ORDER OF PREACHERS
The Dominican Family
Trinidad & Tobago

SOME FACTS ABOUT TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

	Trinidad And Tobago is a twin-island parliamentary democracy situated at 11.00 N., 61.00 W, off the northern coast of Venezuela, being the most southerly state in the Caribbean . It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Paria. The total land area is 5,131sq. km, 4,848sq. km for Trinidad and 300sq. km for Tobago.

History

After Christopher Columbus landed briefly in 1498 on the island, which he named ‘Trinidad’ to honour the Blessed Trinity, there was no formal attempt to establish a settled community until the end of the 18^th century when the Spaniards invited French creoles from the other islands to develop the island. In 1802 it was ceded by the Spaniards to the British who undertook a colonising programme. Tobago was given to Britain in 1814, the last of the twenty-two occasions that this island changed hands between the French, Dutch and British. In 1889 both islands became a single British colony.

The sugar based economy had been developed largely through slavery and in 1834 when slavery was abolished indentured workers from India were brought to work on the estates. Other smaller groups also arrived from Madeira islands and China.

Oil was discovered at the turn of the 20^th century.

Independence was gained in 1962 and in 1976 the country became a republic but continued to be a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The official title is “The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago”

The People

The 2006 estimated population is given as 1,066,000, 20% of which is under 14 years of age and 8.6% over 65 years of age.

The ethnicity of the population in this cosmopolitan nation is Indian (South Asian) 40%, African 37.5%, mixed 20.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 0.8% (2000 census)

The religious groups are given in the 2000 census report as follows: Roman Catholic 26%, Hindu 22.5%, Anglican 7.8%, Baptist 7.2%, Pentecostal 6.8%, other Christian 5.8%, Islam 5.8%, Seventh-Day Adventist 4%, others 10.8%, unspecified 1.4%, none 1.9%.

Economy

With natural resource of petroleum, natural gas and asphalt the economy is booming. There has been a steady growth of 6% per annum since 1994. The per capita income was estimated at US$10,440 in 2005. Oil and gas account for 40% of the GDP and 80% of exports but only 5% of employment.