Editing Caribbean Community (section)

== Member states ==
{{See also|Member states of the Caribbean Community}}

{{as of|2024}} CARICOM has 15 full members, seven associate members and eight observers. The associated members are five [[British Overseas Territories]], one constituent county of the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]] and one [[French Overseas Territory]]. It is currently not established what the role of the associate members will be. The observers are states which engage in at least one of CARICOM's technical committees.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qf6LDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA971|title=CIA World Factbook|year=2017|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]|page=971|isbn=9781510712898|access-date=5 July 2017|archive-date=22 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022060431/https://books.google.com/books?id=qf6LDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA971|url-status=live}}</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2023}}

Under Article 4 CARICOM breaks its 15 member states into two groups: Less Developed Countries (LDCs) and More Developed Countries (MDCs).<ref name="revised_chaguaramas">{{cite web |title=Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas |url=http://www.caricom.org/jsp/community/revised_treaty-text.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110061815/http://www.caricom.org/jsp/community/revised_treaty-text.pdf |archive-date=10 November 2011}}</ref>

The countries of CARICOM which are designated as Less Developed Countries (LDCs) are as follows:<ref name=revised_chaguaramas />

* Antigua and Barbuda
* Belize
* Commonwealth of Dominica
* Grenada
* Republic of Haiti
* Montserrat
* Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis
* St Lucia
* St Vincent and the Grenadines

The countries of CARICOM which are designated as More Developed Countries (MDCs) are:<ref name=revised_chaguaramas />

* Commonwealth of The Bahamas
* Barbados
* Co-operative Republic of Guyana
* Jamaica
* Republic of Suriname
* Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+CARICOM members
! Status
! Name
! Join date
! Notes
|-
| rowspan=15 |Full member
| {{Country|Antigua and Barbuda}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 4 July 1974
|
|-
| {{Country|The Bahamas}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 4 July 1983
| Not a part of the customs union
|-
| {{Country|Barbados}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 1 August 1973
| One of the four founding members
|-
| {{Country|Belize}}
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | 1 May 1974
|
|-
| {{Country|Dominica}}
|
|-
| {{Country|Grenada}}
|
|-
| {{Country|Guyana}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 1 August 1973
| One of the four founding members
|-
| {{Country|Haiti}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 2 July 2002
| Provisional membership on 4 July 1998
|-
| {{Country|Jamaica}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 1 August 1973
| One of the four founding members
|-
| {{Country|Montserrat}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 1 May 1974
| [[British Overseas Territories|British overseas territory]]
|-
| {{Country|Saint Kitts and Nevis}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 26 July 1974
| Joined as [[Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla]]
|-
| {{Country|Saint Lucia}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 1 May 1974
|
|-
| {{Country|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 1 May 1974
|
|-
| {{Country|Suriname}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 4 July 1995
|
|-
| {{Country|Trinidad and Tobago}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 1 August 1973
| One of the four founding members
|-
| rowspan=7 | Associate 
| {{Country|Anguilla}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 4 July 1999
| rowspan="4" | [[British Overseas Territories|British overseas territory]]
|-
| {{Country|Bermuda}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 2 July 2003
|-
| {{Country|British Virgin Islands}}
| style="text-align:right;"|  2 July 1991 
|-
| {{Country|Cayman Islands}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 16 May 2002
|-
| {{Country|Curaçao}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 28 July 2024
| Constituent country of the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]]
|-
|{{Country|Martinique}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 20 February 2025
|[[French overseas territory]]
|-
| {{Country|Turks and Caicos Islands}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 2 July 1991
| [[British Overseas Territories|British overseas territory]]
|-
|rowspan="7" | Observer
| {{Country|Aruba}}
| 
| Constituent country of the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]]
|-
| {{Country|Colombia}}
|
|
|-
| {{Country|Dominican Republic}}
|
|
|-
|{{Country|Mexico}}
|
|
|-
| {{Country|Puerto Rico}}
|
| [[Unincorporated territories of the United States|Unincorporated territory]] of the [[United States]]
|-
| {{Country|Sint Maarten}}
|
| Constituent country of the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]]
|-
| {{Country|Venezuela}}
|
|
|}

Thousands of Caricom nationals live within other member states of the Community.

An estimated 30,000 Jamaicans legally reside in other CARICOM member states,<ref name="30,000 Jamaicans residing in CARICOM member states">{{cite web |url=http://www.caricomnews.net/index.php/caricom/caricom-news/regional-news/1889-skilled-jamaicans-refused-entry-into-some-caricom-states |title=30,000 Jamaicans residing in other CARICOM member states |access-date=20 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310162757/http://caricomnews.net/index.php/caricom/caricom-news/regional-news/1889-skilled-jamaicans-refused-entry-into-some-caricom-states |archive-date=10 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> mainly in The Bahamas (6,200), Antigua & Barbuda (estimated 12,000),<ref name="Golding calls on Jamaicans in Antigua">{{cite web|url=https://jis.gov.jm/pm-golding-calls-on-jamaicans-in-antigua-barbuda-to-co-operate-with-government-people-there/|title=PM Golding Calls on Jamaicans in Antigua & Barbuda to Co-Operate with Government & People There|date=7 July 2008|website=Jamaica Information Service|access-date=3 January 2021|archive-date=28 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128033751/https://jis.gov.jm/pm-golding-calls-on-jamaicans-in-antigua-barbuda-to-co-operate-with-government-people-there/|url-status=live}}</ref> Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago).<ref name="30,000 Jamaicans residing in CARICOM member states" /> Also, an estimated 150 Jamaicans live and work in Montserrat.<ref name="Golding calls on Jamaicans in Antigua"/> A 21 November 2013 estimated put 16,958 Jamaicans residing illegally in Trinidad & Tobago, as according to the records of the Office of the Chief Immigration Officer, their entry certificates would have since expired.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Close-to-17-000-Jamaicans-residing-illegally-in-Trinidad--newspapers-says|title=Close to 17,000 Jamaicans residing illegally in Trinidad, newspapers says |date=26 November 2013 |website=Jamaica Observer|access-date=20 April 2015|archive-date=27 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427111412/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Close-to-17-000-Jamaicans-residing-illegally-in-Trinidad--newspapers-says|url-status=dead }}</ref> By October 2014, the estimated Jamaicans residing illegally in Trinidad and Tobago was 19,000 along with an estimated 7,169 Barbadians and 25,884 Guyanese residing illegally.<ref name="7,000 illegal Bajans in T&T">{{cite web|url=https://www.nationnews.com/2014/10/16/7-000-illegal-bajans-in-tt/|title=7 000 illegal Bajans in T&T|date=16 October 2014|website=NationNews |access-date=3 January 2021|archive-date=22 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122220929/https://www.nationnews.com/2014/10/16/7-000-illegal-bajans-in-tt/|url-status=live}}</ref> An estimated 8,000 Trinidadians and Tobagonians live in Jamaica.<ref name="Bissessar celebrates new high commission">{{cite news|url=http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/social/20150417/bissessar-celebrates-new-trinidad-tobago-high-commission|title=Bissessar celebrates new Trinidad &Tobago high commission|date=17 April 2015|work=[[The Gleaner]] |access-date=20 April 2015|archive-date=20 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420223714/http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/social/20150417/bissessar-celebrates-new-trinidad-tobago-high-commission|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Aguas territoriales CARICOM.svg|thumb|right|[[Exclusive Economic Zones]] of the member states of the CARICOM. Considering them, the total area reaches the 2 300 297 km<sup>2</sup>.]]

Barbados hosts a large diaspora population of Guyanese, of whom (in 2005) 5,032 lived there permanently as citizens, permanent residents, immigrants (with immigrant status) and Caricom skilled nationals; 3,200 were residing in Barbados temporarily under work permits, as students, or with "reside and work" status. A further 2,000–3,000 Guyanese were estimated to be living illegally in Barbados at the time.<ref name="Guyanese, British and Americans in Barbados">{{cite web|url=https://cnewsnow.tripod.com/id376.html|title=Guyanese, British and Americans among illegal immigrants living in Barbados|website=Carib News Now |access-date=3 January 2021|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228162625/https://cnewsnow.tripod.com/id376.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Migration between Barbados and Guyana has deep roots, going back over 150 years, with the most intense period of Barbadian migration to then-British Guiana occurring between 1863 and 1886, although as late as the 1920s and 1930s Barbadians were still leaving Barbados for British Guiana.<ref name="When Barbadians emigrated to Guyana">{{cite web|url=https://www.stabroeknews.com/2011/08/01/features/in-the-diaspora/mudheads-in-barbados-a-lived-experience/|title=Mudheads in Barbados: A Lived Experience|date=1 August 2011 |website=Stabroek News |first1= Linden |last1=Lewis |url-status=live |archive-url= https://archive.today/20240129213710/https://www.stabroeknews.com/2011/08/01/features/in-the-diaspora/mudheads-in-barbados-a-lived-experience/ |archive-date= 29 January 2024 }}</ref>

Migration between Guyana and Suriname also goes back a number of years. An estimated 50,000 Guyanese had migrated to Suriname by 1986<ref name="Ethnologue Suriname">{{cite web |title=Languages of Suriname|url=http://archive.ethnologue.com/15/show_country.asp?name=SR|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427143354/http://archive.ethnologue.com/15/show_country.asp?name=SR|archive-date=27 April 2015|access-date=|website=[[Ethnologue]]}}</ref><ref name="Guyanese Creole Survey Report">
{{cite web |title=Guyanese Creole Survey Report|url=http://www2.sil.org/silesr/2002/011/SILESR2002-011.pdf |date=2001 |first1=David J. |last1=Holbrook |first2=Holly A. |last2=Holbrook |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314021642/http://www-01.sil.org/silesr/2002/011/SILESR2002-011.pdf|archive-date=14 March 2016|access-date=|website=[[SIL International]]}}
</ref> In 1987 an estimated 30–40,000 Guyanese were in Suriname.<ref name="Guyanese Vital In Suriname">{{cite web |url=http://www.guyana-cricket.com/news/guyanese-vital-suriname |last= |first= |date= |title=Guyanese vital in Suriname |access-date= |website=guyana-cricket.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729200021/https://www.guyana-cricket.com/news/guyanese-vital-suriname |archive-date=29 July 2020}}</ref> Many Guyanese left Suriname in the 1970s and 1980s, either voluntarily or by expulsion. Citing a [[national security]] concern, over 5,000 were expelled in January 1985 alone.<ref name="Nervous neighbours">{{cite web|url=https://www.stabroeknews.com/2008/11/05/guyana-review/nervous-neighbours-guyana-and-suriname/|title=Nervous neighbours: Guyana and Suriname|date=5 November 2008}}</ref> In the instability Suriname experienced following independence, both coups and civil war.<ref name="Guyanese Creole Survey Report"/> In 2013, an estimated 11,530 Guyanese had emigrated to Suriname and 4,662 Surinamese to Guyana.<ref name="Guyana Migration Profiles">{{cite web
|url=http://esa.un.org/MigGMGProfiles/indicators/files/Guyana.pdf
|title=Guyana Migration Profiles
|access-date=21 April 2015
|archive-date=27 April 2015
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427124722/http://esa.un.org/MigGMGProfiles/indicators/files/Guyana.pdf
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

=== Relationship with Cuba ===
In 2017, the [[Cuba|Republic of Cuba]] and CARICOM signed the "CARICOM-Cuba Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://caricom.org/Document-Library/view-document/caricom-cuba-trade-and-economic-cooperation-agreement|title=CARICOM-Cuba Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement|accessdate=14 April 2024}}</ref> to facilitate closer trade ties.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rodriguez Parrilla |first1=Bruno Eduardo |date=14 June 2019 |title=CARICOM-Cuba: Only integration will allow us to prosper |url=http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2019/06/14/caricom-cuba-solo-la-integracion-nos-permitira-prosperar/ |url-status=live |language=es |work=CubaDebate.cu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309143137/http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2019/06/14/caricom-cuba-solo-la-integracion-nos-permitira-prosperar/ |archive-date=9 March 2021 |access-date=10 March 2021 |quote= }}</ref> In December 2022, [[President of Cuba]] [[Miguel Díaz-Canel]] met in [[Bridgetown]], Barbados with the Heads of State and Government of CARICOM. On the occasion of the 8th CARICOM-Cuba Summit to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with the independent States of CARICOM and Cuba and the 20th Anniversary of CARICOM-Cuba Day. Cuba also accepted CARICOM's offer to deepen bilateral cooperation and to join robust discussions in the bloc's regional 'Joint Ministerial Taskforce on Food production and Security'.