Antillas (orthographic projection).svg

This a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in the West Indies.

The West Indies can be taken to mean all the countries in and around the Caribbean Sea that lies within an area that stretches from Grand Bahama Island in the north to Curaçao in the south, and French Guiana in the east to Belize in the west. This is an expanse (mostly of ocean) which measures about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) from north to south, and over 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometres) from east to west.

Ignoring the Central and South American nations that border the Caribbean Sea (many of which have a cultural and linguistic heritage that sets their history out of the scope of the region) there is a total of thirteen independent or sovereign states and nine island groupings that remain dependencies in one form or another, to the nations of the United Kingdom, United States, France, and the Netherlands.[1]

Sovereign states

Most sovereign states in the West Indies (and one British dependency) are members of the Caribbean Community, which is an international organisation formed to promote regional integration and collaboration among its member states.

Note that Bermuda, is a member of the Caribbean Community, though the nation lies in the Atlantic Ocean, not in the West Indies.

  Member of the Caribbean Community only
  Member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the Caribbean Community
Name (official name) Flag Capital Currency[2] Official languages Area (km2) Population[3][4] (2021) GDP per capita (PPP) (US$)[5]
Antigua and Barbuda[6] Antigua and Barbuda St. John's East Caribbean dollar English 440 93,219 21,910
The Bahamas (The Commonwealth of The Bahamas)[7] The Bahamas Nassau Bahamian dollar English 13,878 407,906 37,101
Barbados[8] Barbados Bridgetown Barbadian dollar English 431 281,200 15,639
Belize[9] Belize Belmopan Belize dollar English 22,966 400,031 9,576
Cuba[10] (Republic of Cuba) Cuba Havana Cuban peso Spanish 109,886 11,256,372 12,300
Dominica (Commonwealth of Dominica)[11] Dominica Roseau East Caribbean dollar English 754 72,412 11,917
Dominican Republic[12] Dominican Republic Santo Domingo Dominican peso Spanish 48,442 11,117,873 18,413
Grenada[13] Grenada St. George's East Caribbean dollar English 344 124,610 17,039
Guyana[14] (Co‑operative Republic of Guyana) Guyana Georgetown Guyanese dollar English 214,970 804,567 17,359
Haiti[15] (Republic of Haiti) Haiti Port-au-Prince Haitian gourde French, Haitian Creole 27,750 11,447,569 2,905
Jamaica[16] Jamaica Kingston Jamaican dollar English 10,991 2,827,695 9,762
Saint Kitts and Nevis (Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis)[17] Saint Kitts and Nevis Basseterre
East Caribbean dollar English 261 47,606 26,438
Saint Lucia[18] Saint Lucia Castries East Caribbean dollar English 616 179,651 15,449
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines[19] Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Kingstown East Caribbean dollar English 389 104,332 12,485
Suriname[20] (Republic of Suriname) Suriname Paramaribo Surinamese dollar Dutch 163,821 612,985 15,845
Trinidad and Tobago[21] (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago) Trinidad and Tobago Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago dollar English 5,131 1,525,663 26,176

Dependent territories

Montserrat is a member of both the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the Caribbean Community despite being a dependent nation of the United Kingdom. The island regions of Martinique, Guadeloupe and the BES islands are not included here because they are not technically dependent territories of the countries mentioned, instead being integrated areas of France and the Netherlands respectively.

Name Country Flag Capital Currency Official languages Area (km2) Population[3][4] (2021) GDP per capita (PPP) (US$)[1]
Anguilla[22] United Kingdom Anguilla The Valley East Caribbean dollar English 91 15,753 12,200 (2008 est.)
Aruba[23] Netherlands Aruba Oranjestad Aruban Florin Dutch, Papiamento 180 106,537 37,500 (2017 est.)
British Virgin Islands[24] United Kingdom British Virgin Islands Road Town United States dollar English 153 31,122 34,200 (2017 est.)
Cayman Islands[25] United Kingdom Cayman Islands George Town Cayman Islands dollar English 264 68,136 71,549 (2018 est.)
Curaçao[26] Netherlands Curaçao Willemstad Netherlands Antillean guilder Dutch, Papiamento, English 444 190,338 24,479 (2019 est.)
Montserrat[27] United Kingdom Montserrat Plymouth (de jure)
Brades (de facto)		 East Caribbean dollar English 102 4,417 34,000 (2011 est.)
Puerto Rico[28] United States Puerto Rico San Juan United States dollar Spanish, English 9,104 3,256,028 34,518 (2019 est.)
Saint Barthelemy[29] France Saint Barthélemy Gustavia Euro French 22 7,267
Saint Martin[30] France Collectivity of Saint Martin Marigot Euro French 54 31,530 19,300 (2005 est.)
Sint Maarten[31] Netherlands Sint Maarten Philipsburg Netherlands Antillean guilder Dutch, English 34 44,042 35,342 (2018 est.)
Turks and Caicos Islands[32] United Kingdom Turks and Caicos Islands Cockburn Town United States dollar English 616 45,114 29,253 (2019 est.)
United States Virgin Islands[33] United States United States Virgin Islands Charlotte Amalie United States dollar English 346 100,091 37,000 (2016 est.)

The phrase "Caribbean countries"

Depending on the speaker and the context, the phrase "Caribbean countries" can have a variety of meanings,[34] such as those shown in the images below.

See also

References

  1. ^ [Amerindians to Africans, (page one) published by Macmillan Caribbean http://www.macmillan-caribbean.com/home/Home.aspx] Archived April 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "List of currencies of the world with ISO-4217". countries-of the-world.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  3. ^ a b "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX). population.un.org ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  5. ^ "Real GDP per capita - The World Factbook". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
  6. ^ The World Factbook Cia account on Antigua and Barbuda
  7. ^ The World Factbook Cia account on the Bahamas
  8. ^ The World Factbook Cia account on Barbados
  9. ^ The World Factbook CIA account of Belize
  10. ^ The World Factbook Cia account on Cuba
  11. ^ The World Factbook Cia account on Dominica
  12. ^ The World Factbook Cia account of the Dominican Republic
  13. ^ "Central America and Caribbean: Grenada". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  14. ^ "Guyana — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov.
  15. ^ "Central America :: Haiti — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov.
  16. ^ The World Factbook CIA account on Jamaica
  17. ^ The World Factbook Cia account on Saint Kitts and Nevis
  18. ^ The World Factbook Cia account on Saint Lucia
  19. ^ The World Factbook Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  20. ^ The World Factbook CIA account of Suriname
  21. ^ The World Factbook CIA account of Trinidad and Tobago
  22. ^ (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/anguilla/
  23. ^ "Aruba". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  24. ^ (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/british-virgin-islands/
  25. ^ (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cayman-islands/
  26. ^ "Curacao". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  27. ^ (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/montserrat/
  28. ^ (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/puerto-rico/
  29. ^ (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/saint-barthelemy/
  30. ^ (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/saint-martin/
  31. ^ (Central Intelligence Agency)
  32. ^ (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turks-and-caicos-islands/
  33. ^ (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/virgin-islands/
  34. ^ http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=caribbean (the meaning of the word "Caribbean")
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