Indo-Caribbeans

Indo-Caribbean people

Total population
c. 1.5 million
Regions with significant populations
Trinidad and Tobago	468,524 (a plurality of the population)[1]
Guyana	297,493 (a plurality of the population)[2]
United States	232,817 (Indo-Caribbean Americans)[3]
Netherlands	200,000 (Indo-Caribbeans in the Netherlands)[4]
Suriname	148,443 (a plurality of the population)
Canada	100,000 (Indo-Caribbean Canadians)[3]
Martinique	36,123[5]
Guadeloupe	35,617[6]
United Kingdom	25,000 (British Indo-Caribbeans)[3]
Jamaica	21,584[7]
French Guiana	12,000
Belize	7,600
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	5,900
Saint Lucia	5,200
Sint Maarten	5,170[8]
Puerto Rico	4,100
Barbados	4,000
Grenada	3,900
Saint Martin	1,950[9]
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1,500
Cayman Islands	1,437[10]
British Virgin Islands	1,100
U.S. Virgin Islands	1,000
Cuba	870[11]
Bahamas	300[12]
Dominican Republic	54[13]
Haiti	36[14]
Languages
Colonial Languages: Caribbean English (predominantly Trinidadian and Tobagonian English Guyanese English Creole Sranan Tongo Jamaican Patois/English) American English Canadian English British English Surinamese Dutch Standard Dutch Antillean French Creole Standard French Papiamento Spanish Indian Languages: Caribbean Hindustani Hinglish Languages spoken by more recent immigrants: Standard Hindustani (Hindi–Urdu) Indian English Sindhi Gujarati Punjabi Bengali Kutchi Marathi Tamil Telugu Malayalam Kannada Other South Asian languages
Religion
Majority: Hinduism Significant Minority: Islam Christianity Other Minority: Sikhism Jainism Buddhism Zoroastrianism Baháʼí Others
Related ethnic groups
Indian people South Asian diaspora Indian diaspora Indo-Caribbean Americans British Indo-Caribbean people Indian Americans Indo-Canadians Indians in the Netherlands British Indians Indian South Africans Indo-Fijians Indo-Mauritians Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa Indian Singaporeans Malaysian Indians

Indo-Caribbeans or Indian-Caribbeans are people in the Caribbean who are descendants of the Jahaji indentured laborers from India and the wider subcontinent, who were brought by the British, Dutch, and French during the colonial era from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. A minority of them are descendants from people who immigrated as entrepreneurs, businesspeople, merchants, engineers, doctors, religious leaders, students, and other professional occupations beginning in the mid-20th century.

Indo-Caribbean people largely trace their ancestry back to the Bhojpur and Awadh regions of the Hindi Belt in North India, in the present-day states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand, with a significant minority coming from the South Indian regions, mostly present-day Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Other notable regions of origin may include Bengal, Western Uttar Pradesh, Mithila, Magadh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Pashtunistan, Punjab, and Kashmir.^[15][16] Most of the Indians in the French West Indies are of South Indian origin.^[17] Later immigrants to the Caribbean came from Sindh, Kutch, Gujarat, Punjab, Bengal, Maharashtra, South India, and other parts of South Asia as free immigrants.

Most Indo-Caribbean people live in the English-speaking Caribbean nations, the Dutch-speaking Suriname and the French overseas departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, with smaller numbers in other Caribbean countries and, following further migration, in North America and Europe.

Indo-Caribbean people may also be referred to as Caribbean Indians, East Indian West Indians,^[a] Caribbean Hindustanis, South Asian Caribbeans,^[25] or Caribbean Desis,^[26] while first-generation Indo-Caribbeans were called Girmitya, Desi, Hindustani, Kantraki, Mulki (m.) / Mulkin (f.),^[27] or Jahaji (m.) / Jahajin (f.). Coolie, meaning hired laborer, was used in the plantation society of the late 19th to early 20th century, however in the present-day it is considered a derogatory way to refer to Indo-Caribbeans and is considered a pejorative.^[28]

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