Country Guide

This island state is part of the Windward Islands, the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles. The Windward Islands lie between 15°N and the coast of the South American continent. The largest islands of this group are Barbados, Martinique, St Lucia, Grenada, and St Vincent.

Although still small, these larger islands of the Windward group are hilly or mountainous, and this tends to increase the rainfall above that of the small, flat islands in this group. As the tables show, Barbados is less wet around the year than Martinique and St Lucia, both of which have higher mountains.

All months receive appreciable rain, but the heaviest rain is more likely to occur from July to November. This is the hurricane season and, although the most violent of these tropical storms may only strike a particular island every few years, less severe ones cause appreciable rainfall over quite a wide area.

Temperature, humidity, and sunshine throughout the year are typical of the Caribbean area. The climatic tables for Barbados, Martinique, and St Lucia reflect conditions on the west coasts of the islands that are more sheltered from the prevailing winds.