The
West Indies Federation, also known as the
Federation of the West Indies, was a short-lived
political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the
Caribbean that were
colonies of the United Kingdom, including
Trinidad and Tobago,
Barbados,
Jamaica, and those on the
Leeward and
Windward Islands, came together to form the Federation, with its capital in
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would
become independent from Britain as a single state—possibly similar to the
Canadian Confederation,
Australian Commonwealth, or
Central African Federation; however, before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts. The territories of the federation eventually became the nine contemporary
sovereign states of
Antigua and Barbuda,
Barbados,
Dominica,
Grenada,
Jamaica,
Saint Kitts and Nevis,
Saint Lucia,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and
Trinidad and Tobago; with
Anguilla,
Montserrat, the
Cayman Islands, and
Turks and Caicos Islands becoming
British overseas territories. British Guiana (Guyana) and British Honduras (Belize) held
observer status within the West Indies Federation.