The Caribbean Country Nobody Knows About | West Indies Federation

Become a member on Patreon & get exclusive content! / funwithflags
Join the Discord Server: discordapp.com/invite/uRTAdY9
Follow me on Twitter: / gkonyoutube
Business Contact: [e-mail]
Thanks for watching, remember to subscribe to catch future videos!
Special mention to my patrons: Richard, Vlad, Danny, Wilhelm, Taulant, Javier, Ryan, Pete, Cesar, MiFE, ou_lyss, rpgkillerspace, Ryan, & Hendrick!

[@fritzguldenpfennig2486]

The Federation may no longer exist but they still have an international cricket team. Who else misses Gayle hitting sixes?

[@depekthegreat359]

Good friend Fritz XXI-TFK-777,I only have missed his sixers in his cricket matches.

[@fitzroy_spark3879]

I prefer Sir Vivian Richards, KNH, OBE - he faced Thompson and Lillee without a helmet the mad lad Still, you made a good choice too, please have my upvote.

[@perrydowd9285]

Viv Richards is one of the greatest cricket players ever.

[@DharyaGolu]

Universal Boss!

[@richarddalton5857]

Yes the windies were amazing

[@imrannikson8709]

These countries play cricket under the name of 'West Indies'. They are two times world champion.

[@Cooyah888]

As well as our universities. The university of the West has three campuses in Kingston, Jamaica, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and Brigdetown, Barbados. The school curriculum all English speaking islands are the same and at the end of high school we take the same examination for the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC)

[@marlene97280]

Im from Martinique , and we don't know what is cricket !

[@garywarner6526]

two time world champions in T2o and Also In one Day

[@sonnettasanchez8128]

@@marlene97280 it's almost like baseball.

[@DeejayMC25]

stole my comment !

[@ffunit]

The Irony is that Jamaica ended up having the lowest GDP Per Capita of the ex federation states.

[@General.Knowledge]

Did it? Wow

[@massrootsnwr7067]

Jamaica got too close to Cuba and the United states did not like it so stop giving money to jamaica

[@rasheemwyattreid3351]

But the gag is Jamaica has the second highest growth behind Guyana.

[@Ykkunique]

😂😂😂

[@Ykkunique]

by the next 10 years jamaica will be the richest country in the Caribbean trust me...

[@astroidminer1331]

Well,West Indies cricket team sill playing International match today.

[@General.Knowledge]

It does!

[@manistersaheb1332]

And I love their fire power and entertainment material.

[@astroidminer1331]

Yeah they got First and second world Cup in 1975 and 1979.

[@Cooyah888]

@@General.Knowledge As well as our universities. The university of the West has three campuses in Kingston, Jamaica, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and Brigdetown, Barbados. The school curriculum of all the English speaking islands are the same and at the end of high school we take the same examination for the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC)

[@Georgiearchie1]

@@Cooyah888 I'm sure the open campus is in Nevis?

[@frose1980]

*Island Exists* Europe: *DIBS*

[@frose1980]

OMG, I GOT. A HEART AND THIS IS THE MOST LIKES I EVER GOT, ( I did this in the comments cause many hate it when someone edits the comment) Correction second most likes, just got a xomment with 2.5k likes

[@jakubpociecha8819]

@@frose1980 There's still a very slight chance that people might probably hate you tho

[@lancetheking7524]

@@jakubpociecha8819 probably because of the "thank you" tho people would be happy if they got a heart

[@frose1980]

@@jakubpociecha8819 I only saw people hate a comment cause they edit it to say thank you, I commented on my comment and now Im commenting on a comment of my comment.

[@bitoque5996]

@@frose1980 if you edited the comment you would lose the heart

[@kenlou4024]

There was 10 members. The actions of Jamaica caused this famous Quote by Dr Eric Williams " one from ten leaves nought".

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

One love, one heart. Let’s get together and feel alright

[@TheTattieShaw]

In glad to see your ok after your heart surgery

[@nonamej1591]

supreme leader are you recovering ok?

[@user-gu5rh8tu8w]

Kim Jong-un hope the surgery went well.

[@georgedoty-williams2085]

Oi, Jong-un! Your sister is nice!

[@dinis8271]

I thought you had died

[@GetIntoYourLife]

My 80-year-old uncle is from the West Indies. Guy is an awesome, hilarious guy. Like a TV show character.

[@desjeangordon4458]

Is this the reason why Jamaica 🇯🇲 and Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹 gain independence in the same month? Jamaica independence was August 6,1962 and Trinidad independence was August 31,1962

[@professorrosenstock5026]

To my knowledge the UK "let go" of a ton of Islands around the same time due to it no longer being able to afford to keep colonies after ww2.

[@TheLocalLt]

Professor Rosenstock yes specifically the southernmost ones down by Trinidad and Tobago such as St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia, it kept most of its colonies in the northern Caribbean to set up offshore tax havens for illicit banking (not a conspiracy, just how the world works lol). America of course also has multiple possessions in that region, so it was a place where Britain had the green light to stay in charge of its possessions as well.

[@LordDim1]

@TheLocalLt Only Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados gained independence in the 60s. The rest, such as Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Antigua & Barbuda would only gain independence between 1 and 2 decades later, between the mid-70s and early 80s

[@Lifestylewithjada]

Trinidad just love follow jamaica footsteps thats all...

[@shivaratri6602]

@@Lifestylewithjada kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4fHd3xmm7F-ptE jamaica in all it's pride.

[@RandomTrinidadian]

Its's pronounced To-Bay-Go!! Also, the national anthem for the Fenderation was later adopted by Trinidad and Tobago as its own since ot was a Trinbagoian that wrote it.

[@keisharamkissoon5282]

Hearing him pronouncing it like that bothering me🤣🤣🤣

[@aidanchanko1001]

big up random trini

[@TheBigRedskull]

Would love to see some more videos about unions like this one, or just older unknown countries in general

[@TheTattieShaw]

Join his discord and suggest any ideas you have there link in the description

[@General.Knowledge]

Sure!

[@rameshjayarathne2137]

Seperated by politics, united by cricket. West indies is one if my favourite cricket teams ❤️🔥

[@natethenoble909]

Edna Manley was actually the wife of Norman Manley, who was premier of Jamaica during the federation. Their son, Michael, went on to become the 4th Prime Minister of Jamaica

[@Crescentine]

I'm definitely not first. Probably not last But when General Knowlege Uploads I do click fast

[@General.Knowledge]

Nice poem

[@Crescentine]

@@General.Knowledge woah didnt think you'd see this. Glad you liked it

[@kickpublishing]

Car-ri-bee-yan is the British pronunciation. And since all of the well known Pirate histories are British, hence the name of the movie and it's pronunciation.

[@animalranger7768]

Actually, since the region was named after the Carib Indians, it is supposed to be pronounced like the movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean." Not Caribe...

[@johnpannebaker5757]

I think this could have worked on the government side if the Senate had done seat per island, 2 each for Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados. Ultimately, feels like an idea that was not fully fleshed out, and was done on the go.

[@LordDim1]

That is how it worked. Each island had 2 senators, except tiny Montserrat which had only 1

[@_Ocariao]

Still waiting for the video about the united kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves 😢

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

So happy you did this! It's a very interesting topic. Freedom of movement was an issue because the bigger islands didn't want people from the smaller islands to abandon the smaller islands and move to the bigger ones. While the Canadian talks broke down in the sixties, that didn't stop Turks and Caicos from still wanting to join and have a special relationship with Canada. And at 1:28, don't forget about the easternmost islands of the Lucayan Archipelago (Turks and Caicos).

[@General.Knowledge]

Cool!

[@gayathripradeep3603]

Anyone watching have a good day and I hope u enjoyed the video

[@demonhunter635]

Bruh you didn’t make it

[@depekthegreat359]

Good friend Gayathri Pradeep,I have just only watched the video and I have indeed enjoyed watching it!!!Thanks and you have a good day and Happy Labour's Day to you,good friend!!!:-D

[@General.Knowledge]

you too!

[@gayathripradeep3603]

OMG I CAN NOT UR SO GOOD FOR DOING THIS THANKS

[@LOLsmileyface1992]

In the uk we pronounce it the same as “pirates of the Caribbean”.

[@Cooyah888]

That's correct way to say it. Not the American way.

[@somerandomfoo1723]

i prefer "pirates of the caribbean" but each to their own

[@lp-xl9ld]

I seriously did not know... Learned something *really* new: this day wasn't a total waste; thank you very much

[@Vapouriste]

I really liked this format! nice job; hope to see more of it!

[@nathatos]

Fun fact: this KZbinr is Portuguese, that's why his pronunciation is like we says in Portuguese: Tobago and Barbuda

[@truetory6231]

The federal government was weak from the start. For a federation to be successful, it requires a proper balance of power between the federal government and state government. The WIF government lack this, the small local matters were already under the control of the individual island government while the larger issues were handled by the imperial government in London, hence there was very little that the federal government could do because all the functions of government were already taken up by other entities. Britain should have gotten out of the way completely and give the federation full dominion status. The cabinet’s role even that of the prime minister merely advisory and that was a huge problem. The governor-general should have never had so much power to start with nor should he even have been British. Instead they should have had a native-born governor general who carried out only ceremonial functions and allowed the prime minister and cabinet to function as true executives, that would have given the federation some real teeth. The federal parliament should also have had the power to levy taxes and while at it, there should have been only currency controlled by a central reserve bank but having both a $ and £ at the same time was bound to be a recipe for confusion and thus weakened the federation.

[@zerosuitsamus2340]

Me who play Kaiserreich: Yeah that island cannot survive form Syndies Revolution even you give your equipment to them

[@Underdogbassist]

In addition to the West Indies cricket team, most of these countries still share a currency, the eastern Caribbean dollar, which replaced the British West Indies $ at par in 1965.

[@winstonscott4195]

Andrada Music you mean British West Indies pound, not dollar. Nations made up of imported populations like Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and Barbados used pounds shillings and pence until they went decimal and named there currencies dollars and cents like the USA and Canada. They also kep the Queen as head of state except the countries with a large Indian population. Dominic is a exception to that rule as the became a republic.

[@jesuschristisspeaking8792]

Thanks for this video - I am from Trinidad and I learnt a lot from this video

[@user-bh7lo8un4i]

One love, one heart. Let's get together and feel alright

[@user-bh7lo8un4i]

Me following Kimmy from Narth Korea

[@ahmed78yearsago70]

@@user-bh7lo8un4i that's what I'm talking about

[@jakubpociecha8819]

@@ahmed78yearsago70 I'm beyond confused right now,what just happened?

[@dj_vin6]

This was such a great video! I loved it and just subbed to you! :D

[@reichtangleanschluss509]

I knew this nation's existence because somebody made EU4 mod where you can form it, after gaining independence as a former Caribbean colony.

[@mariajoaoferrazdeabreu150]

Always learning! Great video

[@gui18bif]

Great video! As always.

[@joshuajacob1894]

fun fact: to tavel from trinidad to tobago and vice versa, we use ferries that are the same size of a cargo ship and airplanes with the same designs of regular cross country planes but smaller than them because a plane ride between the two islands is only 10-15 mins. long, whereas if you take the ferry, depending on which one you end up on, it's about 3 or 4 hours

[@ryansingh7353]

Being from the Caribbean, Its funny how you pronounces the country's names incorrectly. Informative video though, keep it up! I would love if you could make a video about Guyana.

[@timoresetermite625]

Nathan Coulter Nile: imma end this whole country’s career

[@theconqueringram5295]

I remember reading a Wikipedia article that mentioned the federation but I did not look into it any deeper than that. I have to say, I really learned something new here and it's a amazing that this short lived state existed so recently, these countries still have citizens who remember what like was like in the few years when this federation existed. Fascinating.

[@Cooyah888]

As well as our universities. The university of the West has three campuses in Kingston, Jamaica, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and Brigdetown, Barbados. The school curriculum all English speaking islands are the same and at the end of high school we take the same examination for the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC)

[@dinis8271]

Great video as always, don’t forget about our discord chums

[@GeographyWorld]

Fascinating topic.

[@neelabissoon640]

Hi from Trinidad🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹 You say Tobago wrong

[@dennisschwartzentruber3204]

Nice work !

[@bnzbmw]

Nicely articulated 🙏

[@jrt818]

This came up up in a lecture I was at in the US Postal Service. The lecturer told of a disagreement as to whether there was a country of West Indies. She said there wasn't the other party said there was. She lost the arguement when she looked at a map, saw the words West Indies, and admitted defeat. I thought she misread the map but said nothing since I wasn't sure if the federation was completely gone.

[@Hogtownboy1]

There was a airline that outlived the Federattion BWIA ( nicknanamed BeeWee) it stop operating in 2006

[@ultimatefree8637]

Hey my mom from Grenada, also she said you pronouned all those islands wrong. Correct pronunciation for Grenada is Gre-na-da. However I am happy that someone talking about West Indies.

[@atthesummit3031]

History is merely a list of surprises. It can prepare us to be surprised yet again.

[@pikamonketchumlol1237]

9:50 while I was playing Canada in World Conqueror 3 by EasyTech (play it) I captured Havana and pretended Cuba was a colony, The Maple Syrup Islands. I eventually took all the islands and used them to do a D-Day on Spain. Very accurate👌

[@luckie58]

This didn’t show up on my recommended until 1 day after it was uploaded

[@nicholasalonzo7824]

Very good on this video on Carribean history.

[@abdulrahmanabdulaziz8742]

It would have been a more interesting project if the federation included all the Caribbean Islands such as Cuba, Porto Rico, Bahamas, Dominican... etc.

[@elmiticopr3919]

Puerto Rico** And greetings from there! And yup, it was going to be super interesting with Puerto Rico having the highest GPD per capita, Cuba with a lot of population and military equipment, etc

[@zidane8452]

No just no

[@rijujohn576]

Informative video

[@johnathansealey9460]

General Knowledge you are pronouncing also of the names wrongs like Tobago its pronounced Toe-bay-go i live in the country so

[@ttgamer8850]

I'm from Trinidad

[@hydewhyte4364]

Well, he starts off the video discussing how the name of the entire region changes pronunciation, so ...

[@jakubpociecha8819]

Yup,Tobago is pronounced like Tobacco

[@Robob0027]

also Grenade is pronounced Grenayda

[@wilhelmsarosen4735]

I know this country because of a Fry and Laurie short involving a library “book” on cricket. Hilarious stuff.

[@jesusdavis2941]

Pretty cool that the map on 0:40 and onwards shows the dominican territory with it's original post XVII century territory

[@DavyRo]

Also got to mention Micheal Holding along with many other world class & fantastic cricketers. Micheal Holding commentates on the cricket matches in England. He is one of the most loved & respected broadcasters in the UK.

[@glenags]

Fascinating video. Thank you. Btw, what is the name of the background song that playing within a video?

[@joshuajacob1894]

fun fact : it is against the law in trinidad and tobago to wear camo in public

[@joshuajacob1894]

remember when i said the ferries in t&t are as big as cargo ships, well fun fact; they are so big that they have two parking lots in them!

[@TheTattieShaw]

Join GeneralKnowledge discord server, link in the description Chat to Gk himself or with other fans. You can also suggest ideas there to and we do contests on there to

[@seppemanderick497]

TheTattieShaw What?

[@General.Knowledge]

Yes!

[@joshuajacob1894]

fun fact: at one point,for a short period of time, the capital of trinidad was a placed called st. josheph

[@gato-junino]

It would be interesting to see these countries United.

[@jewishspacelaseroperator5410]

I only found out about them from a coin I found from the federation

[@westboy84]

Interestingly, up until 1982 it would have also required a law of the British Parliament to dissolve Canada if that were to ever be the case

[@malikhadad32]

Another Federation was also formed in the Caribbean among the Dutch Caribbean islands. They formed the Autonomous Country called Netherlands Antilles. Islands included were, Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba, St. Eustatuis, Saba and Dutchside of St. Martin. This union was formed in 1954-2010 Aruba was the first to leave in 1986, becoming an Autonomous Country but remaining in the Dutch Kingdom. On October 10, 2010 (10-10-10) the remaining islands disbanded. Curacao and Dutchside of St. Martin became an Autonomous country within the Dutch Kingdom like Aruba. Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatuis integrated into the Netherlands.

[@geographyjawade6655]

Well said...with all the disorganization with the islands, I think that there would be a major secession from the union somewhere down the line, even if there was an independent union.

[@Kojahusiv]

This kind of reminds me of a Caribbean Articles of Confederation

[@4frluvs]

Would love to see you look at the West Indies federation of the Dutch since it exsist before this

[@AuroraGameworks]

They all still play cricket as a team on the international stage, calling themselves West Indies

[@LordDim1]

My great uncle was a senator in the West Indies Federal Senate, representing Grenada

[@aheath7838]

Hey General sir! After watching this an interesting, completely unfounded thought experiment came to mind that would be sort of cool for you to do. If you could mix and match nations, freely change boundaries and create new nations, like the West Indies Federation becoming a Canadian province... what nations would you combine, or split apart to for new nations?

[@TheTattieShaw]

You could ask him that directly on his discord server then he will definitely reply to you link in the description

[@avelus5984]

Well, this is quite interesting.

[@grigory8208]

Thank you for this cognitive video. I was surprised about existing such country or to be precise union

[@HSMiyamoto]

Who else expected this was going to be related to the evolution of the Empire into the Commonwealth?

[@TheLocalLt]

It wasn’t an independent country it was a British dominion on the path to independence like Canada at the time

[@lancetheking7524]

hello I think you saw me in your discord server lmao

[@geography1326]

Good video

[@ItsGroundhogDay]

Royal Caribbean also pronounces it differently than the movie. I would say both are correct, but some would debate that. Comes from the word Carib, which would seem to suggest the movie is more right, but most people don't say it that way.

[@binaway]

That government structure is the same as Canada and Australia where it works. The Governor General, like the Queen, is a symbolic office with political power held by the Parliament. The Governor is appointed by the Queen only after being recommended by the Parliament, ie- the Prime Minister. Neither the QE2 or GG has anything like the authority of a US President.

[@ahmed78yearsago70]

Atleast their cricket teams still rollin' in it

[@Freedom-qf5jf]

And our major universities (University of the West Indies)

[@SeaSpray90]

What about a What if video where the American colonies were divided into two nations a Loyalist nation and a Colonial American nation

[@alysson8657]

"The Caribbean Country Nobody Knows About" **KAISERREICH INTENSIFIES**

[@7REDEMIR6]

In Cuba there is an island and it's name was Ernst Thälmann island that Cuba gave east Germany at the time to show support and love but now it's Cuba's island again because east Germany doesn't exist anymore

[@vitorpeixoto4794]

Do a video on Ruthenia!

[@bananamancer]

This country is so indie: - mainstream can't remember them - they literally have "indie" in their name!

[@peterpiets3631]

Dank je wel

[@gato-junino]

These countries may get together to be stronger.

[@andrewwilliams7390]

Fyi all those languages you listed seem to give the idea that English was not the dominant language you didn't even specify that they weren't. When Jamaica left Trinidad and Tobago followed suit we didn't bother to even try to make it work. Caricom intends to be a EU or ASEAN political body currently Freedom of movement is being worked on with some sectors already granted this and moves to implement a single customs union is being implemented

[@forthrightgambitia1032]

Many of these countries still have a currency union under the East Caribbean Dollar.

[@Lumberjack_king]

It had a good flag it was kinda unique

[@m1zxry_tt832]

General, you Pronounce Tobago properly when you say AY not AH. And thank you for recognizing some history from my region, It's doesn't get recognition it deserves. I'm from Trinidad and Tobago :)

[@ravemasterdbzwwe]

i'm from trinidad. 2 words you mispronounced its "to-bay-go" and "cha-gwan-as"

[@kerrythompson]

Chaguaramas, not Chaguanas...

[@helmutschmidt50]

West Indies Federation? we talk about Kaiserreich, right?

[@limmyk4943]

aye

[@Schmoqyyy]

lmao

[@jensonmorton115]

The Organization of East Caribbean States is an off shoot of the remnants of the West Indies Federation and it is pretty close to becoming a single union

[@anneeq008]

I never knew how far away Jamaica were from all the other islands

[@jugadug]

two remnants of this federation 1 the west indes cricket and the carifta games which though it is supposed to promote unity sometimes we ask the question at least in Jamaica why not go it alone because of the same difficulties those years ago

[@andrewwilliams7390]

Doesn't Jamaica intend to leave if the CSME isn't implemented

[@jugadug]

​@@andrewwilliams7390 nobody is sure what is exactly is gonna happen

[@blacksheep6925]

Jamaicans always want their own way, CSME so that you can run up in other people's countries. Trinidad don't need Jamaica and Jamaica don't need Trinidad.

[@LewisSkinner]

Most Brits and crickets fans will know of the West Indian Cricket Team (AKA The Windies), so it's not totally faded from the history books.

[@enricmm85]

Kinda wish there were mire videigames set in the late 50's and early 60's si that we could pkay as West Indies or even the United Arab Republic between Egypt and Syria.

[@anthonythervil1448]

please do a video of the original Bahamians

[@somethung8188]

Love this vid but just one thing i want to point out Its pronounced Trinidad and 'To-bay-go' rather than 'to-bah-go'

[@joshuajacob1894]

fun fact : tobago has its own capital ; a placed called scarborough.

[@kayzeaza]

No I pronounce the two the same. I say Kara-bee-in for the place and the movie hahah

[@winwinstears5672]

honestly this could be really cool if it persevered and continued up to this day

[@PopularDiamondPieYolo]

@@aaryanbhatia4939 >:(

[@natenae8635]

Aaryan Bhatia I don’t think most Caribbean’s would have the same desire to join. Most Caribbeans who want to join Canada are in Canada.

[@Freedom-qf5jf]

It did in a sense through the CARICOM