Cuba is the largest island country or territory in the Caribbean, with a total area of almost 111 thousand square kilometers, followed by the Dominican Republic, with nearly 49 thousand square kilometers.

As of 2025, Barbados was the most densely populated country in Latin America and the Caribbean, with approximately 657.16 people per square kilometer. In that same year, Argentina's population density was estimated at approximately 16.75 people per square kilometer.

A layer that displays hispanic/latino predominance of Caribbean Island Hispanic Groups including: Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican. The data is displayed across Broward County defined by the census tract geography.

Haiti is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, to the east of Cuba and Jamaica and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. To its south-west lies the small Navassa Island, which is claimed by Haiti but is disputed as a United States territory under federal administration. Haiti is 27,750 km2 (10,714 sq mi) in size, the third largest country in the Caribbean by area, and has an estimated population of 11.4 million, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean. The capital is Port-au-Prince.

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Antigua and Barbuda was the Caribbean economy that relied the most on travel and tourism in 2022, with this sector accounting for more than 90 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Aruba followed that year as the Caribbean island with the second-largest share of GDP from tourism.

In 2023, Puerto Rico and The Bahamas were the states with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Latin America and the Caribbean. The average GDP generated per person in the Bahamas amounted to 34,749 U.S. dollars, whereas the average wealth created per capita in Puerto Rico was estimated at around 34,749 U.S. dollars. In that same year, this region's lowest GDP per capita was that of Haiti, at less than 1,693 U.S. dollars per person per year. The largest economies in Latin America GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year. It is an important indicator to measure the economic strength of a country and the average wealth of its population. By far, the two largest economies in the region are Brazil and Mexico, both registering GDPs three times bigger than the third place, Argentina. Nonetheless, they are the two most populated countries by a great margin.
Key economic indicators of Latin America Latin America emerges as an important region in the world economy, as of 2023, around 7.3 percent of the global GDP, a similar share to the Middle East. Nevertheless, the economic development of most of its countries has been heavily affected by other factors, such as corruption, inequality, inflation, or crime and violence. Countries such as Venezuela, Suriname, and Argentina are constantly ranking among the highest inflation rates in the world. While Jamaica, Ecuador, and Haiti rank as some of the most crime-ridden states.

In this study, size-based matrix models for the reef-building coral Orbicella annularis at 14-m depth on the Tektite reef in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, were used to: (1) explore the demography of changing coral cover over 25 yr, (2) test for spatial homogeneity in demographic properties through a contrast with a previous study (at Yawzi Point, Edmunds and Elahi 2007), and (3) evaluate the potential for future population stability. During three, five year intervals from 1988 to 2002, St. John was affected by hurricanes and bleaching, yet coral cover at Tektite increased from 33% to 49%; from 2002 to 2007, it declined to 27%; and from 2010 to 2013, it stabilized at ∼ 28%. Over a quarter-century, colonies > 50 cm2 became rare, the abundance of colonies ≤ 50 cm2 increased from 58% (1988) to 92% (2013), and population density doubled to 67 colonies m-2 by 2013. Population growth (λ) was greater at Tektite (1.152 ≥ λ ≥ 1.018) than Yawzi Point (0.679 ≥ λ ≥ 0.586), and while population size at Tektite declined due to bleaching and disease in 2005 (λ = 0.753 over 2003–2008), it recovered between 2008 and 2013 (λ = 0.966); the population at Yawzi Point declined from 1988 to 2003 without signs of recovery. Projections suggest a continuation of recent conditions could allow O. annularis at Tektite to retain ∼ 9% cover after 100 yr, but with a return to the rates of growth and survival of 1993–1998, it could attain coverage similar to that of 1988 (33%) in ∼ 15 yr.

Population growth rate ()and damping ratios ()for Montastraea annularis at 9-m depth in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

On September 5th, 2017, Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Caribbean Islands. The National Hurricane Center reported sustained winds of up to 185 mph (298 km/h) making it one of the most powerful storms on record to hit the Atlantic. Two weeks later Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, resulting in one the worst natural disasters in the island’s history. The storm resulted in 3,000 fatalities, and incurred millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure. The environmental impact of Maria was also devastating. Thousands of trees were uprooted or damaged; sand dunes and shorelines shifted, changing the geography of the island. The fragile island ecosystems suffered significant loss of biodiversity.

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In 2023, four Caribbean nations were the countries with the highest gross national income per capita in Latin America and the Caribbean. On average, the national gross income amounted to around 31,990 U.S. dollars per person in the Bahamas, an island country which also had one of the highest gross domestic product per capita in this region. Outside the Caribbean Excluding the Caribbean, the economies with the highest national income per capita are generally located in South America, with the exceptions of Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico. Guyana leads among continental states with a national income of around 20.360 U.S. dollars per person. Gross national income (GNI) is the aggregated sum of the value added by residents in an economy, plus net taxes (minus subsidies) and net receipts of primary income from abroad. The biggest economies Brazil and Mexico are still miles ahead in the race for the biggest economy of Latin America. As of 2023, both nations exceeded the two trillion U.S. dollars mark in their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While Argentina's GDP, third place, slightly surpassed the 600 billion U.S. dollars. Nonetheless, both nations also ranked as the most populated by far in the region.

Transition matrices and elasticity analyses for a population of Montastraea annularis at Yawzi Point (9-m depth) for 1988–1993, 1993–1998, and 1998–2003 at St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Between 2011 and 2023, the population of the Caribbean island Saba increased slightly. Saba, one of the three special municipalities of the Netherlands, counted roughly two thousand inhabitants in 2023. Population peaked in 2018, at approximately 2,200. In total, the three special municipalities forming the Caribbean Netherlands were home to around 29,400 people in 2023.

 Three special municipalities…  

Of the three special municipalities, Saba is the smallest and the least populous. Bonaire is the largest, with just under 22.6 thousand inhabitants in 2022. Approximately 3.2 thousand people lived on Sint Eustatius, Saba’s neighbor to the east.

… And three independent Caribbean countries  

Next to the three special municipalities, there are three more islands in the Caribbean with a connection to the Netherlands. Sint Maarten, Aruba and Curaçao are independent countries, but still part of the larger Kingdom of the Netherlands. Of these three islands, Curaçao is the largest, with a population of around 151 thousand in 2022. The population of Aruba amounted to roughly 111 thousand in 2020. Of the three independent countries, Sint Maarten was the smallest in terms of population, with just over 40,000 inhabitants.

In 2022, Jamaica welcomed nearly *** million overnight tourist arrivals from the United States, ranking as the most popular country of origin among foreign visitors in the Caribbean island that year. The second place in the ranking was occupied by Canada with almost *** thousand tourist arrivals. How long do visitors stay in Jamaica? The average number of nights spent by international tourists in Jamaica showed an overall declining trend between 2010 and 2019, going from an average of **** to less than *****, with some small growth happening between 2014 and 2016. However, foreign visitors in Jamaican territory stayed once again around **** nights in 2020 and 2021 on average, representing an increase of more than ** percent versus 2019. Nonetheless in 2022, the average number of nights spent by tourists in the country decreased again to around * nights. When is the most popular month for tourists to travel to Jamaica? In July and December 2022, the average number of international overnight tourist arrivals in Jamaica was roughly *** and *** thousand visitors respectively, making these two months the most popular amongst tourists. Additionally, the month of December 2022 saw the highest year-over-year number of arrivals, with an increase of approximately ** percent compared to December of the previous year. Thus, this recovery nearly reached pre-pandemic levels of *** thousand in 2019. In terms of spending, international tourists in Jamaica contributed around *** billion U.S. dollars in 2022, representing a ** percent increase compared to the previous year. This growth was part of a broader trend throughout the *****, where inbound tourism spending in the Caribbean country steadily increased.

In 2022, Aruba registered around *** million overnight visitor arrivals – recovering by ** percent from the hit of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The largest number of visitors to the Caribbean constituent country of the Netherlands usually stay for at least one night. The role of tourism on Aruba’s economy By the end of the 2010s, the internal consumption of travel and tourism of Aruba, which includes the expenditures and revenues as well as the government spending on this sector, surpassed the two billion U.S. dollars mark. With it, the small Caribbean island has become the most tourism-dependent economy in the region, with this sector accounting directly and indirectly for more than ** percent of Aruba’s GDP in 2019. Where do Aruba’s international tourists come from? Due to its closeness to the United States, Aruba, like several other Caribbean islands, has become an attractive destination for U.S. travelers. Throughout most of the past decade, more than ** percent of foreign visitors in Aruba were from the North American country. In contrast, the influx of Venezuelan nationals arriving in Aruba —once the second-largest tourist group on the island— experienced significant declines since the mid-2010s. Meanwhile, Dutch visitors constitute just around **** percent of Aruba’s international tourism volume.

In 2021, Dutch tourists comprised the largest share of air arrivals in the Caribbean island of Bonaire. Overall, 71 percent of travelers by air were Dutch. Specifically, 55 percent of tourists flying to the island were from the Netherlands whereas 15 percent were from the Dutch Caribbean islands. Beyond Dutch visitors, tourists from the United States constituted the largest share of air arrivals to Bonaire in 2021.

Panama was home to some of the busiest cruise ports on the Caribbean coastline of Central America in 2023. However, the island of Roatan handled the largest number of cruise passengers, with a total of nearly *** million in that year.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of the Netherlands and six Caribbean islands, that have either autonomous country status or are considered a special municipality of the Netherlands. Three islands are autonomous countries, the three others are special municipalities. The three special municipalities are Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, and together they form the Caribbean Netherlands. In 2023, around 29,400 thousand people lived in the Caribbean Netherlands. The largest of the three municipalities is Bonaire, which was home to the large majority of the people living in the Caribbean Netherlands, at around 24,100.

 Saba and Sint Eustatius  

Saba and Sint Eustatius are the two other special municipalities in the Caribbean Netherlands. Of the three municipalities, Saba is the smallest, with just over two thousand permanent inhabitants. Roughly 3,300 people lived on Sint Eustatius. Combined, the population of these three special municipalities is still smaller than that of any of the autonomous countries in the Caribbean though.  

Sint Maarten, Aruba and Curacao  

Next to Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius, there are three other Caribbean islands. These islands have the status of independent country, although they are still considered part of the larger Kingdom of the Netherlands. Of these autonomous countries, Curaçao is the largest, with roughly 151 thousand inhabitants in 2022. Aruba followed, with a population of just over 111 thousand in 2022. Of the autonomous countries, Sint Maarten is the smallest, with approximately 40.5 thousand people in 2017.

Several countries located in Central America and the Caribbean registered some of the highest homicide rates in the Latin American region in 2023. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ranked first, with around 51.32 homicides committed per 100,000 inhabitants. Jamaica came in second with 49.44 homicides per 100,000 people. The source defines intentional homicide as the unlawful death inflicted upon a person with the intent to cause death or serious injury. When it comes to the total case count, Brazil was the Latin American country with the largest number of homicide victims. Central America and the falling rates El Salvador was commonly named the murder capital of the world for a few years. The inability of previous governments to control organized crime and gangs resulted in the highest homicide rate in the world for a couple of years. Nonetheless, the current administration and the measures applied during the emergency state had an incredibly positive impact in terms of the security of the Salvadorean citizens. But not only El Salvador has seen a considerable reduction in its murder rate in Central America. Honduras and Guatemala are also two great examples of crime reduction, introducing new policies, institutions, and changes to their judicial system to achieve better results. The Caribbean is still ridden by crime Some islands in the Caribbean are not only known as tax heavens, as some nations in the region are considered the main enablers of tax evasion in the world, but also for being ridden by crime. Haiti is one example of the still-rising levels of criminality. As a country with precarious conditions and extreme food insecurity, the homicide rate has been on the rise for almost four consecutive years. Another one is Jamaica, at the top of the Latin American ranking, that has also seen an increase in the youth involved in organized crime due to lack of employment and economic conditions.