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Central America · The modern Caribbean and isthmus states

Trinidad and Tobago

1962–present

The twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago, off the Venezuelan coast, was a Spanish and then British colony (Tobago changed hands many times) with a distinctive society shaped by African slavery and, after abolition, large-scale indentured immigration from India — producing a roughly even Afro- and Indo-Trinidadian population.

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗
Existed
1962–present
Shown on the map
1963–2024
Peak area
6k km²
Region
Central America

Overview

The twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago, off the Venezuelan coast, was a Spanish and then British colony (Tobago changed hands many times) with a distinctive society shaped by African slavery and, after abolition, large-scale indentured immigration from India — producing a roughly even Afro- and Indo-Trinidadian population. It gained independence from the UK on 31 August 1962, with the historian Eric Williams of the People's National Movement (PNM) as founding prime minister; he led until his death in 1981. The capital is Port of Spain. It became a republic on 1 August 1976, replacing the British monarch with a president.

Later history and present status

Uniquely among the anglophone Caribbean states, Trinidad and Tobago's economy rests on oil and natural gas rather than tourism, giving it one of the region's highest per-capita incomes. It weathered a 1970 Black Power uprising and a startling attempted coup by the Jamaat al Muslimeen in 1990. It is the birthplace of calypso, soca, and the steelpan, and its Carnival is world-famous.

Common questions

What was Trinidad and Tobago?
The twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago, off the Venezuelan coast, was a Spanish and then British colony (Tobago changed hands many times) with a distinctive society shaped by African slavery and, after abolition, large-scale indentured immigration from India — producing a roughly even Afro- and Indo-Trinidadian population.
When did Trinidad and Tobago exist?
Trinidad and Tobago existed 1962–present. On this map it is drawn 1963–2024.
How large was Trinidad and Tobago?
At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Trinidad and Tobago covered about 6,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
What is the present status of Trinidad and Tobago?
Uniquely among the anglophone Caribbean states, Trinidad and Tobago's economy rests on oil and natural gas rather than tourism, giving it one of the region's highest per-capita incomes. It weathered a 1970 Black Power uprising and a startling attempted coup by the Jamaat al Muslimeen in 1990.

Sources

This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity and for the key figures and events as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, EBSCO Research Starters and academic sources. The article this entry is anchored on:

This entry was last updated .

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

Around the same time

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