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Lesser Antilles
Islands, West Indies
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Lesser Antilles,

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True or False
long arc of small islands in the Caribbean Sea extending in a north-south direction from the Virgin
Islands to Grenada. A number of other islandsTrinidad and Tobago, off the northeastern coast of
Venezuela, and the east-west island chain from Margarita Island to Aruba, off the northern coast of Spell It
Venezuelaare physiographically part of the South American continental shelf but are usually
included in definitions of the Lesser Antilles.
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The Carib people inhabited many of the islands at the time Europeans first arrived. Since the early
times of Spanish colonization, beginning in the late 15th century, the north-south portion of the Lesser MORE QUIZZES
Antilles has been divided into two groups; the division was adopted by the French, Dutch, and British. Cheesy Quiz
The names of the groups, Windward and Leeward, reflect the importance to the region of the prevailing
easterly trade winds. The Windward Islands are those ranging south from Dominica (which has at times
been classified as one of the Leeward Islands) to Grenada, and the Leeward Islands are those that arc Doctor Who?
generally westerly from Guadeloupe to the Virgin Islands. The east-west chain of islands close to the
South American coast, sometimes called the Leeward Antilles, is arid because the trade winds drop
their moisture on the Windward group. Three small islands (Margarita, Coche, and Cubagua) form the Sugar Craving
Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, and some 70 others, mostly uninhabited, also belong to Venezuela.

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Last Updated 9-25-2015

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