arc between the Greater Antilles to the north-west and the continent of South America.[1] The islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Together, the Lesser Antilles and the Greater Antilles compose the Antilles (or the Caribbean in its narrowest definition). When combined with the Lucayan Archipelago, all three are known as the West Indies.
Geography
The islands of the Lesser Antilles are divided into three groups: the Windward Islands in the south, the Leeward Islands in the north, and the Leeward Antilles in the west.
The Windward Islands are so called 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.
The Leeward Antilles consist of the Dutch ABC islands just off the coast of Venezuela, plus a group of Venezuelan islands.
Geological formation
The Lesser Antilles more or less coincide with the outer edge of the Caribbean Plate. Many of the islands were formed as a result of the subduction of oceanic crust of the Atlantic Plate under the Caribbean Plate in the Lesser Antilles subduction zone. This process is ongoing and is responsible not only for many of the islands, but also for volcanic and earthquake activity in the region. The islands along the South American coast are largely the result of the interaction of the South American Plate and the Caribbean Plate which is mainly strike-slip, but includes a component of compression.
Political divisions
The Lesser Antilles are divided into eight independent nations and numerous dependent and non-sovereign states (which are politically associated with the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and the United States). Over one third of the total area and population of the Lesser Antilles lies within Trinidad and Tobago, a sovereign nation comprising the two southernmost islands of the Windward Island chain.
Sovereign states
| Name | Subdivisions | Area (km²) |
Population (1 July 2005 est.) |
Population density (per km²) |
Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antigua and Barbuda | Parishes | 440 | 85,632 | 195 | St. John's |
| Barbuda | 161 | 1,370 | 9.65 | Codrington | |
| Redonda | 2 | 0 | 0 | n/a | |
| Barbados | Parishes | 431 | 284,589 | 660 | Bridgetown |
| Dominica | Parishes | 754 | 72,660 | 96.3 | Roseau |
| Grenada | Parishes | 344 | 110,000 | 319.8 | St. George’s |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | Parishes | 261 | 42,696 | 163.5 | Basseterre |
| Nevis | 93 | 12,106 | 130.1 | Charlestown | |
| Saint Lucia | Quarters | 616 | 173,765 | 282 | Castries |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Parishes | 389 | 110,000 | 283 | Kingstown |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Regional corporations | 5,131 | 1,299,953 | 253.3 | Port of Spain |
| Tobago | 300 | 54,000 | 180 | Scarborough | |
| Total | 8,367 | 2,179,295 | 260.5 |
Non-sovereign states/countries and territories
| Name | Sovereign State | Subdivisions | Area (km²) |
Population (1 July 2005 est.) |
Population density (per km²) |
Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aruba | Netherlands | Districts | 193 | 103,065 | 534 | Oranjestad |
| Anguilla | UK | Districts | 91 | 13,600 | 132 | The Valley |
| Bonaire | Netherlands | 288 | 14,006 | 246.3 | Kralendijk | |
| British Virgin Islands | UK | Districts | 153 | 27,000 | 260 | Road Town |
| Curaçao | Netherlands | Districts | 444 | 180,592 | 406.7 | Willemstad |
| Guadeloupe | France | Arrondissements | 1,780 | 440,000 | 249.1 | Basse-Terre |
| Martinique | France | Arrondissements | 1,128 | 400,000 | 340 | Fort-de-France |
| Montserrat | UK | Parishes | 120 | 4,655 | 38.8 | Brades |
| Saba | Netherlands | 13 | 1,424 | 109.5 | The Bottom | |
| Saint Barthélemy | France | Paroisses (parishes) | 21 | 7,448 | 354.6 | Gustavia |
| Saint-Martin | France | 53 | 35,000 | 675 | Marigot | |
| Sint Eustatius | Netherlands | 34 | 3,100 | 147.6 | Oranjestad | |
| Sint Maarten | Netherlands | 34 | 40,917 | 1,704 | Philipsburg | |
| United States Virgin Islands | United States | Districts | 346 | 108,448 | 313.1 | Charlotte Amalie |
| Nueva Esparta | Venezuela | Municipalities | 1,150 | 491,610 | 402.15 | La Asunción |
| Federal Dependencies of Venezuela | Venezuela | Federal dependencies | 342 | 2,155 | 6 | Gran Roque |
| Total | 5,997 | 1,769,955 | 303 |
Several islands along the north coast of Venezuela and politically part of that country are also occasionally considered part of the Lesser Antilles. These are listed in the section below.
Islands
The main Lesser Antilles are (from north to south to west):
- Virgin Islands
- St. Thomas (US)
- St. John (US)
- St. Croix (US)
- Water Island (US)
- Tortola (UK)
- Virgin Gorda (UK)
- Anegada (UK)
- Jost Van Dyke (UK)
- Anguilla (UK)
- Saint Martin (Fr.) / Sint Maarten (Neth.)
- Saint Barthélemy (Fr.)
- Saba (Neth.)
- Sint Eustatius (Neth.)
- Saint Kitts (St. Kitts and Nevis)
- Nevis (St. Kitts and Nevis)
- Barbuda (Antigua and Barbuda)
- Antigua (Antigua and Barbuda)
- Redonda (Antigua and Barbuda) uninhabited
- Montserrat (UK)
- Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre (often combined as Guadeloupe) (Fr.)
- La Désirade (Fr.)
- Marie-Galante (Fr.)
- les Saintes archipelago (Fr.)
- Dominica (Dominica)
- Martinique (Fr.)
- Saint Lucia (St. Lucia)
- Barbados (Barbados is a Continental island found 100 miles (160 km) east of the Windward chain)[2][3][4]
- Saint Vincent (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)
- Grenadines (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)
- Carriacou and Petite Martinique (Grenada)
- Grenada (Grenada)
- Tobago
- Trinidad (Sometimes considered part of the Windward Islands. They are the most southern islands of the Caribbean region. See Islands of Trinidad and Tobago.[1][5][6]
Islands north of the Venezuelan coast (from west to east):
- Aruba (Neth.)
- Curaçao (Neth.)
- Bonaire (Neth.)
- Federal Dependencies of Venezuela (Ven)
- Nueva Esparta (Ven)
See also
Notes
- ^ a b "West Indies." Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary, 3rd ed. 2001. (ISBN 0-87779-546-0) Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc., p. 1298.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: The Windward Islands
- ^ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) | The Scotland District of Barbados
- ^ CountryStudies.us | The Windward Islands and Barbados
- ^ Cohen, Saul B., ed. "West Indies" Archived 2006-08-16 at the Wayback Machine The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. Archived 2006-08-20 at the Wayback Machine New York: Columbia University Press – Bartleby. Accessed: 19 September 2006
- ^ ARBITRAL TRIBUNAL CONSTITUTED PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 287, AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH ANNEX VII, OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION BETWEEN: BARBADOS - AND - THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Archived 2008-12-17 at the Wayback Machine - The Hague, 11 April 2006 (Pages 15-16)
References
- Rogonzinski, Jan. A Brief History of the Caribbean. New York: Facts on File, 1992.
External links
The dictionary definition of Lesser Antilles at Wiktionary
Lesser Antilles.
