Caribbean Studies: Introduction

A Physical map of the Caribbean Area

The political boundaries of the nations of the Caribbean

Source: CIA World Factbook 2023. World and Regional Maps.

Flag	Country or territory	Sovereignty	Status	Area (km2)	Population   (2021 est.)	Density (people per km2)	Capital
	Anguilla	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	91	15,753	164.8	The Valley
	Antigua and Barbuda	Independent	Constitutional monarchy	442	93,219	199.1	St. John's
	Aruba	Kingdom of the Netherlands	Constituent kingdom	180	106,537	594.4	Oranjestad
	The Bahamas	Independent	Constitutional monarchy	13,943	407,906	24.5	Nassau
	Barbados	Independent	Republic	430	287,025	595.3	Bridgetown
	Bay Islands Department	Honduras	Department	229	110,000	480	Coxen Hole
	Belize	Independent	Constitutional monarchy	22,966	400,031	17.79	Belmopan
	Bocas del Toro Province	Panama	Province	4,657.2	125,461	27	Bocas Town
	Bonaire	Netherlands	Special Municipality	294	20,104[26]	41.1	Kralendijk
	British Virgin Islands	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	151	31,122	152.3	Road Town
	Cayman Islands	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	264	68,136	212.1	George Town
	Cuba	Independent	Republic	109,886	11,256,372	102.0	Havana
	Curaçao	Kingdom of the Netherlands	Constituent kingdom	444	190,338	317.1	Willemstad
	Dominica	Independent	Republic	751	72,412	89.2	Roseau
	Dominican Republic	Independent	Republic	48,671	11,117,873	207.3	Santo Domingo
	Federal Dependencies of Venezuela	Venezuela	Dependency	342	2,155	6.3	Gran Roque
	French Guiana	France	Overseas department	83,846	297,449	3.6	Cayenne
	Grenada	Independent	Constitutional monarchy	344	124,610	302.3	St. George's
	Guadeloupe	France	Overseas department	1,628	396,051	246.7	Basse-Terre
	Guna Yala	Panama	Province	2,358.2	33,109	14.04	Gaigirgordub
	Guyana	Independent	Republic	214,970	804,567	3.502	Georgetown
	Haiti	Independent	Republic	27,750	11,447,569	361.5	Port-au-Prince
	Jamaica	Independent	Constitutional monarchy	10,991	2,827,695	247.4	Kingston
	Martinique	France	Overseas department	1,128	368,796	352.6	Fort-de-France
	Montserrat	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	102	4,417	58.8	Plymouth (Brades)[27]
	Navassa Island	United States/Haiti	Territory (uninhabited)	5	0	0.0	n/a
	Nueva Esparta	Venezuela	State	1,151	491,610	427.5	La Asunción
	Puerto Rico	United States	Commonwealth	8,870	3,256,028	448.9	San Juan
	Quintana Roo	Mexico	State	44,705.2	1,857,985	42	Chetumal
	Saba	Netherlands	Special municipality	13	1,537[26]	118.2	The Bottom
	San Andrés and Providencia	Colombia	Department	52.5	75,167	1431	San Andrés
	Saint Barthélemy	France	Overseas collectivity	21	7,448	354.7	Gustavia
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Independent	Constitutional monarchy	261	47,606	199.2	Basseterre
	Saint Lucia	Independent	Constitutional monarchy	539	179,651	319.1	Castries
	Saint Martin	France	Overseas collectivity	54	29,820	552.2	Marigot
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Independent	Constitutional monarchy	389	104,332	280.2	Kingstown
	Sint Eustatius	Netherlands	Special municipality	21	2,739[26]	130.4	Oranjestad
	Sint Maarten	Kingdom of the Netherlands	Constituent kingdom	34	44,042	1176.7	Philipsburg
	Suriname	Independent	Republic	163,821	612,985	3.9	Paramaribo
	Trinidad and Tobago	Independent	Republic	5,130	1,525,663	261.0	Port of Spain
	Turks and Caicos Islands[28]	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	948	45,114	34.8	Cockburn Town
	United States Virgin Islands	United States	Territory	347	100,091	317.0	Charlotte Amalie
TOTAL				235,667	44,636,789	189.4

 

Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division

Below is a list of some Caribbean authors, and those of Caribbean descent, organized by country/nationality. Use the Monroe University Library Catalog to search for books in the College Libraries.

Antigua

Marie-Elena John

Jamaica Kincaid

Aruba

Quito Nicolaas

The Bahamas

Robert Antoni

Christian Campbell

Barbados 

Kamau Brathwaite

Austin Clarke

Paul Dash

Paule Marshall

Andrea Stuart

John Wickham

Odimumba Kwamdela (J.Ashton Brathwaite)

Belize

Zee Edgell

Dominica 

Phyllis Shand Allfrey

Gabriel Christian

Jean Rhys

Guadeloupe

Maryse Conde

Saint-John Perse

Gisèle Pineau

Guyana

E. R. Braithwaite

Martin Carter

Cyril Dabydeen

Beryl Gilroy

Wilson Harris

Pauline Melville

Edgar Mittelholzer

Grace Nichols

Eric Walrond

Denis Williams

Haiti

Edwidge Danticat

René Depestre

Dany Laferrière

Emeric Bergeaud

Frankétienne

Beaubrun Ardouin

Jamaica 

Edward Baugh

Alvin Bennett

Colin Channer

Jean D'Costa

John Hearne

Nalo Hopkinson

Claude McKay

Orlando Patterson

Geoffrey Philp

V. S. Reid

Dennis Scott

Sylvia Wynter

Martinique

Aimé Césaire

Patrick Chamoiseau

Frantz Fanon

Montserrat

E. A. Markham

St Kitts and Nevis

Caryl Phillips

St Lucia

Garth St Omer

Derek Walcott

Saint Martin

Lasana M. Sekou

St Vincent and The Grenadines 

Shake Keane

Suriname

Gerrit Barron

John H. de Bye

Cynthia McLeod

Trinidad and Tobago

Robert Antoni

Dionne Brand

Lennox Brown

Wilfred Cartey

Cecil Gray

Errol Hill

Merle Hodge

Anthony Joseph

Ian McDonald

V. S. Naipaul

John Stewart

Eric Williams