The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an organization that is comprised of twenty countries: fifteen Member States and five Associate Members. The community, which extends from The Bahamas in the north to Suriname and Guyana in South America, accommodates approximately sixteen million citizens from a plethora of ethnic groups: Indigenous Peoples, African, Indian, European, Chinese, Portuguese and Javanese. The Caribbean community is multi-lingual; with English as the major language complemented by French and Dutch and variations of these, as well as African and Asian expressions.

CARICOM is the oldest surviving integration movement in the developing world (August 1, 1973). The Bahamas became a member state of CARICOM on July 4, 1983 and has ever since been actively involved with all the other CARICOM members to contribute to achieving economic, social and cultural prosperity in the Caribbean.