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{{Short description|Islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies}}
{{Hatnote group|{{Redirect-distinguish-for|Windwards|Hawaiian Islands#Major islands{{!}}Hawaiian Windward Islands|the maritime wind directions|Windward and leeward}}{{Other places}}}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

{{Infobox islands
|name = Windward Islands
|local_name = {{langx|en|Windward Islands}}<br/>{{langx|fr|Îles du Vent}}
|image_name = Antilles divided with red lines.jpg
|image_caption = Map showing the Lesser Antilles; Windward Islands (in the southeast) demarcated by red lines.
|image_alt = 
|locator_map = 
|location = [[Caribbean Sea]]<br />[[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic Ocean]]
|coordinates = {{Coord|14|N|61|W|scale:4000000_region:AN_type:isle_source:kolossus-srwiki|display=title,inline}}
|area_km2 = 3232.5
|total_islands = 90+
|major_islands = {{ubli|[[Carriacou]]|[[Dominica]]|[[Grenada]]|[[Martinique]]|[[Petite Martinique]]|[[Saint Lucia]]|[[Saint Vincent (Antilles)|Saint Vincent]]}}
|highest_mount = [[Morne Diablotins]], [[Dominica]]
|elevation_m = 1,447
|country = [[Dominica]]
|country_largest_city = [[Roseau]]
|country1 = [[Grenada]]
|country1_largest_city = [[St. George's, Grenada|St. George's]]
|country2 = [[Martinique]]
|country2_largest_city = [[Fort-de-France]]
|country3 = [[Saint Lucia]]
|country3_largest_city = [[Castries]]
|country4 = [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]]
|country4_largest_city = [[Kingstown]]
|density_km2 = 227
|population = {{circa}} 854,000
|ethnic_groups = 
}}

The '''Windward Islands''' are the southern, generally larger islands of the [[Lesser Antilles]] of the [[list of Caribbean islands|Caribbean islands]] or the [[West Indies]]. Located approximately between latitudes [[Circles of latitude between the 5th parallel north and the 10th parallel north#10th parallel north|10°]] and [[Circles of latitude between the 15th parallel north and the 20th parallel north#16th parallel north|16° N]] and longitudes [[60th meridian west|60°]] and [[62nd meridian west|62° W]], they extend from [[Dominica]] in the north to [[Trinidad and Tobago]] in the south, and lie south of the [[Leeward Islands]] and east of [[Leeward Antilles]].

The name was also used to refer to a [[British Windward Islands|British colony]] which existed between 1833 and 1960 and originally consisted of the islands of [[Grenada]], [[Saint Lucia]], and [[Saint Vincent (Antilles)|Saint Vincent]]. Today, these islands constitute three [[sovereign states]], the latter of which is now known as [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]].

The island of [[Dominica]] was traditionally considered a part of the [[Leeward Islands]] until 1940, when it was transferred from the [[British Leeward Islands]] colony to the British Windward Islands. It now composes the fourth sovereign state in the group.

[[Barbados]] (until 1885) and [[Tobago]] (until 1889) were also part of the [[British Windward Islands]] colony but are not today regarded as being part of the Windward Islands grouping. [[Martinique]] is the only windward island that is an [[French West Indies|overseas département]] of [[France]], which it has been since 1946 and which is 7,000 kilometers away from [[Paris]].

==Name and geography==
The prevailing [[trade winds]] in the [[West Indies]] blow east to west. The combination of trans-Atlantic [[ocean current|currents]] and winds that provided the fastest route across the ocean brought [[sailing ship]]s heading to the [[New World]] to the rough dividing line between two groups of islands. Those that fell to [[windward and leeward|windward]] became the Windward Islands, to [[windward and leeward|leeward]] the [[Leeward Islands]].

Sailing vessels departing from Africa would first encounter the southeasternmost "Windward" islands of the Lesser Antilles in their west-northwesterly heading to the final destinations in the [[Caribbean]], [[Central America]], and [[Northern America]]. The chain of Windward Islands forms a part of the easternmost boundary of the [[Caribbean Sea]].<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/645259/Windward-Islands |title=Windward Islands |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |quote=[A] line of West Indian islands constituting the southern arc of the Lesser Antilles, at the eastern end of the Caribbean Sea, between latitudes 12° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W. They include, from north to south, the English-speaking islands of Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and Grenada, and, between Saint Vincent and Grenada, the chain of 32 islands known as the Grenadines. Though near the general area, Trinidad and Tobago (at the south end of the group) and Barbados (just east) are usually not considered part of the Windward Islands.}}</ref><ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cx0103) Chapter 4 - The Windward Islands and Barbados] - U.S. Library of Congress</ref>

However, even in modern usage in languages other than English, notably Dutch, French, and Spanish, all of the [[Lesser Antilles]] from the [[Virgin Islands]] to [[Trinidad and Tobago]] are known as the 'Windward Islands' (''Bovenwindse Eilanden'' in Dutch, ''Îles du Vent'' in French, and ''Islas de Barlovento'' in Spanish). The [[ABC islands (Leeward Antilles)|ABC Islands]] and the other islands along the Venezuelan coast, known in English as the [[Leeward Antilles]], are known in languages other than English as the 'Leeward Islands'.

==Countries and territories==
There are four countries and one territory in the Windward Islands:<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.footprinttravelguides.com/latin-america/caribbean-islands/windward-islands/|title=Windward Islands|publisher=Footprint Travel Guides|access-date=23 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Windward-Islands |title=Windward Islands |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |access-date=7 July 2018}}</ref>

* {{flag|Dominica}}
* {{flag|Grenada}}
** [[Carriacou and Petite Martinique]]
* {{flag|Martinique}} ([[French Fifth Republic|France]])
* {{flag|Saint Lucia}}
* {{flag|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}}
**[[Grenadines Parish|Grenadines]]
** [[Saint Vincent (Antilles)|Saint Vincent]]

[[File:Caribbean general map.png|thumb|750px|left|The Windward Islands are on the map's lower right, above and to the right of [[Venezuela]]]]

{{clear}}

==Politics==
{{Emptysection|date=November 2021}}

==See also==
{{Sister project links|voy=Windward Islands|Windward Islands}}
{{Portal|Geography}}

* [[British Windward Islands]]
* [[Deafness in the Windward Islands]]
* [[Intra-Americas Sea]]
* [[Leeward Antilles]]
* [[Leeward Islands]]
* [[Lesser Antilles]]
* {{C|Lesser Antilles|Lesser Antilles topics}}
** {{C|Leeward Islands (Caribbean)|Leeward Islands topics}}
** {{C|Windward Islands|Windward Islands topics}}
* [[Windward Islands Cricket Board of Control]]
* [[Windward Islands cricket team]]

==References==
{{reflist|26em}}

==External links==
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Windward Islands |volume=26 |page=716}}

{{Caribbean topic}}
{{Caribbean topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Windward Islands| ]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of the Caribbean Sea]]
[[Category:Lesser Antilles]]