Trinidad and Tobago
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The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including: Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west. The country covers an area of 5,128 square kilometres (1,980 sq mi) and consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous smaller landforms. Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the main islands; Tobago is much smaller, comprising about 6% of the total area and 4% of the population. The nation lies outside the hurricane belt.
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.
Its major environmental issues include water pollution from agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; oil pollution of beaches; deforestation; and soil erosion.
Geography
Location: Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela
Geographic Coordinates: 11 00 N, 61 00 W
Area: 5,128 sq km (all land)
arable land: 14.62%
permanent crops: 9.16%
other: 76.22% (2005)
Coastline: 362 km
Maritime Claims (as measured from claimed archipelagic baselines) Territorial sea to 12 nautical miles; contiguous zone to 24 nautical miles; exclusive economic zone to 200 nautical miles; continental shelf to 200 nautical miles or to the outer edge of the continental margin.
Natural Hazards: Outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms.
Terrain: Mostly plains with some hills and low mountains. The highest point is El Cerro del Aripo (940 m).
Climate: Tropical; rainy season (June to December).
Capital: Port-of-Spain
Ecology and Biodiversity
Due to recent separation from South America these island's flora and fauna reflect the ecology of equatorial South America more than any other Windward Island where biotic endemism is common. The Trinidad and Tobago dry forests ecoregion covers only a small portion of land area in the northwest of Trinidad and the very northern end of Tobago. The Trinidad and Tobago moist forests differ greatly from the moist forests of the Windward islands to the north and comprise approximately 90% of the land area of the archipelagic state of Trinidad and Tobago. Both islands lie on the South American Continental Shelf and are directly influenced by the Orinoco and the South Equatorial Current. Mangroves are extensively developed in the Trinidad mangroves ecoregion because of a salinity gradient associated with the outflows of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, which, on a global scale, are responsible for 20% of total freshwater inputs to the ocean. They are also found in diverse conditions in association with a variety of other habitats.
Protected Areas
Approximately 5% (24,748 hectares) of the land area in Trinidad and Tobago is protected through legislation and as much as 13% (69,000 ha) has been proposed. While these further protected areas have yet to be approved by the government, the proposals may serve to indicate the future direction of environmental protection in Trinidad and Tobago.
International Environmental Agreements
Trinidad and Tobago is party to international agreements on: 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, and Wetlands.
People and Society
Population: 1,229,953 (July 2009 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 19.6% (male 123,214/female 117,584)
15-64 years: 72.6% (male 457,868/female 434,486)
65 years and over: 7.9% (male 41,467/female 55,334) (2009 est.)
Population Growth Rate: -0.102% (2009 est.)
Birthrate: 14.34 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 7.99 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: -7.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 70.86 years (2009 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 1.72 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Languages: English (official), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), French, Spanish, Chinese
Literacy: 98.6% (2003 est.)
Water
The mean annual rainfall is 2,200 mm for Trinidad and 1,900 mm for Tobago. According to a study conducted in 1998, available surface water resources were estimated at 3,600 million cubic meters per year (m3/year) for Trinidad and 136 million m3/year for Tobago. The groundwater safe yield for both islands was estimated at 107 million m3/year.
Large-scale development of surface water has been limited to four rivers in Trinidad and Tobago. These are the Caroni and Oropuche Rivers in the Northern Basin, the Navet River in the Central Range in Trinidad and the Hillsborough River in Tobago, which is the principal source of supply for Scarborough and southwest Tobago. Groundwater is found throughout most of Trinidad.
See Water profile of Trinidad and Tobago
Energy
Powergen, a consortium of Mirant, BP, and the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission, operate the 630-megawatt (MW) Point Lisa natural gas power plant. In 2006, the company announced that it would expand the capacity of the facility by 200 MW.
See Energy profile
Conflict
International Disputes: 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
Economy
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.
GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity): $24.19 billion (2008 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 3.5% (2008 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $18,600 (2008 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 0.5%
industry: 47.9%
services: 51.6% (2008 est.)
Industries: petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles
Natural Resources: petroleum, natural gas, asphalt
Currency: Trinidad and Tobago dollars
Further Reading
Return to Trinidad and Tobago's country profile
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