Trinidad+and+Tobago


 * Trinidad And Tobago.[[image:Trinidad_800_x_480.png width="800" height="480" align="right"]]**

= = =Facts=


 * Full Name: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
 * Capitol: Port of Spain
 * Independence day: 31st August 1962 from the UK.
 * Constitution: 1st August 1976
 * Legal System: based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
 * Executive branch: //chief of state:// President George Maxwell Richards (since 17 March 2003)
 * //head of government://head of government: Prime Minister Patrick Manning (since 24 December 2001)
 * //cabinet://cabinet: Cabinet appointed from among the members of Parliament
 * //elections://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 14 February 2003 (next to be held by January 2008); the president usually appoints as prime minister the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives
 * Highest Mountain: El Cerro Del Aripo (940 meters above sea level.)
 * Longest River: Ortoro River, 50 km long.


 * Trinidad And Tobago.**

History of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Amerindians first settled Trinidad and Tobago, but when Christopher Columbus discovered it in 1498, Arawakan and Caribbean speaking people had already taken it. Trinidad was at first a Spanish colony, despite the other European nations raided it constantly. The capital is still named Port of Spain. Spain lost their ownership of Trinidad in 1797, when 18 English warships waited at their shores. France and England then fought over it many times, and the island of Trinidad changed hands often, until 1814, when the Brits were finally given ownership. Trinidad was a important island, because it was ideal for sugarcane production. It was outside the “Hurricane area” had lots of water, lots of sun and it had the right warmth. In 1834 slavery was abolished, and in 1845 their replacement came. Indians, many thousands Indian workers were sent to work on the plantations. Trinidad and Tobago, both isles, was given Colony status in 1889. The English lords were to ensure that the inhabitants had no second thoughts about which their masters were, and made sure they knew

English. They did, however, give Trinidad and Tobago Partial Self-government in 1925. The Brits played a large role on all the islands until 1962, when it was given independency. Although, it was the country in the East Indies with the best living standard due to oil, there were tensions between the two main communities: The East Indians an the blacks. In 1970, the country was sent into Civil War and crisis. The other communities had rallied and army and fought the East Indians. The war lasted for 2 years, until 1972. In 1976 it was made a Republic, and entered the Commonwealth. It’s still there.

The three most popular political parties in Trinidad Tobago are, the “Peoples National Movement (PNM)”, which is mostly supported by blacks, The “National Alliance for Reconstruction”, which is multi-racial. The “United National Congress”, wich is mostly supported by East Indians.

The PNM ruled from 1956 to 1981, when their leader, Eric Williams died. After that NAR ruled, and in 1990 100 radical Muslims blew up a police station and tried to stage a coup. The prime minister was hold hostage for six days. NAR had to give up in 1991, and PNM was once again the ruling party. In 1995, UNC and NAR allied and they were brought to power. In 2001, UNC and PNM were given 18 seats each. . They allowed President Robinson, of the UNC, to choose the Prime Minister. He chose Patrick Manning of the PNM. The opposition then called for a new election, in October 2002 a new election was held. PNM won, and Maxwell Richards were named president.

Trinidad and Tobago is an English speaking country for the same reason as most countries, it’s a former colony and a member of the Commonwealth. The main religions are Roman Catholic, Hindu and Islam. (Because of the Indians that worked at the plantations)

Geography Trinidad and Tobago is mostly a mix of mountains and plains, and the highest point is 940 meters high. Trinidad got three big cities, Port of Spain, San Fernando and Chaguanas. Tobago got one big city, and it’s named Scarborough and it’s also Tobago’s own capitol. The country got 1,3 million Inhabitants, where 80% are blacks and East Indians. The main economic factor is changed from Sugarcane to Oil and Natural Gas, which makes the country the richest Caribbean country! It consists of 21 islands, where the biggest is Trinidad (Spanish word for Trinity) and the second biggest is Tobago (Tobacco… Kind of self-explanatory?) It lays North East of Venezuela, and you can see mainland Venezuela from it.


 * Similarities between Trinidad and Tobago and UK**

There are actually quite few similarities between the two; the Indian culture on the other hand, has played a much bigger part in Trinidad and Tobago. For example, the food they eat on the islands aren’t Caribbean food, it’s more chicken curry than shrimps on the Barbie (Barbecue) ... This is because when they made slave trade illegal in 1834, the Brits recruited many Indians from India, which were their colony. The black and the East Indians are still, up to this day, the most dominant colors on the islands. One of the few similarities are sports, as in most other former colonies they play football, rugby, cricket and other “British” sports. They do, however, got a very alike school system and lots of the same holidays. Culture

They got a very mixed culture; you got Reggae etc. as in most other Caribbean countries, you got football, and Trinidad is home to “The East Indies Cricket Team”! The most famous person from Trinidad is perhaps Dwight Yorke, the football player.

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Sources: Google Earth Google Pictures [|www.cia.gov] [|www.en.wikipedia.org] [|www.tradewinds-co.com] [|www.Infoplease.com]

Bjørn