List of sovereign states and dependent territories in the West Indies

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

Contents

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)FlagCapitalCurrency [2] Official languagesArea (km2)Population [3] [4] (2021)GDP per capita (PPP) (US$) [5]
Antigua and Barbuda [6] Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg St. John's East Caribbean dollar English 44093,21921,910
The Bahamas (The Commonwealth of The Bahamas) [7] Flag of the Bahamas.svg Nassau Bahamian dollar English 13,878407,90637,101
Barbados [8] Flag of Barbados.svg Bridgetown Barbadian dollar English 431281,20015,639
Belize [9] Flag of Belize.svg Belmopan Belize dollar English 22,966400,0319,576
Cuba [10] (Republic of Cuba) Flag of Cuba.svg Havana Cuban peso Spanish 109,88611,256,37212,300
Dominica (Commonwealth of Dominica) [11] Flag of Dominica.svg Roseau East Caribbean dollar English 75472,41211,917
Dominican Republic [12] Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg Santo Domingo Dominican peso Spanish 48,44211,117,87318,413
Grenada [13] Flag of Grenada.svg St. George's East Caribbean dollar English 344124,61017,039
Guyana [14] (Co‑operative Republic of Guyana) Flag of Guyana.svg Georgetown Guyanese dollar English 214,970804,56717,359
Haiti [15] (Republic of Haiti) Flag of Haiti.svg Port-au-Prince Haitian gourde French, Haitian Creole 27,75011,447,5692,905
Jamaica [16] Flag of Jamaica.svg Kingston Jamaican dollar English 10,9912,827,6959,762
Saint Kitts and Nevis (Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis) [17] Flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis.svg Basseterre
East Caribbean dollar English 26147,60626,438
Saint Lucia [18] Flag of Saint Lucia.svg Castries East Caribbean dollar English 616179,65115,449
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines [19] Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.svg Kingstown East Caribbean dollar English 389104,33212,485
Suriname [20] (Republic of Suriname) Flag of Suriname.svg Paramaribo Surinamese dollar Dutch 163,821612,98515,845
Trinidad and Tobago [21] (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago) Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago dollar English 5,1311,525,66326,176

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.

NameCountryFlagCapitalCurrencyOfficial languagesArea (km2)Population [3] [4] (2021)GDP per capita (PPP) (US$)
Anguilla [22] United Kingdom Flag of Anguilla.svg The Valley East Caribbean dollar English 9115,75312,200 (2008 est.)
Aruba [23] Netherlands Flag of Aruba.svg Oranjestad Aruban Florin Dutch, Papiamento 180106,53737,500 (2017 est.)
British Virgin Islands [24] United Kingdom Flag of the British Virgin Islands.svg Road Town United States dollar English 15331,12234,200 (2017 est.)
Cayman Islands [25] United Kingdom Flag of the Cayman Islands.svg George Town Cayman Islands dollar English 26468,13671,549 (2018 est.)
Curaçao [26] Netherlands Flag of Curacao.svg Willemstad Netherlands Antillean guilder Dutch, Papiamento, English 444190,33824,479 (2019 est.)
Montserrat [27] United Kingdom Flag of Montserrat.svg Plymouth (de jure)
Brades (de facto)
East Caribbean dollar English 1024,41734,000 (2011 est.)
Puerto Rico [28] United States Flag of Puerto Rico.svg San Juan United States dollar Spanish, English 9,1043,256,02834,518 (2019 est.)
Saint Barthelemy [29] France Flag of Saint Barthelemy (Local).svg Gustavia Euro French 227,267
Saint Martin [30] France Flag of France.svg Marigot Euro French 5431,53019,300 (2005 est.)
Sint Maarten [31] Netherlands Flag of Sint Maarten.svg Philipsburg Netherlands Antillean guilder Dutch, English 3444,04235,342 (2018 est.)
Turks and Caicos Islands [32] United Kingdom Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands.svg Cockburn Town United States dollar English 61645,11429,253 (2019 est.)
United States Virgin Islands [33] United States Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg Charlotte Amalie United States dollar English 346100,09137,000 (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

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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. 1 2 "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "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")