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 which measures about 1,000 miles from north to south, and over 2,500 miles from east to west.
Ignoring the Central and South American nations that border the Caribbean Sea 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.

Sovereign states

Most sovereign states in the West Indies 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.
Name FlagCapitalCurrencyOfficial languagesArea Population GDP per capita
Antigua and BarbudaSt. John'sEast Caribbean dollarEnglish44018,400
The Bahamas NassauBahamian dollarEnglish13,87832,000
BarbadosBridgetownBarbadian dollarEnglish43125,100
Cuba HavanaCuban pesoSpanish109,88610,200
Dominica RoseauEast Caribbean dollarEnglish75414,300
Dominican RepublicSanto DomingoDominican pesoSpanish48,4429,700
GrenadaSt. George'sEast Caribbean dollarEnglish34413,800
Haiti Port-au-PrinceHaitian gourdeFrench, Haitian Creole27,7501,300
JamaicaKingstonJamaican dollarEnglish10,9919,000
Saint Kitts and Nevis Basseterre
East Caribbean dollarEnglish26116,300
Saint LuciaCastriesEast Caribbean dollarEnglish61613,100
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesKingstownEast Caribbean dollarEnglish38912,100
Trinidad and Tobago Dependent territoriesis 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 Population GDP per capita
AnguillaUnited KingdomThe ValleyEast Caribbean dollarEnglish9112,200
ArubaNetherlandsOranjestadAruban FlorinDutch, Papiamento18025,300
British Virgin IslandsUnited KingdomRoad TownUnited States dollarEnglish15342,300
Cayman IslandsUnited KingdomGeorge TownCayman Islands dollarEnglish26443,800
CuraçaoNetherlandsWillemstadNetherlands Antillean guilderDutch, Papiamento, English44415,000
MontserratUnited KingdomPlymouth
Brades 		East Caribbean dollarEnglish1028,500
Puerto RicoUnited StatesSan JuanUnited States dollarSpanish, English9,10427,384
Saint BarthélemyFranceGustaviaEuroFrench227,26737,000
Collectivity of Saint MartinFranceMarigotEuroFrench5431,53019,300
Sint MaartenNetherlandsPhilipsburgNetherlands Antillean guilderDutch, English3415,400
Turks and Caicos IslandsUnited KingdomCockburn TownUnited States dollarEnglish61629,100
United States Virgin IslandsUnited StatesCharlotte AmalieUnited States dollarEnglish34614,500

The phrase "Caribbean countries"

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