Caribbean people are the people born in or inhabitants of the Caribbean region or people of Caribbean descent living outside the Caribbean. The Caribbean region was initially populated by Amerindians from several different Kalinago and Taino groups. These groups were decimated by a combination of enslavement and disease brought by European colonizers. Descendants of the Taino and Kalinago tribes exist today in the Caribbean and elsewhere but are usually of partial Amerindian ancestry.[1]

Caribbean people
Total population
c. 45–47 million
Regions with significant populations
 Colombia12 million
 Cuba11 million
 Haiti11 million
 Dominican Republic10 million
 Puerto Rico3.4 million
 Jamaica2.7 million
 Trinidad and Tobago1.3 million
 Guyana790 thousand
 Suriname633 thousand
Languages
Mainly: Spanish, French, French-based creole languages (Haitian Creole, Antillean Creole), English, English-based creole languages (Jamaican Patois, Bahamian Creole, Trinidadian Creole, Guyanese Creole, Bajan Creole), Papiamento
Minority: Dutch, Caribbean Hindustani, Chinese
Religion
Majority: Minority:
Related ethnic groups
Americans, Canadians, Latin Americans

Modern Caribbean people usually further identify by their own specific ethnic ancestry, therefore constituting various subgroups, of which are: Afro-Caribbean (largely descendants of bonded African slaves), Hispanic/Latino-Caribbean (people from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean who descend from solely or a mixture of Spaniards, West Africans, indigenous peoples, other Europeans, Arabs, or Chinese), White Caribbean (largely descendants of European colonizers and some indentured workers), Asian Caribbean who are mainly divided between Indo-Caribbean (largely descendants of Indian jahaji indentured laborers and some free immigrants) and Chinese Caribbean (largely descendants of free Chinese immigrants and some indentured workers), and Indigenous Caribbean (descendants of the indigenous people of the Caribbean with some degree of admixture).

As of 2024, the Caribbean population is estimated to be approximately 44.8 million, with a growth rate of around 0.54% from the previous year.[2]

Culture

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Caribbean as a Melting Pot
  2. ^ "Caribbean Population 2024". worldpopulationreview.com. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
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