First colonized by the Spanish,
the islands came under British control in the early 19th century. The
islands' sugar industry was hurt by the emancipation of the slaves in
1834. Manpower was replaced with the importation of contract laborers from
India between 1845 and 1917, which boosted sugar production as well as the
cocoa industry. The discovery of oil on Trinidad in 1910 added another
important export. Independence was attained in 1962. The country is one of
the most prosperous in the Caribbean thanks largely to petroleum and
natural gas production and processing. Tourism, mostly in Tobago, is
targeted for expansion and is growing. The government is coping with a
rise in violent crime.
Geography
Trinidad and Tobago
Location:
Caribbean, islands between the
Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela
Geographic coordinates:
11 00 N, 61 00 W
Map references:
Central America and the
Caribbean
Area:
total: 5,128 sq km
land: 5,128 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Delaware
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
362 km
Maritime claims:
measured from claimed
archipelagic baselines territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous
zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the outer edge of the
continental margin
Climate:
tropical; rainy season (June to
December)
Terrain:
mostly plains with some hills
and low mountains
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caribbean
Sea 0 m highest point: El Cerro del Aripo 940 m
total: 0.31 cu km/yr
(68%/26%/6%) per capita: 237 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
outside usual path of
hurricanes and other tropical storms
Environment - current issues:
water pollution from
agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; oil pollution
of beaches; deforestation; soil erosion
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of
the selected agreements
Geography - note:
Pitch Lake, on Trinidad's
southwestern coast, is the world's largest natural reservoir of asphalt
total: 32.3 years
male: 31.9 years female: 32.8 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
-0.891% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
13.22 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Death rate:
10.93 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-11.2 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04
male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64
years: 1.11 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81
male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2008
est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 23.59
deaths/1,000 live births male: 25.34 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 21.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 67
years male: 66.07 years female: 67.98 years (2008
est.)
Indian (South Asian) 40%,
African 37.5%, mixed 20.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 0.8% (2000 census)
Religions:
Roman Catholic 26%, Hindu
22.5%, Anglican 7.8%, Baptist 7.2%, Pentecostal 6.8%, Muslim 5.8%, Seventh
Day Adventist 4%, other Christian 5.8%, other 10.8%, unspecified 1.4%,
none 1.9% (2000 census)
Languages:
English (official), Caribbean
Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), French, Spanish, Chinese
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write total population: 98.6%
male: 99.1% female: 98% (2003 est.)
Government
Trinidad and Tobago
Country name:
conventional long form:
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago conventional short form:
Trinidad and Tobago
Government type:
parliamentary democracy
Capital:
name: Port-of-Spain
geographic coordinates: 10 39 N, 61 31 W time
difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
Administrative divisions:
9 regional corporations, 2 city
corporations, 3 borough corporations, 1 ward regional
corporations: Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo, Diego Martin, Mayaro/Rio Claro,
Penal/Debe, Princes Town, Sangre Grande, San Juan/Laventille, Siparia,
Tunapuna/Piarco city corporations: Port-of-Spain, San Fernando
borough corporations: Arima, Chaguanas, Point Fortin
ward: Tobago
Independence:
31 August 1962 (from UK)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 31 August
(1962)
Constitution:
1 August 1976
Legal system:
based on English common law;
judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President George Maxwell RICHARDS (since 17 March 2003) head of
government: Prime Minister Patrick MANNING (since 24 December 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed from among the members of Parliament
elections: president elected by an electoral college, which
consists of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives, for a
five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 11
February 2008 (next to be held by February 2013); the president usually
appoints as prime minister the leader of the majority party in the House
of Representatives election results: George Maxwell RICHARDS
reelected president; percent of electoral college vote - NA
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consists
of the Senate (31 seats; 16 members appointed by the ruling party, nine by
the President, six by the opposition party to serve a maximum term of five
years) and the House of Representatives (41 seats; members are elected by
popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: House of
Representatives - last held on 5 November 2007 (next to be held in 2012)
election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote -
PNM 46%, UNC 29.7%; seats by party - PNM 26, UNC 15 note:
Tobago has a unicameral House of Assembly with 12 members serving
four-year terms; last election held in January 2005; seats by party - PNM
11, DAC 1
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court of Judicature
(comprised of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeals; the
chief justice is appointed by the president after consultation with the
prime minister and the leader of the opposition; other justices are
appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service
Commission); High Court of Justice; Caribbean Court of Appeals member;
Court of Appeals; the highest court of appeal is the Privy Council in
London
Political parties and leaders:
Congress of the People [Winston
DOOKERAN]; Democratic Action Congress or DAC [Hochoy CHARLES] (only active
in Tobago); Democratic National Alliance or DNA [Gerald YETMING]
(coalition of NAR, DDPT, MND); Movement for National Development or MND
[Garvin NICHOLAS]; National Alliance for Reconstruction or NAR [Dr. Carson
CHARLES]; People's National Movement or PNM [Patrick MANNING]; United
National Congress or UNC [Basdeo PANDAY]
chief of mission:
Ambassador Marina Annette VALERE chancery: 1708 Massachusetts
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 467-6490
FAX: [1] (202) 785-3130 consulate(s) general: Miami,
New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Roy L. AUSTIN embassy: 15 Queen's Park West,
Port-of-Spain mailing address: P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain
telephone: [1] (868) 622-6371 through 6376 FAX: [1]
(868) 628-5462
Flag description:
red with a white-edged black
diagonal band from the upper hoist side to the lower fly side
Economy
Trinidad and Tobago
Economy - overview:
Trinidad and Tobago has earned
a reputation as an excellent investment site for international businesses
and has one of the highest growth rates and per capita incomes in Latin
America. Recent growth has been fueled by investments in liquefied natural
gas (LNG), petrochemicals, and steel. Additional petrochemical, aluminum,
and plastics projects are in various stages of planning. Trinidad and
Tobago is the leading Caribbean producer of oil and gas, and its economy
is heavily dependent upon these resources but it also supplies
manufactured goods, notably food and beverages, as well as cement to the
Caribbean region. Oil and gas account for about 40% of GDP and 80% of
exports, but only 5% of employment. The country is also a regional
financial center, and tourism is a growing sector, although it is not
proportionately as important as in many other Caribbean islands. The
economy benefits from a growing trade surplus. Economic growth reached
12.6% in 2006 and 5.5% in 2007 as prices for oil, petrochemicals, and LNG
remained high, and as foreign direct investment continued to grow to
support expanded capacity in the energy sector.
petroleum and petroleum
products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol, ammonia, urea, steel
products, beverages, cereal and cereal products, sugar, cocoa, coffee,
citrus fruit, vegetables, flowers
Exports - partners:
US 59.8%, Spain 5.3%, Jamaica
5.2% (2006)
Imports:
$6.477 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.)
Imports - commodities:
mineral fuels, lubricants,
machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live
animals, grain
Imports - partners:
US 30.6%, Brazil 12%, Venezuela
6.8%, Gabon 4.7%, Colombia 4.6% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:
$200,000 (2007 est.)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$6.761 billion (31 December
2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$3.025 billion (31 December
2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$12.44 billion (2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$1.419 billion (2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$15.57 billion (2006)
Currency (code):
Trinidad and Tobago dollar
(TTD)
Currency code:
TTD
Exchange rates:
Trinidad and Tobago dollars per
US dollar - 6.3275 (2007), 6.3107 (2006), 6.2842 (2005), 6.299 (2004),
6.2951 (2003)
Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September
Communications
Trinidad and Tobago
Telephones - main lines in use:
325,500 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
1.655 million (2006)
Telephone system:
general assessment:
excellent international service; good local service domestic:
mobile-cellular teledensity exceeds 150 telephones per 100 persons
international: country code - 1-868; submarine cable systems
provide connectivity to US and parts of the Caribbean and South America;
satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric
scatter to Barbados and Guyana
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 4, FM 18, shortwave 0 (2001)
Radios:
680,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
6 (2005)
Televisions:
425,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.tt
Internet hosts:
24,681 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
17 (2000)
Internet users:
163,000 (2005)
Transportation
Trinidad and Tobago
Airports:
6 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 3 over
3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m:
1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 3 914 to
1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2007)
Pipelines:
condensate 245 km; gas 1,320
km; oil 563 km (2007)
Roadways:
total: 8,320 km
paved: 4,252 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1999)
Merchant marine:
total: 9 ships (1000 GRT
or over) 27,599 GRT/8,081 DWT by type: passenger 2,
passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 2 foreign-owned: 1 (US 1)
registered in other countries: 1 (Bahamas 1, unknown 1) (2007)
Ports and terminals:
Point Fortin, Point Lisas,
Port-of-Spain
Military
Trinidad and Tobago
Military branches:
Trinidad and Tobago Defense
Force: Ground Force, Coast Guard (includes air wing) (2004)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary
military service (16 years of age with parental consent); no conscription
(2008)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 301,561
females age 16-49: 264,225 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 215,310
females age 16-49: 180,526 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
0.3% (2006)
Transnational Issues
Trinidad and Tobago
Disputes - international:
in April 2006, the Permanent
Court of Arbitration issued a decision that delimited a maritime boundary
with Trinidad and Tobago and compelled Barbados to enter a fishing
agreement that limited Barbadian fishermen's catches of flying fish in
Trinidad and Tobago's exclusive economic zone; in 2005, Barbados and
Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory international arbitration under
UNCLOS challenging whether the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's and
Venezuela's maritime boundary extends into Barbadian waters; Guyana has
also expressed its intention to include itself in the arbitration as the
Trinidad and Tobago-Venezuela maritime boundary may extend into its waters
as well
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for South
American drugs destined for the US and Europe; producer of cannabis
