The population of the Caribbean is estimated at 37.5 million with Haiti (9.8 million), the Dominican Republic (10.8 million) and Jamaica (2.8 million) accounting for more than 60% of the total population within the region.
The majority of the Caribbean has populations of mainly Africans in the French Caribbean, Anglophone Caribbean and Dutch Caribbean, there are however minorities of mixed-race and European peoples of Dutch, English, French, Italian and Portuguese ancestry. Asians, especially those of Chinese and Indian descent, also comprise a significant minority in the region and also contribute to multiracial communities. The Spanish-speaking Caribbean has a primarily mixed race, African, or European majorities.
Larger islands such as Jamaica, have a very large African majority, in addition to a significant mixed race, Chinese, Europeans, Indian, Lebanese, Latin American, and Syrian populations. This is a result of years of importation of slaves and indentured labourers, and migration. The situation is similar for most of the region’s economies including Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago has a multi-racial cosmopolitan society attributed to the arrival of the Africans, Indians, Chinese, Syrians, Lebanese, Native Amerindians and Europeans.