Major influences on Caribbean identity trace back to the arrival of French settlers (from the early-17th century), English settlers (from the early-17th century) and Spanish settlers (from the late-15th century).

Most languages spoken in the Caribbean are either European (English, Spanish, French and Dutch) or European language-based creoles.

Not only was colonialism the vehicle that brought many Africans to the Caribbean through the slave trade, but it brought many people from Asia to the Caribbean as well. Once slavery became illegal, the colonial powers brought indentured laborers to the Caribbean from their Asian colonies.

The slave trade had long lasting negative effects on the islands of the Caribbean. The native peoples, the Arawaks, were wiped out by European diseases and became replaced with West Africans.

This cultural diversity gives the Caribbean its unique identity. The cultural diversity of this region has resulted from colonisation of the Europeans in the 15th century, the forced migration of the Africans between the mid-17th to 19th century, and the voluntary migration of the Asians in the 19th century.

As a general rule, one can state that the Caribbean culture is predominantly a mixture of Afro European, namely African and Spanish, English, French, Dutch, Portuguese. As a result, the new cultural formations are rich and new cultural hybrid forms, in which the origins of various elements are clearly recognizable.

The Caribbean is a region of immense political diversity.

Windfall Elimination Provision and Foreign Pensions Your foreign pension will not cause WEP to apply to your U.S. Social Security benefit.

The taxes on overseas Social Security benefits are the same as taxes on benefits for retirees living in the United States. Retirees who file individual tax returns and earn between $25,000 and $34,000 may have to pay taxes on up to 50 percent of benefits.

Because the US requires all Americans to file US taxes globally, many expats are also required to pay US social security tax and Medicare Tax. Expats with American employers are required to pay US social security taxes consisting of 6.2% social security tax and 1.45% Medicare Tax.