Leeward Islands

As islands under the wind , also islands behind the wind (in non-German-language maps or in those with international lettering also English Leeward Islands , Dutch Benedenwindse Eilanden , French Îles sous le vent , Portuguese Ilhas do Sotavento or Spanish Islas de Sotavento ) one in German is the leeward, mostly western half of larger island groups in tropical sea ​​regions. This name comes from historical seafaring and is due to the fact that the trade winds blow over the tropical seas , which come mainly from the east. The windward, mostly eastern halves of these archipelagos are accordingly called islands over the wind .

The following archipelagos are called islands under the wind :

	the southwestern islands (Dutch Benedenwindse Eilanden , Spanish Islas de Sotavento , English Leeward Antilles ) of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean , in the area of ​​influence of the northeast trade winds
	the northwestern part (Engl. Leeward Islands ) of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean - in German, this subdivision not common
	the western part (French: Îles sous le Vent ) of the Society Islands in the Central Pacific, located in the area of ​​influence of the southeast trade winds, including Bora Bora , Huahine , Maupiti , Raiatea (with Uturoa), Tahaa , Tupai , Manuae , Maupihaa and Motu One (Bellingshausen) .
	the southern part (Portuguese: Ilhas do Sotavento ) of Cape Verde in the western central Atlantic, in the area of ​​influence of the northeast trade winds
	the western part (English Leeward Islands or Northwestern Islands ) of the Hawaii island chain in the central Pacific, located in the area of ​​influence of the northeast trade winds