Pigeon Point in Tobago, one of the top tourist destinations in the country
TOBAGO BEACH wikipedia
Trinidad and Tobago Travel Guide – Trinidad and Tobago Holiday Guide
A photo-visual travel guide portal for travellers planning to go to the Islands of Trinidad and Tobago on holiday or vacation abroad.
Maybe now is the time to consider taking a holiday or a vacation in Trinidad and Tobago.
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Read some of what Wikipedia (a highly reputable source of information on the web) has to say about Trinidad and Tobago.
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The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (pronounced /ˌtrɪnɨdæd ən tɵˈbeɪɡoʊ/ ) is an archipelagic state[4] in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern 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.[5][6]
The country covers an area 5,128 square kilometres (1,980 sq mi)[7] 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 entire population which is estimated at 1.3 million (2005). The nation lies outside the hurricane belt.
Trinidad and Tobago was a Spanish colony from the times of Christopher Columbus to 1802, when it was ceded to Britain. The country obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976. Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago’s economy is primarily industrial,[8] with an emphasis on petroleum and petrochemicals. Trinidad and Tobago has a sound macroeconomic framework and a long tradition of institutional stability.[citation needed] It scores relatively well in many of the 10 economic freedoms, and its economy has grown at an average rate of close to 7 percent over the period 2003 – 2008. The government has tried to diversify the economic base, and the country has evolved into a key financial center in the Caribbean region.
Trinidad and Tobago is known for its Carnival and is the birthplace of steelpan,[9] calypso,[10][11] soca, and limbo.
Tobago
Columbus reported seeing Tobago on the distant horizon, which he named Bellaforma, but did not land on the island.[22] The name of Tobago is thought to probably be a corruption of its old name, “Tobaco”.[12]
The Dutch and the Courlanders established themselves in Tobago in the 16th and 17th centuries and produced tobacco and cotton. Tobago changed hands between British, French, Dutch and Courlanders from modern-day Latvia. Britain consolidated its hold on both islands during the Napoleonic Wars, and they were combined into the colony of Trinidad and Tobago in 1889.
As a result of these colonial struggles, Amerindian, Spanish, French and English place names are all common in the country. African slaves and Chinese, Indian, and free African indentured labourers, as well as Portuguese from Madeira, arrived to supply labour in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Emigration from Barbados and the other Lesser Antilles, Venezuela, Syria, and Lebanon also impacted on the ethnic make-up of the country
Geography
Trinidad and Tobago are southeasterly islands of the Antilles, situated between 10° 2′ and 11° 12′ N latitude and 60° 30′ and 61° 56′ W longitude. At the closest point, Trinidad is just 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) off the Venezuelan coast. Covering an area of 5,128 km2 (1,980 sq mi), the country consists of the two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous smaller landforms – including Chacachacare, Monos, Huevos, Gaspar Grande (or Gasparee), Little Tobago, and St. Giles Island. Trinidad is 4,768 km2 (1,841 sq mi) in area (comprising 93.0% of the country’s total area) with an average length of 80 km (50 mi) and an average width of 59 kilometres (37 mi).
Tobago has an area of about 300 km2 (120 sq mi), or 5.8% of the country’s area, is 41 km (25 mi) long and 12 km (7.5 mi) at its greatest width. Trinidad and Tobago lie on the continental shelf of South America, and is thus geologically considered to lie entirely in South America. However the Caribbean islands are generally considered to be part of North America, and as the language and cultural links of Trinidad and Tobago are not to South America but to the rest of the English speaking Caribbean nations, the nation is often treated as part of North America.
The terrain of the islands is a mixture of mountains and plains. The highest point in the country is found on the Northern Range at El Cerro del Aripo which is 940 metres (3,080 ft) above sea level. The climate is tropical. There are two seasons annually: the dry season for the first six months of the year, and the wet season in the second half of the year. Winds are predominantly from the northeast and are dominated by the northeast trade winds. Unlike most of the other Caribbean islands, both Trinidad and Tobago have frequently escaped the wrath of major devastating hurricanes including Hurricane Ivan, the most powerful storm to pass close to the islands in recent history in September 2004.
As the majority of the population live in Trinidad, this is the location of most major towns and cities. There are three major municipalities in Trinidad: Port of Spain, the capital, San Fernando, and Chaguanas. The main town in Tobago is Scarborough. Trinidad is made up of a variety of soil types, the majority being fine sands and heavy clays. The alluvial valleys of the Northern Range and the soils of the East-West Corridor are the most fertile.
The Northern Range consists mainly of Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous metamorphic rocks. The Northern Lowlands (East-West Corridor and Caroni Plains) consist of younger shallow marine clastic sediments. South of this, the Central Range fold and thrust belt consisits of Cretaceous and Eocene sedimentary rocks, with Miocene formations along the southern and eastern flanks. The Naparima Plains and the Nariva Swamp form the southern shoulder of this uplift.
The Southern Lowlands consist of Miocene and Pliocene sands, clays, and gravels. These overlie oil and natural gas deposits, especially north of the Los Bajos Fault. The Southern Range forms the third anticlinal uplift. It consists of several chains of hills, most famous being the Trinity Hills. The rocks consist of sandstones, shales and siltstones and clays formed in the Miocene and uplifted in the Pleistocene. Oil sands and mud volcanoes are especially common in this area.
Although it is located just off-shore from South America, Trinidad and Tobago is generally included as part of the West Indies by virtue of its geographical and historical heritage in the Caribbean.
Economy
Trinidad’s economy is strongly influenced by the petroleum industry. Tourism and manufacturing are also important to the local economy. Tourism is a growing sector, although not proportionately as important as in many other Caribbean islands. Agricultural products include citrus, cocoa, and other products. According to the World Bank, Trinidad and Tobago ranks 69th in the top high-income economies of the world.[28]
Recent 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 the economy has a growing trade surplus.[25] The expansion of Atlantic LNG over the past six years created the largest single-sustained phase of economic growth in Trinidad and Tobago. It has become the leading exporter of LNG to the United States, and now supplies some 70% of U.S. LNG imports.[26]
Trinidad and Tobago has transitioned from an oil-based economy to a natural gas based economy. In 2007, natural gas production averaged 4 billion standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d), compared with 3.2 mmcf/d in 2005. In December 2005, the Atlantic LNG fourth production module or “train” for liquefied natural gas (LNG) began production. Train 4 has increased Atlantic LNG’s overall output capacity by almost 50% and is the largest LNG train in the world at 5.2 million tons/year of LNG.
Trinidad and Tobago’s infrastructure is good by regional standards.The international airport in Trinidad was expanded in 2001. There is an extensive network of paved roads with several good four and six lane highways including one controlled access expressway. The Ministry of Works estimates that an average Trinidadian spends about 4 hours in traffic per day. Emergency services are reliable, but may suffer delays in rural districts Private hospitals are available and reliable. Utilities are fairly reliable in the cities.Some areas, however, especially rural districts, still suffer from water shortages.
Telephone service is relatively modern and reliable. Cellular service is widespread and has been the major area of growth for several years. Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (generally known as TSTT) is the largest telephone and Internet service provider in Trinidad and Tobago. The company, which is jointly owned by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and Cable & Wireless, was formed out of a merger of Telco (Trinidad and Tobago Telephone Company Limited) and Textel (Trinidad and Tobago External Telecommunications Company Limited). TSTT no longer holds a monopoly in fixed-line telephone services due to Flow introducing a fixed-line service of their own, and their cellular monopoly was broken in June 2005 when licenses were granted to Digicel and Laqtel. Laqtel however never started business.
Culture
This is the birthplace of calypso music and the steelpan, which is widely claimed in Trinidad and Tobago to be the only acoustic musical instrument invented during the 20th century.[41] The diverse cultural and religious background allows for many festivities and ceremonies throughout the year.
Trinidad and Tobago claims two Nobel Prize-winning authors, V.S. Naipaul and St Lucian-born Derek Walcott (who founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, working and raising a family in Trinidad for much of his career). Edmundo Ros, the “King of Latin American Music”, was born in Port of Spain. Designer Peter Minshall is renowned not only for his Carnival costumes, but also for his role in opening ceremonies of the Barcelona Olympics, the 1994 Football World Cup, the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2002 Winter Olympics, for which he won an Emmy Award.
Geoffrey Holder, brother of Boscoe Holder, and Heather Headley are also two Trinidad-born artists who have won Tony Awards for theatre. Holder also has a distinguished film career, and Headley has won a Grammy Award. Recording artist Billy Ocean is also Trinidadian.[42]
External links
- Trinidad and Tobago Government Portal
- Official Trinidad and Tobago Tourism Company Website
- Trinidad and Tobago entry at The World Factbook
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Published from Wikipedia under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. A full list of contributors is available on the full original article on Wikipedia.
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