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<\/a>The island of Trinidad was inhabited for centuries by native Amerindian peoples before becoming a colony in the\u00a0Spanish Empire<\/a>, following the arrival of\u00a0Christopher Columbus<\/a>\u00a0in 1498. Spanish governor\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Chac\u00f3n<\/a>\u00a0surrendered the island to a British fleet under the command of\u00a0Sir Ralph Abercromby<\/a>\u00a0in 1797.<\/sup>\u00a0During the same period, the island of Tobago changed hands among\u00a0Spanish<\/a>,\u00a0British<\/a>,\u00a0French<\/a>,\u00a0Dutch<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Courlander<\/a> colonists more times than any other island in the Caribbean.Trinidad and Tobago were ceded to Britain in 1802 under the\u00a0Treaty of Amiens<\/a> as separate states and unified in 1889. Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976.<\/sup><\/p>\n Trinidad and Tobago has the third highest\u00a0GDP per capita<\/a>\u00a0based on\u00a0purchasing power parity<\/a>\u00a0(PPP) in the Americas after the United States and Canada.<\/sup> It is recognized by the\u00a0World Bank<\/a>\u00a0as a\u00a0high-income economy<\/a>.\u00a0Unlike most Caribbean nations and territories, which rely heavily on tourism, the economy is primarily industrial with an emphasis on petroleum and\u00a0petrochemicals<\/a>; much of the nation’s wealth is derived from its large reserves of oil and natural gas.<\/sup><\/p>\n Trinidad and Tobago is well known for its African and Indian cultures, reflected in its large and famous\u00a0Carnival<\/a>,\u00a0Diwali<\/a>, and\u00a0Hosay<\/a>\u00a0celebrations, as well being the birthplace of\u00a0steelpan<\/a>, the\u00a0limbo<\/a>, and music styles such as\u00a0calypso<\/a>,\u00a0soca<\/a>,\u00a0rapso<\/a>,\u00a0parang<\/a>,\u00a0chutney<\/a>, and\u00a0chutney soca<\/a>.<\/p>\n Both Trinidad and Tobago were originally settled by\u00a0Amerindians<\/a> who came through South America.\u00a0Trinidad was first settled by pre-agricultural Archaic people at least 7,000 years ago, making it the earliest settled part of the Caribbean.<\/sup>\u00a0Banwari Trace<\/a>\u00a0in south-west Trinidad is the oldest attested archaeological site in the Caribbean, dating to about 5000 BC.<\/p>\n Several waves of migration occurred over the following centuries, which can be identified by differences in their archaeological remains.<\/sup>\u00a0At the time of European contact, Trinidad was occupied by various\u00a0Arawakan<\/a>-speaking groups including the Nepoya and Suppoya, and\u00a0Cariban<\/a>-speaking groups such as the\u00a0Yao<\/a>, while Tobago was occupied by the\u00a0Island Caribs<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Galibi<\/a>. Trinidad was known to the native peoples as “Ieri” (“Land of the Humming Bird”).<\/p>\n Christopher Columbus was the first European to see Trinidad, on his third voyage to the Americas in 1498. He also reported seeing Tobago on the distant horizon, naming it\u00a0Bellaforma<\/i>, but did not land on the island.<\/sup><\/p>\n In the 1530s Antonio de Sede\u00f1o, a Spanish soldier intent on conquering the island of Trinidad, landed on its southwest coast with a small army of men, intending to subdue the Amerindian peoples of the island. Sede\u00f1o and his men fought the native peoples on many occasions, and subsequently built a fort. The next few decades were generally spent in warfare with the native peoples, until in 1592, the “Cacique” (native chief) Wannawanare (also known as Guanaguanare) granted the area around modern\u00a0Saint Joseph<\/a>\u00a0to Domingo de Vera e Ibarg\u00fcen, and withdrew to another part of the island.<\/sup>\u00a0The settlement of San Jos\u00e9 de Oru\u00f1a was later established by\u00a0Antonio de Berr\u00edo<\/a> on this land in 1592. Shortly thereafter the English sailor\u00a0Sir Walter Raleigh<\/a>\u00a0arrived in Trinidad on 22 March 1595\u00a0in search<\/a>\u00a0of the long-rumoured “El Dorado<\/a>” (“City of Gold”) supposedly located in South America.<\/sup> He attacked San Jos\u00e9, captured and interrogated Antonio de Berr\u00edo, and obtained much information from him and from the Cacique Topiawari; Raleigh then went on his way, and Spanish authority was restored.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there were numerous attempts by European powers to settle Tobago during the 1620-40s, with the Dutch, English and Couronians (people from the\u00a0Duchy of Courland and Semigallia<\/a>, now part of\u00a0Latvia<\/a>) all attempting to colonize the island with little success. From 1654 the Dutch and Courlanders managed to gain a more secure foothold, later joined by several hundred French settlers. A plantation economy developed based on the production of sugar, indigo and rum, worked by large numbers of African slaves who soon came to vastly outnumber the European colonists. Large numbers of forts were constructed as Tobago became a source of contention between France, Netherlands and Britain, with the island changing hands some 31 times prior to 1814, a situation exacerbated by widespread piracy. The British managed to hold Tobago from 1762 to 1781, whereupon it was captured by the French, who ruled until 1793 when Britain re-captured the island.<\/p>\n The 17th century on Trinidad passed largely without major incident, but sustained attempts by the Spaniards to control and rule over the Amerindians were often fiercely resisted.\u00a0In 1687 the\u00a0Catholic<\/a>\u00a0Catalan<\/a>\u00a0Capuchin friars<\/a>\u00a0were given responsibility for\u00a0the conversions<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0indigenous people<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Trinidad<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Guianas<\/a>.\u00a0They founded several missions in Trinidad, supported and richly funded by the state, which also granted\u00a0encomienda<\/a><\/i> right to them over the native peoples, in which the native peoples were forced to provide labor for the Spanish.\u00a0Escalating tensions between the Spaniards and Amerindians culminated in violence 1689, when Amerindians in the San Rafael encomienda rebelled and killed several priests, attacked a church, and killed the Spanish governor\u00a0Jos\u00e9 de Le\u00f3n y Echales<\/a>. Among those killed in the governor’s party was Juan Mazien de Sotomayor, missionary priest to the Nepuyo villages of Cuara, Tacarigua and Arauca. The Spanish retaliated severely, slaughtering hundreds of native peoples in an event that became known as the\u00a0Arena massacre<\/a>. <\/sup>As a result, continuing Spanish slave-raiding, and the devastating impact of introduced disease to which they had no immunity, the native population was virtually wiped out by the end of the following century.<\/sup><\/p>\n During this period Trinidad was an island province belonging to the\u00a0Viceroyalty of New Spain<\/a>, together with Central America, present-day\u00a0Mexico<\/a>\u00a0and what would later become the southwestern\u00a0United States<\/a>.\u00a0In 1757 the capital was moved from San Jos\u00e9 de Oru\u00f1a to Puerto de Espa\u00f1a (modern\u00a0Port of Spain<\/a>) following several pirate attacks.<\/sup> However the Spanish never made any concerted effort to colonize the islands; Trinidad in this period was still mostly forest, populated by a few Spaniards with a handful of slaves and a few thousand Amerindians.<\/sup> Indeed, the population in 1777 was only 1,400, and Spanish colonization in Trinidad remained tenuous.<\/p>\n In 1777, the captain general\u00a0Luis de Unzaga<\/a> ‘le Conciliateur’, married to a French Creole, allowed free trade in Trinidad, attracting French settlers and its economy improved notably. Since Trinidad was considered underpopulated, Roume de St. Laurent, a Frenchman living in\u00a0Grenada<\/a>, was able to obtain a\u00a0C\u00e9dula de Poblaci\u00f3n<\/i><\/a>\u00a0from the Spanish king\u00a0Charles III<\/a> on 4 November 1783.\u00a0A\u00a0C\u00e9dula de Poblaci\u00f3n<\/i>\u00a0had previously been granted in 1776 by the king, but had not shown results, and therefore the new C\u00e9dula was more generous.<\/sup>\u00a0It granted free land and tax exemption for 10 years to Roman Catholic foreign settlers who were willing to swear allegiance to the King of Spain.<\/sup>\u00a0The Spanish also gave many incentives to lure settlers to the island, including exemption from taxes for ten years and land grants in accordance with the terms set out in the\u00a0C\u00e9dula.<\/i>\u00a0The land grant was 30 fanegas (13 hectares\/32 acres) for each free man, woman and child and half of that for each slave that they brought with them. The Spanish sent a new governor,\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Chac\u00f3n<\/a>, to implement the terms of the new\u00a0c\u00e9dula<\/i>.<\/p>\n It was fortuitous that the C\u00e9dula was issued only a few years before the\u00a0French Revolution<\/a>. During that period of upheaval, French planters with their slaves, free\u00a0coloreds<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0mulattos<\/a> from the neighboring islands of\u00a0Martinique<\/a>,\u00a0Saint Lucia<\/a>, Grenada,\u00a0Guadeloupe<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Dominica<\/a> migrated to Trinidad, where they established an agriculture-based economy (sugar and cocoa).\u00a0These new immigrants established local communities in\u00a0Blanchisseuse<\/a>, Champs Fleurs,\u00a0Paramin<\/a>,\u00a0Cascade,\u00a0Carenage<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Laventille<\/a>.<\/p>\n As a result, Trinidad’s population jumped to over 15,000 by the end of 1789, and by 1797 the population of\u00a0Port of Spain<\/a>\u00a0had increased from under 3,000 to 10,422 in just five years, with a varied population of mixed race individuals, Spaniards, Africans, French republican soldiers, retired pirates and French nobility.<\/sup> The total population of Trinidad was 17,718, of which 2,151 were of European ancestry, 4,476 were “free blacks and people of color”, 10,009 were enslaved people and 1,082\u00a0Amerindians<\/a>. The sparse settlement and slow rate of population-increase during Spanish rule (and even later during British rule) made Trinidad one of the less populated colonies of the West Indies, with the least developed plantation infrastructure.<\/p>\n British rule led to an influx of settlers from the United Kingdom and the British colonies of the Eastern Caribbean. English, Scots, Irish, German and Italian families arrived, as well as some free blacks known as “Merikins<\/a>” who had fought for Britain in the\u00a0War of 1812<\/a> and were granted land in southern Trinidad.\u00a0Under British rule, new states were created and the importation of slaves increased, however by this time support for\u00a0abolitionism<\/a> had vastly increased and in England the slave trade was under attack.\u00a0Slavery was\u00a0abolished in 1833<\/a>, after which former slaves served an “apprenticeship<\/a>” period. In 1837 Daaga, a West African slave trader who had been captured by Portuguese slavers and later rescued by the British navy, was conscripted into the local regiment. Daaga and a group of his compatriots mutinied at the barracks in St Joseph and set out eastward in an attempt to return to their homeland. The mutineers were ambushed by a militia unit just outside the town of Arima. The revolt was crushed at the cost of some 40 dead, and Daaga and his party were later executed at St Joseph. The apprenticeship system ended on 1 August 1838 with full emancipation. An overview of the populations statistics in 1838, however, clearly reveals the contrast between Trinidad and its neighboring islands: upon emancipation of the slaves in 1838, Trinidad had only 17,439 slaves, with 80% of slave owners having enslaved fewer than 10 people each. In contrast, at twice the size of Trinidad, Jamaica had roughly 360,000 slaves.<\/p>\n After the African slaves were emancipated many refused to continue working on the plantations, often moving out to urban areas such as Laventille and\u00a0Belmont<\/a>\u00a0to the east of Port of Spain.<\/sup> As a result, a severe agricultural labor shortage emerged. The British filled this gap by instituting a system of\u00a0indentureship<\/a>. Various nationalities were contracted under this system, including Indians, Chinese, and Portuguese.\u00a0Of these, the East Indians were imported in the largest numbers, starting from 1 May 1845, when 225 Indians were brought in the first shipment to Trinidad on the\u00a0Fatel Razack<\/a><\/i>, a Muslim-owned vessel. Indentureship of the Indians lasted from 1845 to 1917, during which time more than 147,000 Indians came to Trinidad to work on sugarcane plantations.<\/p>\n Indentureship contracts were sometimes exploitative, to such an extent that historians such as Hugh Tinker were to call it “a new system of slavery”. Despite these descriptions, it was not truly a new form of slavery, as workers were paid, contracts were finite, and the idea of an individual being another’s property had been eliminated when slavery was abolished.<\/sup> In addition, employers of indentured labor had no legal right to flog or whip their workers; the main legal sanction for the enforcement of the indenture laws was prosecution in the courts, followed by fines or (more likely) jail sentences.<\/sup>\u00a0People were contracted for a period of five years, with a daily wage as low as 25 cents in the early 20th century, and they were guaranteed return passage to India at the end of their contract period. However,\u00a0coercive means<\/a> were often used to retain laborers, and the\u00a0indentureship contracts<\/a> were soon extended to 10 years from 1854 after the planters complained that they were losing their labor too early. In lieu of the return passage, the British authorities soon began offering portions of land to encourage settlement, and by 1902, more than half of the sugar cane in Trinidad was being produced by independent cane farmers; the majority of which were Indians. Despite the trying conditions experienced under the indenture system, about 90% of the Indian immigrants chose, at the end of their contracted periods of indenture, to make Trinidad their permanent home.<\/sup> East Indians entering the colony were also subject to certain crown laws which segregated them from the rest of Trinidad’s population, such as the requirement that they carry a pass with them if they left the plantations, and that if freed, they carry their “Free Papers” or certificate indicating completion of the indenture period.<\/p>\n Few Indians settled on Tobago however, and the descendants of African slaves continued to form the majority of the island’s population. An ongoing economic slump in the middle-to-late 19th century caused widespread poverty.\u00a0Discontent erupted into rioting on the\u00a0Roxborough<\/a> plantation in 1876, in an event known as the Belmanna Uprising after a policeman who was killed.<\/sup> The British eventually managed to restore control, however as a result of the disturbances Tobago’s Legislative Assembly voted to dissolve itself and the island became a Crown colony in 1877.<\/sup> With the sugar industry in a state of near-collapse and the island no longer profitable, the British attached Tobago to their Trinidad colony in 1889.<\/sup><\/p>\n In 1903,\u00a0a protest<\/a> against the introduction of new water rates in Port of Spain erupted into rioting; 18 people were shot dead, and the Red House (the government headquarters) was damaged by fire. A local elected assembly with some limited powers was introduced in 1913.\u00a0Economically Trinidad and Tobago remained a predominantly agricultural colony; alongside sugarcane, the cacao (cocoa<\/a>) crop also contributed greatly to economic earnings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<\/p>\n In November 1919, the dockworkers went on strike over bad management practices, low wages compared to a higher cost of living.<\/sup> Strikebreakers were brought in to keep a minimum of goods moving through the ports. On 1 December 1919, the striking dockworkers rushed the harbor and chased off the strikebreakers. They then proceeded to march on the government buildings in Port of Spain. Other unions and workers, many with the same grievances, joined the dock worker’s strike making it a General Strike.\u00a0Violence broke out and was only put down with help from the sailors of British Naval ship\u00a0HMS\u00a0Calcutta<\/i><\/a>. The unity brought upon by the strike was the first time of cooperation between the various ethnic groups of the time.<\/p>\n However, in the 1920s, the collapse of the sugarcane industry, concomitant with the failure of the cocoa industry, resulted in widespread depression among the rural and agricultural workers in Trinidad, and encouraged the rise of a labor movement. Conditions on the islands worsened in the 1930s with the onset of the Great Depression<\/a>, with an outbreak of\u00a0labor riots<\/a> occurring in 1937 which resulted in several deaths. The labor movement aimed to unite the urban working class and agricultural labor class; the key figures being Arthur Cipriani<\/a>, who led the Trinidad Workingmen’s Association (TWA), and\u00a0Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0British Empire Citizens’ and Workers’ Home Rule Party<\/a>. As the movement developed calls for greater autonomy from British colonial rule became widespread; this effort was severely undermined by the British Home Office and by the British-educated Trinidadian elite, many of whom were descended from the plantocracy class.<\/p>\n Petroleum had been discovered in 1857, but became economically significant only in the 1930s and afterwards as a result of the collapse of sugarcane and cocoa, and increasing industrialization.<\/sup>\u00a0By the 1950s petroleum had become a staple in Trinidad’s export market, and was responsible for a growing middle class among all sections of the Trinidad population. The collapse of Trinidad’s major agricultural commodities, followed by the Depression, and the rise of the oil economy, led to major changes in the country’s social structure.<\/p>\n The presence of American\u00a0military bases<\/a>\u00a0in Chaguaramas and\u00a0Cumuto<\/a>\u00a0in Trinidad during\u00a0World War II<\/a> had a profound effect on society. The Americans vastly improved the infrastructure on Trinidad and provided many locals with well-paying jobs; however the social effects of having so many young soldiers stationed on the island, as well as their often unconcealed racial prejudice, caused resentment.\u00a0The Americans left in 1961.<\/p>\n In the post-war period the British began a process of decolonization across the British Empire. In 1945 universal suffrage was introduced to Trinidad and Tobago.<\/span>\u00a0Political parties emerged on the island, however these were largely divided along racial lines: Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians primarily supported the\u00a0<\/span>People’s National Movement<\/a>\u00a0(PNM), formed in 1956 by\u00a0<\/span>Eric Williams<\/a>, with Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians mostly supporting the\u00a0<\/span>People’s Democratic Party<\/a>\u00a0(PDP), formed in 1953 by\u00a0<\/span>Bhadase Sagan Maraj<\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0which later merged into the\u00a0<\/span>Democratic Labour Party<\/a> (DLP) in 1957.<\/span>\u00a0Britain’s Caribbean colonies formed the\u00a0<\/span>West Indies Federation<\/a>\u00a0in 1958 as a vehicle for independence, however the Federation dissolved after Jamaica withdrew following a\u00a0<\/span>membership referendum<\/a> in 1961. The government of Trinidad and Tobago subsequently chose to seek independence from the United Kingdom on its own.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Trinidad and Tobago gained its\u00a0independence<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0United Kingdom<\/a> on 31 August 1962.\u00a0Elizabeth II<\/a>\u00a0remained head of state as\u00a0Queen of Trinidad and Tobago<\/a>, represented locally by\u00a0Governor-General<\/a>\u00a0Solomon Hochoy<\/a>. Eric Williams of the PNM, a noted historian and intellectual widely regarded as\u00a0The Father of The Nation<\/a><\/i>, became the first\u00a0Prime Minister<\/a>, serving in that capacity uninterrupted until 1981. The dominant figure in the opposition in the early independence years was\u00a0Rudranath Capildeo<\/a>\u00a0of the DLP. The 1960s saw the rise of a\u00a0Black Power movement<\/a>, inspired in part by the\u00a0civil rights movement<\/a> in the United States. Protests and strikes became common, with events coming to head in April 1970 when police shot dead a protester named Basil Davis. Fearing a breakdown of law and order, Prime Minister Williams declared a state of emergency and arrested many of the Black Power leaders. Some army leaders who were sympathetic to the Black Power movement, notably\u00a0Raffique Shah<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Rex Lassalle<\/a>, attempted to mutiny; however, this was quashed by the\u00a0Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard<\/a>.<\/sup> Williams and the PNM retained power, largely due to divisions in the opposition.<\/p>\n In 1963 Tobago was struck by\u00a0Hurricane Flora<\/a>, which killed 30 people and resulted in enormous destruction across the island. Partly as a result of this, tourism came to replace agriculture as the island’s main income earner in the subsequent decades.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Between the years 1972 and 1983, the country profited greatly from the rising price of oil and the discovery of vast new oil deposits in its territorial waters, resulting in an economic boom that increased living standards greatly.\u00a0In 1976 the country became a republic within the\u00a0Commonwealth<\/a>, though it retained the\u00a0Judicial Committee of the Privy Council<\/a> as its final appellate court.<\/sup>\u00a0The position of governor-general was replaced with that of\u00a0President<\/a>;\u00a0Ellis Clarke<\/a> was the first to hold this largely ceremonial role.\u00a0Tobago was granted limited self-rule with the creation of the\u00a0Tobago House of Assembly<\/a> in 1980.<\/p>\n Williams died in 1981, being replaced by\u00a0George Chambers<\/a> who led the country until 1986. By this time a fall in the price of oil had resulted in a recession, causing rising inflation and unemployment. The main opposition parties united under the banner of\u00a0National Alliance for Reconstruction<\/a>\u00a0(NAR) and won the\u00a01986 Trinidad and Tobago general election<\/a>, with NAR leader\u00a0A. N. R. Robinson<\/a> becoming the new Prime Minister.\u00a0Robinson was unable to hold together the fragile NAR coalition, and social unrest was caused by his economic reforms, such as devaluing the currency and implementing an\u00a0International Monetary Fund<\/a>\u00a0Structural Adjustment Program<\/a>. In 1990 114 members of the\u00a0Jamaat al Muslimeen<\/a>, led by\u00a0Yasin Abu Bakr<\/a>\u00a0(formerly known as Lennox Phillip) stormed the\u00a0Red House<\/a>\u00a0(the seat of\u00a0Parliament<\/a>), and\u00a0Trinidad and Tobago Television<\/a>, the only television station in the country at the time,\u00a0holding Robinson and country’s government hostage<\/a> for six days before surrendering. The coup leaders were promised amnesty, but upon their surrender they were then arrested, but later released after protracted legal wrangling.<\/p>\n The PNM under\u00a0Patrick Manning<\/a>\u00a0returned to power following the\u00a01991 Trinidad and Tobago general election<\/a>. Hoping to capitalize on an improvement in the economy, Manning called an early election<\/a>\u00a0in 1995, however, this resulted in a\u00a0hung parliament<\/a>. Two NAR representatives backed the opposition\u00a0United National Congress<\/a>\u00a0(UNC), which had split off from the NAR in 1989, and they thus took power under\u00a0Basdeo Panday<\/a>, who became the country’s first Indo-Trinidadian Prime Minister. After a period of political confusion caused by a series of inconclusive election results, Patrick Manning returned to power in 2001, retaining that position until 2010.<\/p>\n Since 2003 the country entered a second oil boom, and petroleum, petrochemicals and natural gas continue to be the backbone of the economy. Tourism and the public service are the mainstay of the economy of Tobago, though authorities have attempted to diversify the island’s economy.<\/sup>\u00a0A corruption scandal resulted in Manning’s defeat by the newly formed\u00a0People’s Partnership<\/a>\u00a0coalition in 2010, with\u00a0Kamla Persad-Bissessar<\/a> becoming the country’s first female Prime Minister. However, corruption allegations bedeviled the new administration, and the PP were defeated in 2015 by the PNM under\u00a0Keith Rowley<\/a>.\u00a0In August 2020, the governing People’s National Movement won general\u00a0election<\/a>, meaning the incumbent Prime Minister Keith Rowley will serve a second term.<\/p>\n Trinidad is 4,768\u00a0km2<\/sup> (1,841 sq mi) in area (comprising 93.0% of the country’s total area) with an average length of 80 kilometers (50 mi) and an average width of 59 kilometers (37 mi). Tobago has an area of about 300 km2<\/sup> (120\u00a0sq\u00a0mi), or 5.8% of the country’s area, is 41\u00a0km (25\u00a0mi) long and 12\u00a0km (7.5\u00a0mi) at its greatest width. Trinidad and Tobago lie on the continental shelf of South America, and are thus geologically considered to lie entirely in South America.<\/p>\n The terrain of the islands is a mixture of mountains and plains. On Trinidad the\u00a0Northern Range<\/a>\u00a0runs parallel with the north coast, and contains the country’s highest peak (El Cerro del Aripo<\/a>), which is 940 metres (3,080\u00a0ft) above sea level,<\/sup>\u00a0and second highest (El Tucuche<\/a>, 936 metres (3,071\u00a0ft)).<\/sup>\u00a0The rest of the island is generally flatter, excluding the\u00a0Central Range<\/a> and Montserrat Hills in the center of the island and the\u00a0Southern Range<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Trinity Hills<\/a>\u00a0in the south. The three mountain ranges determine the drainage pattern of Trinidad.<\/sup>\u00a0The east coast is noted for its beaches, most notably\u00a0Manzanilla Beach<\/a>. The island contains several large swamp areas, such as the\u00a0Caroni Swamp<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Nariva Swamp<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Major bodies of water on Trinidad include the\u00a0Hollis Reservoir<\/a>,\u00a0Navet Reservoir<\/a>,\u00a0Caroni Reservoir<\/a>. 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\u00a0East\u2013West Corridor<\/a> are the most fertile.\u00a0Trinidad is also notable for containing\u00a0Pitch Lake<\/a>, the largest natural reservoir of\u00a0asphalt<\/a> in the world. Tobago contains a flat plain in its south-west, with the eastern half of the island being more mountainous, culminating in Pigeon Peak, the island’s highest point at 550 metres (1,800 ft). Tobago also contains several coral reefs off its coast.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The majority of the population reside on the island of Trinidad, and this is thus the location of largest <\/span>towns and cities<\/a>. There are four major municipalities in Trinidad: the capital Port of Spain,\u00a0<\/span>San Fernando<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Arima<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Chaguanas<\/a>. The main town on Tobago is\u00a0<\/span>Scarborough<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Trinidad and Tobago is the most developed nation and one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean and is listed in the top 40 (2010 information) of the 70\u00a0high-income countries<\/a> in the world. Its gross national income per capita of US$20,070<\/sup>\u00a0(2014 gross national income at Atlas Method) is one of the highest in the Caribbean.<\/sup>\u00a0In November 2011, the\u00a0OECD<\/a>\u00a0removed Trinidad and Tobago from its list of\u00a0developing countries<\/a>.<\/p>\nHistory:<\/h2>\n
Indigenous Peoples:<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/a>European Colonization:<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Influx of French Settlers:<\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2022\/01\/Jose-Maria-Chacon.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>British Rule:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/5a\/Trinidad_Ralph_Abercromby_%28cropped%29.JPG\/170px-Trinidad_Ralph_Abercromby_%28cropped%29.JPG\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Arrival of Indian Indentured Laborers:<\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/8\/84\/Newly_arrived_coolies_in_Trinidad.jpg\/220px-Newly_arrived_coolies_in_Trinidad.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/a\/a9\/Flag_of_Trinidad_and_Tobago_%281889%E2%80%931958%29.svg\/220px-Flag_of_Trinidad_and_Tobago_%281889%E2%80%931958%29.svg.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Early 20th Century:<\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/b\/bd\/Stamps_of_Trinidad_and_Tobago.jpg\/220px-Stamps_of_Trinidad_and_Tobago.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/4\/42\/Waller_AFB_mess_hall_sign.jpg\/220px-Waller_AFB_mess_hall_sign.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Contemporary Era:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/e\/ee\/Eric_Williams_%28cropped%29.jpg\/104px-Eric_Williams_%28cropped%29.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2022\/01\/Kamla-Persad-Bissessar-213x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/01\/Td-map.gif\/280px-Td-map.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/8\/83\/Trinidad_Topography.png\/280px-Trinidad_Topography.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n