List of sovereign states and dependent territories in the West Indies

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 (whose cultural and linguistic heritage 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] (2018)GDP per capita (PPP) (US$)
Antigua and Barbuda[5]St. John'sEast Caribbean dollarEnglish44096,28618,400
The Bahamas (The Commonwealth of The Bahamas)[6] NassauBahamian dollarEnglish13,878385,63732,000
Barbados[7]BridgetownBarbadian dollarEnglish431286,64125,100
Cuba[8] (Republic of Cuba) HavanaCuban pesoSpanish109,88611,338,13410,200
Dominica (Commonwealth of Dominica)[9]RoseauEast Caribbean dollarEnglish75471,62514,300
Dominican Republic[10]Santo DomingoDominican pesoSpanish48,44210,627,1419,700
Grenada[11]St. George'sEast Caribbean dollarEnglish344111,45413,800
Haiti[12] (Republic of Haiti)Port-au-PrinceHaitian gourdeFrench, Haitian Creole27,75011,123,1781,300
Jamaica[13]KingstonJamaican dollarEnglish 10,9912,934,8479,000
Saint Kitts and Nevis (Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis)[14]Basseterre
East Caribbean dollarEnglish26152,44116,300
Saint Lucia[15]CastriesEast Caribbean dollarEnglish616181,88913,100
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines[16]KingstownEast Caribbean dollarEnglish389110,21112,100
Trinidad and Tobago [17] (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago)Port of SpainTrinidad and Tobago dollarEnglish5,1311,389,84320,300

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] (2018)GDP per capita (PPP) (US$)
Anguilla[18]United KingdomThe ValleyEast Caribbean dollarEnglish9114,73112,200
Aruba[19]NetherlandsOranjestadAruban FlorinDutch, Papiamento180105,84525,300 (2011 est)
British Virgin Islands[20]United KingdomRoad TownUnited States dollarEnglish15329,80242,300
Cayman Islands[21]United KingdomGeorge TownCayman Islands dollarEnglish26464,17443,800
Curaçao[22]NetherlandsWillemstadNetherlands Antillean guilderDutch, Papiamento, English444162,75215,000 (est)
Montserrat[23]United KingdomPlymouth (de jure)
Brades (de facto)		East Caribbean dollarEnglish1024,9938,500
Puerto Rico[24]United StatesSan JuanUnited States dollarSpanish, English9,1043,039,59627,384
Saint Barthélemy[25]FranceGustaviaEuroFrench227,26737,000
Collectivity of Saint Martin[26]FranceMarigotEuroFrench5431,53019,300
Sint Maarten[27]NetherlandsPhilipsburgNetherlands Antillean guilderDutch, English3441,940 Saint-Martin (French part)=37,26415,400
Turks and Caicos Islands[28]United KingdomCockburn TownUnited States dollarEnglish61637,66529,100
United States Virgin Islands[29]United StatesCharlotte AmalieUnited States dollarEnglish346104,68014,500

The phrase "Caribbean countries"

Depending on the speaker and the context, the phrase "Caribbean countries" has a variety of meanings:[30] Such as these images show below

  • Caribbean countries in the strictest sense
  • Caribbean countries in a looser sense
  • Caribbean countries in the widest application of the phrase

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. ""World Population prospects – Population division"". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  4. ""Overall total population" – World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision" (xslx). population.un.org (custom data acquired via website). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  5. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ac.html Cia account on Antigua and Barbuda
  6. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bf.html Cia account on the Bahamas
  7. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bb.html Cia account on Barbados
  8. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html Cia account on Cuba
  9. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/do.html Cia account on Dominica
  10. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/dr.html Cia account of the Dominican Republic
  11. "Central America and Caribbean: Grenada". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  12. "Central America :: Haiti — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov.
  13. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jm.html CIA account on Jamaica
  14. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sc.html Cia account on Saint Kitts and Nevis
  15. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/st.html Cia account on Saint Lucia
  16. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vc.html Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  17. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/td.html CIA account of Trinidad and Tobago
  18. (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/av.html
  19. "Aruba". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  20. (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vi.html
  21. (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cj.html
  22. "Curacao". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  23. (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mh.html
  24. (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rq.html
  25. (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tb.html
  26. (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rn.html
  27. (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sk.html
  28. (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tk.html
  29. (Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vq.html
  30. http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=caribbean (the meaning of the word "Caribbean")
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