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.

Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela

11 00 N, 61 00 W

Central America and the Caribbean

slightly smaller than Delaware

0 km

362 km

measured from claimed archipelagic baselines

tropical; rainy season (June to December)

mostly plains with some hills and low mountains

petroleum, natural gas, asphalt

40 sq km (2003)

3.8 cu km (2000)

outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms

water pollution from agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; oil pollution of beaches; deforestation; soil erosion

Pitch Lake, on Trinidad's southwestern coast, is the world's largest natural reservoir of asphalt

1,229,953 (July 2009 est.)

-0.102% (2009 est.)

14.36 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

8.11 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

-7.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

1.72 children born/woman (2009 est.)

1.5% (2007 est.)

14,000 (2007 est.)

1,900 (2003 est.)

Indian (South Asian) 40%, African 37.5%, mixed 20.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 0.8% (2000 census)

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)

English (official), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), French, Spanish, Chinese

4.2% of GDP (2002)

in 2007, the government of Trinidad and Tobago estimated the population to be 1.3 million

parliamentary democracy

9 regional corporations, 2 city corporations, 3 borough corporations, 1 ward

31 August 1962 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 31 August (1962)

1 August 1976

based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

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)

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); the highest court of appeal is the Privy Council in London; member of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)

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]

Jamaat-al Muslimeen [Yasin BAKR]

ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-24, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper hoist side to the lower fly side

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. Economic growth for the past seven years has averaged slightly over 8%, significantly above the regional average of about 3.7% for that same period; however, it has slowed down this year to about 5% and is expected to slow further with the global downturn. 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. The MANNING administration has benefited from fiscal surpluses fueled by the dynamic export sector; however, declines in oil and gas prices have reduced government revenues which will challenge his government's commitment to maintaining high levels of public investment.

$24.19 billion (2008 est.)

$23.37 billion (2007)

$26.57 billion (2006)

$24.16 billion (2008 est.)

3.5% (2008 est.)

5.5% (2007 est.)

12.2% (2006 est.)

$18,600 (2008 est.)

$22,700 (2007 est.)

$21,500 (2006 est.)

620,800 (2008 est.)

agriculture 3.8%, manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 12.8%, construction and utilities 20.4%, services 62.9% (2007 est.)

5.3% (2008 est.)

4.5% (2007 est.)

17% (2007 est.)

17.1% of GDP (2008 est.)

28% of GDP (2008 est.)

14.5% (2008 est.)

7.9% (2007 est.)

6.94% (31 December 2008)

10% (31 December 2007)

NA% (31 December 2008)

11.75% (31 December 2007)

$2.39 billion (31 December 2008)

$2.646 billion (31 December 2007)

$3.506 billion (31 December 2008)

$5.707 billion (31 December 2007)

$3.423 billion (31 December 2008)

$3.73 billion (31 December 2007)

$15.61 billion (31 December 2007)

cocoa, rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; poultry

petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles

4.4% (2008 est.)

7.704 billion kWh (2007)

7.083 billion kWh (2007)

0 kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2007 est.)

163,300 bbl/day (2007 est.)

28,730 bbl/day (2006 est.)

38,990 bbl/day (2007)

72,780 bbl/day (2005)

728.3 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

39 billion cu m (2007 est.)

20.8 billion cu m (2007 est.)

18.1 billion cu m (2007 est.)

0 cu m (2007 est.)

481.3 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

$5.721 billion (2008 est.)

$16.73 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

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

US 57.5%, Jamaica 6.5%, Spain 3.9% (2007)

$10.26 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

mineral fuels, lubricants, machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, chemicals, live animals

US 28.2%, Brazil 11%, Venezuela 8.2%, Colombia 5.4%, Gabon 4.9%, China 4.2% (2007)

$8.765 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$3.4 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$12.44 billion (2007)

$3.829 billion (2007)

Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TTD) per US dollar - 6.2896 (2008 est.), 6.3275 (2007), 6.3107 (2006), 6.2842 (2005), 6.299 (2004)

323,800 (2007)

1.008 million (2007)

AM 4, FM 18, shortwave 0 (2001)

6 (2005)

.tt

155,722 (2008)

430,800 (2007)

6 (2008)

gas 659 km; oil 336 km (2008)

Point Fortin, Point Lisas, Port-of-Spain

Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force (TTDF): Trinidad and Tobago Army, Coast Guard, Air Guard, Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (2008)

18 years of age for voluntary military service (16 years of age with parental consent); no conscription (2008)

0.3% of GDP (2006)

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

transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; producer of cannabis