Grenada Shares Seas With Venezuela

GRENADA · NEIGHBOURHOOD

Grenada neighbours matter to US readers because the island buys heavily from America and shares seas with Trinidad, Venezuela and Saint Vincent. This guide explains the borders, trade links, regional clubs and storm risks that tie it to the islands around it.

Grenada and Its Neighbours in Plain English

Grenada is a small island country at the southern end of the Eastern Caribbean, and its closest neighbours are other small island states. This guide explains who they are and what ties them together, building on our Grenada country page and our Grenada explainer.

Grenada has no land border, so its shared space is the sea. That makes sea lines, trade routes, storms and regional clubs the heart of the story.

• Grenada: three islands (Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique) with 117,303 people in 2025, according to World Bank data.
• CARICOM: the Caribbean Community, a group of 15 member states and eight associate members that trade and cooperate.
• OECS: the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, a smaller club of island states that share a currency and a court.
• ECCB: the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the regional central bank behind the Eastern Caribbean dollar, Grenada’s currency.
• CCJ: the Caribbean Court of Justice, a regional court that some, but not all, CARICOM states use as their final court.

Where Grenada Sits Among Its Neighbours

Grenada is one of the four Windward Islands, with Dominica, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is the southernmost of the four.

To the north lies Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the chain of small islands called the Grenadines is split between the two countries. Grenada owns the southern part of that chain, which is Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

To the south lies Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada’s main regional trading partner. The coast of Venezuela lies further south and west across the open sea.

Barbados sits to the east and Saint Lucia further north, and both are fellow members of CARICOM. Grenada has no land border with any of them.

The unfinished business is not on land but under the water, as the next section shows.

Sea Borders With Trinidad, Saint Vincent and Venezuela

Because Grenada is an island country, its borders are lines drawn through the sea. These lines decide who may fish, who may drill for oil and gas, and who may lease seabed to investors.

To the south, Trinidad and Tobago holds sea-boundary treaties with Venezuela, according to the United Nations ocean-affairs division. That same division records no deposited sea-boundary agreement for Grenada as of October 2026.

In October 2025 the chairman of Grenada’s government oil and gas working group announced a proposal from Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell. It calls for a joint commission with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela to draw the lines that are still open.

The plan is a ten-member commission, with three people from each country and a neutral chair from a fourth country. The working group’s chairman said that a country cannot lease sea space to investors without knowing where its boundaries run.

Settling those lines would fill one of the last gaps on the regional map. UN records list no Grenada agreement with Venezuela or with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as of October 2026.

Trade and Money Across the Islands

Grenada buys far more than it sells. Recorded imports came to about US$609 million in 2023, according to World Bank trade data compiled from customs records.

The United States supplied about US$244 million of that, or roughly 40 percent. Trinidad and Tobago came second among single countries at about US$85 million.

Recorded exports were small, at about US$46 million in 2023, with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines taking US$4.0 million and Trinidad and Tobago US$3.2 million. Saint Kitts and Nevis took US$2.8 million and Saint Lucia US$1.7 million.

Grenada’s government lists the Eastern Caribbean dollar as its currency. World Bank data show the official rate at 2.70 to the US dollar in every year from 2020 to 2025.

The regional central bank behind that currency grew out of an earlier currency authority and took its present form in October 1983. That shared money is the strongest everyday link between Grenada and its nearest neighbours.

The Regional Clubs Grenada Belongs To

The OECS began on 18 June 1981, when seven governments signed the Treaty of Basseterre, and Maurice Bishop signed for Grenada. Its members include Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

In 2010 the members signed a Revised Treaty of Basseterre to create an economic union, and it took effect on 21 January 2011. The OECS also runs shared services such as the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and the regional aviation authority.

CARICOM is the wider club, and its secretariat sits in Georgetown, Guyana. It describes itself as the oldest surviving integration movement in the developing world, with about 16 million citizens.

Grenada is a CARICOM member state. Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell served as chairman of CARICOM in the second half of 2024, according to the group’s own statements.

On law, Grenada takes a more cautious path than some neighbours. The Caribbean Court of Justice names Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana and Saint Lucia as its final-appeal states, and Grenada is not among them.

People, Remittances and the Hurricane Beryl Recovery

The World Bank estimated 7,340 international migrants living in Grenada in 2024, about 6 percent of the population.Remittances, meaning cash sent home by relatives abroad, reached about US$47.5 million in 2025.That was 3.3 percent of the economy, according to World Bank data.Hurricane Beryl came ashore on Carriacou on 1 July 2024 as a Category 4 storm.The US National Hurricane Center put its winds near 140 miles per hour.The Meteorological Service of Grenada said 99 percent of the buildings on Carriacou were damaged or destroyed, along with 70 percent on Petite Martinique.The hurricane center put the damage to Grenada and its dependencies at about US$218 million and counted three deaths.Rebuilding Carriacou and Petite Martinique means restoring water, power and housing.Our report on water infrastructure on Carriacou covers one part of that work.

Politics at Home and the Vote on 5 November

Grenada holds a general election on 5 November 2026, the date set by Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell in October. Our election guide explains the parties and how to vote.

Mitchell leads the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which won nine of 15 seats in June 2022, according to the Parliamentary Elections Office. His main rival is the New National Party (NNP), the former governing party, led by Emmalin Pierre as of October 2026.

The sea-border talks and the storm recovery are the issues that most touch Grenada’s neighbours. They will fall to whoever governs after the vote.

For newcomers weighing a move, the neighbourhood also shapes daily life through flights, ferries, schools and prices. Our guide to moving to Grenada covers the practical side, and the sister-island view is in our guide to Saint Kitts and Nevis.

What It Means for US Readers

The United States is Grenada’s biggest single trading partner, supplying about 40 percent of recorded imports in 2023. The Eastern Caribbean dollar is tied to the US dollar, so US travellers and investors face no exchange-rate swings on the islands.

Hurricane risk is the main practical point for visitors. Beryl hit in July, early in the season, so US travellers who book between June and November should buy insurance that covers storms.

For US investors and officials, the open sea borders matter because oil, gas and fishing rights depend on them. Any deal among Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela would shape who may explore the waters off the Grenadines.

What Is Not Known

As of October 2026, it is not known whether Venezuela and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will accept the proposed joint commission. It is also not known who will govern Grenada after 5 November 2026, or whether a new government would keep the proposal.

The size of any oil and gas resource in the waters between the three countries has not been confirmed.Whether Grenada will join the Caribbean Court of Justice as its final court of appeal is also open.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which countries are Grenada’s neighbours?

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines lies to the north and Trinidad and Tobago to the south. Barbados, Saint Lucia and Venezuela are also close by, and Grenada has no land border.

Does Grenada have a border dispute?

No land dispute exists, because Grenada is an island country. Its sea lines with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and with Venezuela are still not fixed by treaty as of October 2026.

Which regional groups does Grenada belong to?

Grenada belongs to CARICOM and the OECS. CARICOM has 15 member states, and the OECS began with the Treaty of Basseterre in 1981.

What currency does Grenada use?

Grenada uses the Eastern Caribbean dollar, according to its government. The official rate has stood at 2.70 to the US dollar every year from 2020 to 2025, World Bank data show.

Who are Grenada’s main trading partners?

The United States supplied about 40 percent of recorded imports in 2023, and Trinidad and Tobago came next at about US$85 million. Regional buyers such as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines take small export volumes.

How badly did Hurricane Beryl hit Grenada?

Beryl struck Carriacou on 1 July 2024 as a Category 4 hurricane. The US National Hurricane Center put damage to Grenada and its dependencies at about US$218 million.

Sources: World Bank, World Development Indicators for Grenada (population, GDP, remittances), 2026-10-28; World Bank WITS, Grenada trade summary and partners, 2023, 2026-10-28; US National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Beryl (AL022024), 2025-02-01; Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, history of the organisation, 2026-10-28; Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Who we are, 2026-10-28; Caribbean Court of Justice, About the CCJ, 2026-10-28; Government of Grenada, official portal, 2026-10-20; Government of Grenada, Fast Facts (currency), 2026-10-28; Grenada Parliamentary Elections Office, 2026-10-28; United Nations, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea: Grenada, 2026-10-28; Grenada Parliamentary Elections Office, General Election Report 2022, 2026-08-05; United Nations, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea: Trinidad and Tobago, 2026-10-28.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief