Lucy Hall, age 15, of Greenville, Miss., for her question:

WHERE ARE THE LEEWARD ISLANDS?

The Leeward Islands are a chain of islands that form part of the West Indies at the northern end of the Lesser Antilles. The northernmost island is at a latitude of 1b degrees north and the southern tip of the chain is at a latitude of 16 degrees north.

The area of the Leeward Islands is 1,273 square miles.

The main islands in the chain are Antigua, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Saint Kitts (Saint Christopher) and the Virgin Islands.

Antigua and St.Kitts Nevis are members of the West Indies Associated States while the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and Montserrat are dependencies of Great Britain.

Guadeloupe is an overseas department of France while part of Saint Martin and all of Saint Eustatius and Sada islands make up the Netherlands Leeward Islands.

Saint Thomas, Saint John and Saint Croix make up the Virgin Islands , of the United States.