The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Windward Islands

a group of volcanic islands in the West Indies marking the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea; the eastern islands of the Lesser Antilles. Area, approximately 6,000 sq km.; population, more than 1.1 million (1972).

The largest islands are Guadeloupe, Martinique, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, and Antigua. The islands are the possessions of Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands. The landscape of the larger islands is primarily mountainous. The volcano Diablotin on Dominica has a maximum elevation of 1,586m. There are active volcanoes. The climate is dominated by tropical trade winds and is humid. Natural vegetation has been almost completely destroyed. There are plantations of sugarcane, citrus fruits, cacao, and bananas. The main cities are Fort-de-France on Martinique and Point-à-Pitre and Basse-Terre on Guadeloupe.

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References in periodicals archive

The fantastic voyage will take a southerly route calling at Lisbon, the Canaries, Morocco, Cape Verde Islands, St Lucia, St Vincent & Grenadines and the Windward Isles.

Tall Ship trip will be good news for city

A tea producer from Sri Lanka and a banana farmer from the Windward Isles will be visiting schools and community groups.

Buy Welsh products - it's only fair

The Co-op stock Fairtrade bananas from Equador, Costa Rica and the Windward Isles in all of its 160 outlets across the region.

DINING: Fairtrade Banana Bread

Asquith was 46 and had come to Britain from Dominica, the largest of the Windward Isles in the eastern Caribbean.

FIRST-CLASS HERO; Forty years ago this man changed the face of race relations in Britain after beating a colour bar on the railways

The appearance of the Harris-trained Petane in the Windward Isles Amateur Riders' Handicap also provides a first mount for Nick Sheridan, who has worked at Pulborough for the last 12 years, firstly for Guy Harwood and more recently for Amanda Perrett.

Harris resumes training career

Justin King, the Midlands-based chief executive of Sainsbury's, has visited the Windward Isles to meet Fairtrade banana farmers.

Buying in to the values of Fairtrade

The Windward Isles, one of the areas biggest banana producers, warned that its farmers might turn to growing drug crops to survive.

DRUG THREAT IN BANANA WARS

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