Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

The northern Lesser Antilles are also

known as the Leeward Islands. They

include the British and U.S. Virgin

Islands, Anguilla, Saint Martin, Saint

Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda,

Montserrat, and Guadeloupe.

South of the Leewards are theWindward

Islands. The Windward Islands

include Dominica, Martinique, Saint

Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,

and Grenada.

Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles, and

Trinidad and Tobago also belong to the

Lesser Antilles. These islands are close to

the coast of South America.

Other Islands

Several other islands lie outside the Antilles

groups. The Bahamas are east and

southeast of Florida. The Turks and

Caicos Islands are southeast of The

Bahamas. The Cayman Islands are

northwest of Jamaica. Barbados lies east

of theWindward Islands.

Foreign Ties

There are many independent countries

in the West Indies. However, many

other islands have ties to foreign

countries. Puerto Rico and the U.S.

Virgin Islands have ties to the United

States. The British Virgin Islands, the

Turks and Caicos Islands, the Cayman

Islands, Anguilla, and Montserrat have

ties to Great Britain. The Netherlands

Charlotte Amalie, on the island of Saint

Thomas, is a port for tourist ships. The city

is the capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands, in

the West Indies. Tourism is important to the

economies of many islands in the region.

The red-billed tropic bird is a seabird of the

West Indies. The islands of the region have

a rich variety of native birds, including parrots,

hummingbirds, doves, and pigeons.

32 West Indies BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

Antilles and Aruba have ties to The

Netherlands. Guadeloupe and

Martinique are parts of France. The

Netherlands and France each control a

part of Saint Martin.

History

Between 200,000 and several million

Native Americans lived in the region

before Europeans arrived in 1492. In

that year Christopher Columbus landed

on several islands in theWest Indies. He

probably landed first on an island in

The Bahamas, then Cuba, and finally

Hispaniola. Columbus thought he was

in Asia, in the area now called the East

Indies. Therefore, he called the people

on the islands Indians.

Europeans soon controlled all of the

West Indies. Haiti won independence

from France in 1804. By 1902, the

Dominican Republic and Cuba were

independent, too. Most of the other

countries in theWest Indies gained

independence in the second half of the

1900s.

#More to explore

Antigua and Barbuda • Bahamas, The

• Barbados • Caribbean Sea • Cuba

• Dominica • Dominican Republic

• East Indies • Grenada • Haiti

• Jamaica • Puerto Rico • Saint Kitts and

Nevis • Saint Vincent and the

Grenadines • Trinidad and Tobago

West Nile Virus

West Nile is a virus that kills many types

of birds. It also infects humans and

other mammals. Most human infections

are mild, but some are deadly. For years

West Nile virus was found mostly in the

Middle East, Africa, and western Asia.

In the 1990s it spread to Europe and the

United States.

West Nile virus is spread from bird to

bird through mosquito bites. Mosquitoes

also carry the virus from birds to

mammals. The virus does not pass from

one person to another.

Only about one out of every five people

infected withWest Nile virus becomes

ill. The symptoms, or signs, of illness

start 3 to 14 days after infection. They

include fever, headache, muscle aches,

vomiting, and skin rash. These symptoms

generally last a few days.

A small number of people infected with

the virus become seriously ill. This

mostly happens to people over the age of

50. In these people the virus reaches the

brain, causing a condition called

encephalitis. Symptoms of encephalitis

include severe headache, high fever, neck

stiffness, muscle weakness, and confusion.

A person with encephalitis may

become paralyzed or die.

There is no cure for infection withWest

Nile virus. The best way to keep from

getting infected is to avoid being bitten

by mosquitoes. Treatment focuses on

relieving the symptoms. In severe cases

people need to stay in a hospital for

treatment.

#More to explore

Encephalitis • Virus

The first

human case of

West Nile

virus was

found in 1937

in the West

Nile district of

Uganda, a

country in

Africa.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA West Nile Virus 33

 

West Virginia

The U.S. state ofWest Virginia

was created during the American

CivilWar. In 1861 the state of Virginia

voted to withdraw from the Union. But

leaders from the state’s northwestern

counties rebelled and set up their own

government. This division of Virginia

lasted until June 20, 1863, whenWest

Virginia became the 35th state of the

Union.

West Virginia is nicknamed the Mountain

State because of its rugged landscape.

Charleston is the capital.

Geography

West Virginia is in the east-central part

of the United States. It is bordered on

the north by Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Ohio and Kentucky lie to the west.

Virginia is to the east and south.

All ofWest Virginia lies within the

Appalachian Mountains. It is a state of

forested hills and mountains separated

by narrow valleys. The Allegheny Mountains,

a section of the Appalachians, have

the highest peaks. Many of them are