]! ^! 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. 
]" ^" Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela ^# 11 00 N, 61 00 W ^$ Central America and the Caribbean ^% `! 5,128 sq km `" 5,128 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& slightly smaller than Delaware ^' 0 km ^( 362 km ^) measured from claimed archipelagic baselines `$ 12 nm `M 24 nm `N 200 nm `O 200 nm or to the outer edge of the continental margin ^* tropical; rainy season (June to December) ^+ mostly plains with some hills and low mountains ^, `% Caribbean Sea 0 m `& El Cerro del Aripo 940 m ^- petroleum, natural gas, asphalt ^. `' 14.62% `( 9.16% `) 76.22% (2005) ^/ 40 sq km (2003) ^0 outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms ^1 water pollution from agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; oil pollution of beaches; deforestation; soil erosion _P `P 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, Wetlands `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 Pitch Lake, on Trinidad's southwestern coast, is the world's largest natural reservoir of asphalt 
]# ^3 1,056,608 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 19.5% (male 105,994/female 100,156) `, 71.6% (male 397,699/female 358,755) `- 8.9% (male 42,039/female 51,965) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 31.8 years `. 31.3 years `/ 32.3 years (2007 est.) ^6 -0.883% (2007 est.) ^7 13.07 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 10.76 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 -11.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.05 male(s)/female `1 1.058 male(s)/female `, 1.109 male(s)/female `- 0.809 male(s)/female `2 1.068 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 24.33 deaths/1,000 live births `. 26.15 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 22.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 66.85 years `. 65.87 years `/ 67.87 years (2007 est.) ^= 1.74 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 3.2% (2003 est.) ^? 29,000 (2003 est.) ^@ 1,900 (2003 est.) ^A `3 Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s) `4 Trinidadian, Tobagonian ^B Indian (South Asian) 40%, African 37.5%, mixed 20.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 0.8% (2000 census) ^C Roman Catholic 26%, Hindu 22.5%, Anglican 7.8%, Baptist 7.2%, Pentecostal 6.8%, Muslim 5.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 4%, other Christian 5.8%, other 10.8%, unspecified 1.4%, none 1.9% (2000 census) ^D English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish, Chinese ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 98.6% `. 99.1% `/ 98% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 Republic of Trinidad and Tobago `7 Trinidad and Tobago ^H parliamentary democracy ^I `8 Port-of-Spain `9 10 39 N, 61 31 W `: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 9 regional corporations, 2 city corporations, 3 borough corporations, 1 ward regional corporations: Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo, Diego Martin, Mayaro/Rio Claro, Penal/Debe, Princes Town, Sangre Grande, San Juan/Laventille, Siparia, Tunapuna/Piarco city corporations: Port-of-Spain, San Fernando borough corporations: Arima, Chaguanas, Point Fortin ward: Tobago ^K 31 August 1962 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 31 August (1962) ^M 1 August 1976 ^N based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; President George Maxwell RICHARDS (since 17 March 2003) `< Prime Minister Patrick MANNING (since 24 December 2001) `= Cabinet appointed from among the members of Parliament `> 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 `? George Maxwell RICHARDS elected president; percent of electoral college vote - 43% ^Q bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (31 seats; 16 members appointed by the ruling party, nine by the President, six by the opposition party for a maximum term of five years) and the House of Representatives (36 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) `> House of Representatives - last held on 7 October 2002 (next to be held by October 2007) `? House of Representatives - percent of vote - PNM 55.5%, UNC 44.5%; seats by party - PNM 20, UNC 16 `* Tobago has a unicameral House of Assembly with 12 members serving four-year terms; last election held in January 2005; seats by party - PNM 11, DAC 1 ^R Supreme Court of Judicature (comprised of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeals; the chief justice is appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; other justices are appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission); High Court of Justice; Caribbean Court of Appeals member; Court of Appeals; the highest court of appeal is the Privy Council in London ^S Congress of the People [Winston DOOKERAN]; Democratic National Alliance or DNA [Gerald YETMING] (coalition of NAR, DDPT, MND); Movement for National Development or MND [Garvin NICHOLAS]; National Alliance for Reconstruction or NAR [Dr. Carson CHARLES]; People's National Movement or PNM [Patrick MANNING]; United National Congress or UNC [Basdeo PANDAY]; Democratic Action Congress or DAC [Hochoy CHARLES] (only active in Tobago) ^T Jamaat-al Muslimeen [Yasin BAKR] ^U ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-24, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `R Ambassador Marina Annette VALERE `S 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 `T [1] (202) 467-6490 `U [1] (202) 785-3130 `V Miami, New York ^W `R Ambassador Roy L. AUSTIN `_ 15 Queen's Park West, Port-of-Spain `` P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain `T [1] (868) 622-6371 through 6376 `U [1] (868) 628-5462 ^X red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper hoist side to the lower fly side 
]% ^Y Trinidad and Tobago, the leading Caribbean producer of oil and gas, has earned a reputation as an excellent investment site for international businesses. 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. Economic growth in 2006 reached 12.6% as prices for oil, petrochemicals, and liquefied natural gas remained high, and foreign direct investment continued to grow to support expanded capacity in the energy sector. The government is coping with a rise in violent crime. ^Z $20.99 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $14.99 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 12.6% (2006 est.) ^] $19,700 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 0.7% `A 57.7% `B 41.5% (2006 est.) ^_ 618,000 (2006 est.) ^` agriculture 9.5%, manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 14%, construction and utilities 12.4%, services 64.1% (1997 est.) ^a 7% (2006 est.) _! 21% (1992 est.) _" `C NA% `D NA% _# 8% (2006 est.) _V 19.1% of GDP (2006 est.) _$ `E $6.591 billion `F $5.649 billion; including capital expenditures of $117.3 million (2006 est.) _% 36.6% of GDP (2006 est.) _& cocoa, rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; poultry _' petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles _( 17% (2006 est.) _) 6.049 billion kWh (2004) _* 5.626 billion kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 150,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) _. 34,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _W 990 million bbl (1 January 2004) _1 28.09 billion cu m (2004 est.) _2 14.15 billion cu m (2004 est.) _X 13.94 billion cu m (2004 est.) _Y 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Z 733 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) _Q $3.259 billion (2006 est.) _3 $12.5 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _4 petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, steel products, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus, flowers _5 US 68.6%, Jamaica 5.4%, Barbados 2.9% (2005) _6 $8.798 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _7 machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live animals _8 US 27.2%, Venezuela 13.1%, Brazil 13.1%, Japan 5.4%, Canada 4.1% (2005) _[ $6.888 billion (2006 est.) _9 $2.838 billion (2006 est.) _: $24 million (1999 est.) _; Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD) _< Trinidad and Tobago dollars per US dollar - 6.3107 (2006), 6.2842 (2005), 6.299 (2004), 6.2951 (2003), 6.2487 (2002) _= 1 October - 30 September 
]& _> 323,500 (2005) _? 800,000 (2005) _@ `G excellent international service; good local service `H NA `I country code - 1-868; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Barbados and Guyana _A AM 4, FM 18, shortwave 0 (2004) _B 6 (2005) _C .tt _D 30,732 (2006) _E 160,000 (2005) 
]' _F 6 (2006) _G `! 3 `a 1 `J 1 `b 1 (2006) _R `! 3 `c 1 `W 2 (2006) _^ condensate 253 km; gas 1,278 km; oil 571 km (2006) _H `! 8,320 km `K 4,252 km `L 4,068 km (1999) _S `! 8 ships (1000 GRT or over) 16,760 GRT/7,941 DWT by type: liquefied gas 1, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 2 `X 1 (US 1) `d 1 (Panama 1) (2006) _I Pointe-a-Pierre, Point Lisas, Port-of-Spain 
]( _J Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force: Ground Force, Coast Guard (includes air wing) (2004) _T 18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2001) _K males age 18-49: 290,715 females age 18-49: 258,410 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 202,958 females age 18-49: 173,797 (2005 est.) _U 0.4% (2006 est.) 
]) _N 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 _O transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; producer of cannabis 