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The Leeward Antilles (Dutch: Benedenwindse Eilanden; Spanish: islas de Sotavento) are a chain of islands in the Caribbean, specifically part of the southerly islands of the Lesser Antilles (and, in turn, the Antilles and the West Indies) along the southeastern fringe of the Caribbean Sea, just north of the Venezuelan coast of the South American mainland. The Leeward Antilles, while among the Lesser Antilles, are not to be confused with the Leeward Islands (also of the Lesser Antilles) to the northeast.
Largely lacking in volcanic activity, the Leeward Antilles island arc occurs along the deformed southern edge of the Caribbean Plate and was formed by the plate's subduction under the South American Plate. Recent studies indicate that the Leeward Antilles are accreting to South America.
Islands
The Leeward Antilles comprise (roughly from west to east):
- ABC islands (a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
- Aruba, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Bonaire, a part of the Caribbean Netherlands (public body of the Netherlands proper)
- Curaçao, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Notes
- Also includes Aves Island, geographically in the Caribbean Sea but not a part of the Leeward Antilles.
- East of the State of Nueva Esparta.
- East of the State of Sucre.
References
- Levander, Alan, et al. 2006 (28 February). Evolution of the Southern Caribbean Plate Boundary. (abstract; article) Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 87(9): 97,100.
- Levander, Alan, et al. 2006 (accessed 27 August). Collaborative Research: Crust-Mantle Interactions During Continental Growth and High-Pressure Rock Exhumation at an Oblique Arc-Continent Collision Zone: Geology of Northeastern Venezuela. SE Caribbean Plate Boundary Continental Dynamics Project. Houston, TX: Rice University.
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These three form the SSS islands that with the ABC islands comprise the Dutch Caribbean, of which the BES islands are not direct Kingdom constituents but subsumed with the country of the Netherlands. Physiographically, these continental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically. Disputed territories administered by Guyana. Disputed territories administered by Colombia. Bermuda is an isolated North Atlantic oceanic island, physiographically not part of the Lucayan Archipelago, Antilles, Caribbean Sea nor North American continental nor South American continental islands. It is grouped with the Northern American region, but occasionally also with the Caribbean region culturally. | |||||
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12°11′10″N 68°59′22″W / 12.18611°N 68.98944°W / 12.18611; -68.98944
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