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Low-lying coral island known for its many sandy beaches. The most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. A British dependency.
Population: 12,446 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: The Valley
Area: total: 102 sq km
Highest point: Crocus Hill 65 m
National Bird: Turtledove.
Antigua has a deeply indented shoreline with many natural harbours and beaches; Barbuda has a very large western harbour. Good transport links with other islands makes Antigua a regional and international hub.
Population: 67,448 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Saint John's
Area: total: 443 sq km (Antigua 280 sq km; Barbuda 161 sq km) note: includes Redonda, 1.6 sq km
Highest point: Boggy Peak 402 m
A flat, riverless island renowned for its white sand beaches; its tropical climate is moderated by constant trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean; the temperature is almost constant at about 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit). Just 25 Km north of Venezuela.
Population: 70,441 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Oranjestad
Area: 193 sq km
Highest point: Mount Jamanota 188 m
An archipelago of 700 islands and islets (of which around 30 are inhabited), the Commonwealth of the Bahamas attracts more than five times its population in tourists. The visitors are attracted by its magnificent mild climate, splendid beaches and beautiful forests. Strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba.
Population: 300,529 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Nassau
Area: 13,940 sq km
Highest point: Mount Alvernia, on Cat Island 63 m
Barbados has seen tourism overtake the production and export of sugar as the island's main revenue earner. Easternmost Caribbean island
Population: 276,607 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Bridgetown
Area: 431 sq km
Highest point: Mount Hillaby 336 m
Formerly known as British Honduras, Belize has more in common with the Caribbean island-states than with its Central American neighbours. . Only country in Central America without a coastline on the North Pacific Ocean.
Population: 262,999 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Belmopan
Area: total: 22,966 sq km
Highest point: Victoria Peak 1,160 m
Consists of about 138 coral islands and islets with ample rainfall, but no rivers or freshwater lakes; some land, reclaimed and otherwise, was leased by US Government from 1941 to 1995.
Population: 63,960 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Hamilton
Area: total: 53.3 sq km
Highest point: Town Hill 76 m
Excellent diving, this is one of the 'ABC' islands off the coast of Venezuela.
Capital: Kralendijk
Strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Population: 21,272 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Road Town
Area: total: 153 sq km
Highest point: Mount Sage 521 m
Important location between Cuba and Central America.
Population: 36,273 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: George Town
Area: total: 262 sq km
Highest point: The Bluff 43 m
Costa Rica is located in Central America, it is a small mountainous country noted for its rainforest.
Largest island in Caribbean and westernmost island of the Greater Antilles. Cuba has survived more than 40 years of US sanctions intended to topple the government of Fidel Castro. Despite the US trade embargo a modest recovery has been made with the help of Canadian, European and Latin American investments, especially in tourism.
Population: 11,224,321 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Havana
Area: total: 110,860 sq km
Highest point: Pico Turquino 2,005 m
Largest island of the Netherlands Antilles.
Capital: Willemstad
Known as "The Nature Island of the Caribbean" due to its spectacular, lush, and varied flora and fauna. Much of Dominica is protected by an extensive natural park system; it's the most mountainous of the Lesser Antilles. Several volcanic peaks, cones of lava craters and the Boiling Lake, the second-largest, thermally active lake in the world.
Population: 70,158 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Roseau
Area: total: 754 sq km
Highest point: Morne Diablatin 1,447 m
Shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti (eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic, western one-third is Haiti). Traditionally dependent on the export of sugar and other agricultural products, the DR has become the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean. Tourism is the country's second most important source of foreign exchange, after sugar.
Population: 8,721,594 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Santo Domingo
Area: total: 48,730 sq km
Highest point: Pico Duarte 3,175 m
Called 'The Spice Island' because of nutmeg and other spices it produces. The administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.
Population: 89,211 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Saint George's
Area: total: 344 sq km
Highest point: Mount Saint Catherine 840 m
A narrow channel, the Riviere Salee, divides Guadeloupe proper into two islands: the larger, western Basse-Terre and the smaller, eastern Grande-Terre.
Population: 435,739 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Basse-Terre
Area: total: 1,780 sq km
Highest point: Soufriere 1,484 m
The third-smallest country in South America after Suriname and Uruguay; substantial portions of its western and eastern territories are claimed by Venezuela and Suriname respectively. A largely forested country with spectacular waterfalls, distinctively large plants and trees and a thick tropical rainforest teeming with brilliantly-coloured birds, insects and a wide variety of mammals, Guyana is potentially a lucrative eco-tourist destination.
Population: 698,209 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Georgetown
Area: total: 214,970 sq km
Highest point: Mount Roraima 2,835 m
Shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic (western one-third is Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic.
Population: 7,063,722 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Port-au-Prince
Area: total: 27,750 sq km
Highest point: Chaine de la Selle 2,680 m
Strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal.
Population: 2,680,029 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Kingston
Area: total: 10,991 sq km
Highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m
Located about 20 miles off the coast of Venezuela.
The island is dominated by Mount Pelee, which on 8 May 1902 erupted and completely destroyed the city of Saint Pierre, killing 30,000 inhabitants.
Population: 422,277 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Fort-de-France
Area: total: 1,100 sq km
Highest point: Montagne Pelee 1,397 m
The island is entirely volcanic in origin and contains seven active volcanoes.
Population: 8,437
Capital: Plymouth
Area: total: 102 sq km
Highest point: Chances Peak (in the Soufriere Hills volcanic complex) 914 m
Part of the twin-island nation of St. Kitts & Nevis. Nevis Peak sits in the center of its almost circular namesake island and its ball shape complements that of its sister island.
Capital: Charlestown
Area: 93 sq km
Important location along the Mona Passage - a key shipping lane to the Panama Canal; San Juan is one of the biggest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean; many small rivers and high central mountains ensure land is well watered; south coast relatively dry; fertile coastal plain belt in north.
Population: 3,957,988 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: San Juan
Area: total: 9,104 sq km
Highest point: Cerro de Punta 1,338 m
Part of the Netherlands Antilles. Island is an extinct volcano, with lush vegetation but few beaches.
Population: 1,200
Highest point: Mount Scenery 887 m
One of the French Antilles islands, also known Saint-Barthelemy.
Population: 5,038
Area: 21 sq. km.
Also known as Statia. Part of the Netherland Antilles, island is dominated by the extinct volcano 'The Quill' at the southern end.
Population: 2,100
Capital: Oranjestad
With coastlines in the shape of a baseball bat and ball, the two volcanic islands are separated by a three-km-wide channel called The Narrows; on the southern tip of long, baseball bat-shaped Saint Kitts lies the Great Salt Pond;. St Kitts and Nevis is heavily dependent on agriculture; however, tourism and a growing offshore financial industry are becoming increasingly important to the economy.
Population: 38,736 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Basseterre
Area: total: 261 sq km (Saint Kitts 168 sq km; Nevis 93 sq km)
Highest point: Mount Liamuiga 1,156 m
The twin Pitons (Gros Piton and Petit Piton), striking cone-shaped peaks south of Soufriere, are one of the scenic natural highlights of the Caribbean.
Population: 160,145 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Castries
Area: total: 616 sq km
Highest point: Mount Gimie 950 m
Saint-Martin is devided between French Saint-Martin and Dutch Sint Maarten
Population: 28,500
Capitol: Marigot (French side) Philipsburg
Area: 52 sq. km.
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St. Vincent and the Grenadines |
The multi-island country of St Vincent and the Grenadines is a land of contrasts: the volcanic, mountainous St Vincent contrasting with the flat, mainly bare coral reefs of the Grenadines. . The administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada; St. Vincent and the Grenadines is comprised of 32 islands and cays.
Population: 116,394 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Kingstown
Area: total: 389 sq km (Saint Vincent 344 sq km)
Highest point: Soufriere 1,234 m
Smallest independent country on South American continent; mostly tropical rain forest; great diversity of flora and fauna that, for the most part, is increasingly threatened by new development; relatively small population, mostly along the coast.
Population: 436,494 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Paramaribo
Area: total: 163,270 sq km
Highest point: Juliana Top 1,230 m
This two-island state enjoys a per capita income well above the average for Latin America thanks to its oil wealth, which in the early 1970s made it the third biggest exporter of petroleum in the western hemisphere. .
Pitch Lake, on Trinidad's southwestern coast, is the world's largest natural reservoir of asphalt .
Population: 1,163,724 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Port-of-Spain
Area: total: 5,128 sq km
Highest point: El Cerro del Aripo 940 m
About 40 islands (eight inhabited)
Population: 18,738 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Grand Turk (Cockburn Town)
Area: total: 430 sq km
Highest point: Blue Hills 49 m
Important location along the Anegada Passage - a key shipping lane for the Panama Canal; Saint Thomas has one of the best natural deepwater harbors in the Caribbean.
Population: 123,498 (July 2002 est.)
Capital: Charlotte Amalie
Area: total: 352 sq km
Highest point: Crown Mountain 474 m
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