Arc of West Indian islands that constitute the most westerly and northerly of the Lesser Antilles , northeastern Caribbean Sea.
The major islands are, from north to south, the Virgin Islands of the U.S. and the British Virgin Islands , Anguilla , St. Martin , Saint Kitts and Nevis , Antigua and Barbuda , Montserrat , and Guadeloupe . Just south of this chain is Dominica , sometimes classified as part of the Leeward Islands but usually designated as part of the Windward Islands .