trĭnˈĭdăd, təbāˈgō, officially Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, republic (1995 est. pop. 1,217,000), 1,980 sq mi (5,129 sq km), West Indies. The capital is Port of Spain.

Land and People

The country consists of two islands: Trinidad (1,864 sq mi/4,828 sq km) and Tobago (116 sq mi/300 sq km). Lying just north of the Orinoco River delta in Venezuela, Trinidad is largely flat or undulating except for a range of low mountains (the highest point is Mt. Aripo, 3,085 ft/940 m) in the north. Pitch Lake, in the southwest, is the world's largest (114 acres/46 hectares) basin of natural asphalt. Tobago, just NE of Trinidad, is the exposed top of a mountain ridge (maximum height 2,000 ft/610 m) that is densely forested with large reserves of hardwoods. The climate of both islands is warm and humid, and rainfall (from June to Dec.) is abundant, particularly where the trade winds sweep in over the eastern coasts. The population is about evenly divided between those of African and Asian Indian descent. English is the official language, but a French patois is widely spoken. The main religions are Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, and Anglicanism.

Economy

The most important exports are petroleum, petroleum products, and chemicals. Trinidad possesses sizable oil and gas reserves, and its prosperity is linked directly to the production of petroleum and petrochemicals. The decline in worldwide petroleum prices in the 1980s caused economic problems, but increased exploitation of the country's natural gas reserves in the 1990s caused an economic boom. The islands also have a large tourist industry, but unemployment remains high.

History

Trinidad was visited by Christopher Columbus in 1498 but was not colonized because of the lack of precious metals. It was raided by the Dutch (1640) and the French (1677, 1690) and by British sailors. Britain captured it in 1797 and received formal title in 1802. Tobago had been settled by the English in 1616, but the settlers were driven out by the indigenous Caribs. The island was held by the Dutch and the French before being acquired by the British in 1803. The islands were joined politically in 1888.

Before becoming an independent nation in 1962, the islands were part of the short-lived West Indies Federation (1958–62). In 1976 Trinidad and Tobago became a republic. In 1986 the People's National Movement (PNM), which had held power for three decades, was soundly defeated by the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR); party leader A. N. R. Robinson became prime minister. He survived a 1990 coup attempt by Muslim extremists, but discontent with Robinson's economic austerity program helped return the PNM to power in 1991, under Prime Minister Patrick Manning. After the 1995 elections, Basdeo Panday, of the United National Congress (UNC), formed a coalition with the NAR and became Trinidad's first prime minister of Asian Indian descent. He and the UNC were returned to power in the 2000 elections, but corruption charges and a party split led to elections in Dec., 2001. When the UNC and PNM each won half the seats in the parliament, the president appointed Patrick Manning as prime minister, but the split control of parliament resulted in a deadlock that prevented that body from convening. New elections in Oct., 2002, however, resulted in a majority for the PNM.

Bibliography

See G. Carmichael, The History of the West Indian Islands of Trinidad and Tobago, 1498–1900 (1961); J. K. Black et al., Area Handbook for Trinidad and Tobago (1976); S. B. MacDonald, Trinidad and Tobago: Democracy and Development in the Caribbean (1986).

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