TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 5,130 km2; land area: 5,130 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Delaware
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 362 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: outer edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to December)
Terrain: mostly plains with some hills and low mountains
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, asphalt
Land use: arable land 14%; permanent crops 17%; meadows and
pastures 2%; forest and woodland 44%; other 23%; includes irrigated
4%
Environment: outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical
storms
Note: located 11 km from Venezuela
PEOPLE
Population: 1,285,297 (July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)
Birth rate: 21 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 18 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 73 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 2.4 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s);
adjective--Trinidadian, Tobagonian
Ethnic divisions: black 43%, East Indian 40%, mixed 14%, white 1%,
Chinese 1%, other 1%
Religion: Roman Catholic 32.2%, Hindu 24.3%, Anglican 14.4%,
other Protestant 14%, Muslim 6%, none or unknown 9.1%
Language: English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish
Literacy: 95% (male 97%, female 93%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1980)
Labor force: 463,900; construction and utilities 18.1%;
manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 14.8%; agriculture 10.9%;
other 56.2% (1985 est.)
Organized labor: 22% of labor force (1988)
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Port-of-Spain
Administrative divisions: 8 counties, 3 municipalities*, and
1 ward**; Arima*, Caroni, Mayaro, Nariva, Port-of-Spain*, Saint Andrew,
Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick, San Fernando*, Tobago**,
Victoria
Independence: 31 August 1962 (from UK)
Constitution: 31 August 1976
Legal system: based on English common law; judicial review of
legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 31 August (1962)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper
house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Noor Mohammed HASSANALI (since 18 March
1987);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Arthur Napoleon Raymond ROBINSON
(since 18 December 1986)
Political parties and leaders:
National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), A. N. R. ROBINSON;
People's National Movement (PNM), Patrick MANNING;
United National Congress (UNC), Basdeo PANDAY;
Movement for Social Transformation (MOTION), David ABDULLAH
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
House of Representatives--last held 15 December 1986 (next to be
held by December 1991);
results--NAR 66%, PNM 32%, other 2%;
seats--(36 total) NAR 33, PNM 3; note--in 1989 six members
were expelled from the NAR and formed the UNC, while retaining
their parliamentary seats; as a result seats held are NAR 27,
UNC 6, PNM 3
Communists: Communist Party of Trinidad and Tobago; Trinidad and
Tobago Peace Council, James MILLETTE
Other political pressure groups: National Joint Action Committee
(NJAC), radical antigovernment black-identity organization; Trinidad and
Tobago Peace Council, leftist organization affiliated with the World
Peace Council; Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce;
Trinidad and Tobago Labor Congress, moderate labor federation; Council of
Progressive Trade Unions, radical labor federation
Member of: ACP, C, CARICOM, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-24, G-77, GATT,
IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, LORCS, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Angus Albert KHAN; Chancery
at 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone
(202) 467-6490; Trinidad and Tobago has a Consulate General in New York;
US--Ambassador Charles A. GARGANO; Embassy at 15 Queen's Park West,
Port-of-Spain (mailing address is P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain);
telephone (809) 622-6372 through 6376, 6176
Flag: red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper
hoist side
ECONOMY
Overview: Trinidad and Tobago's petroleum-based economy began to
emerge from a lengthy depression in 1990. The economy fell sharply
through most of the 1980s, largely because of the decline in oil prices.
This sector accounts for 80% of export earnings and more than 25% of
GDP. The government, in response to the oil revenue loss, pursued a
series of austerity measures that pushed the unemployment rate as high
as 22% in 1988. The economy showed signs of recovery in 1990, however,
helped along by rising oil prices. Agriculture employs only about 11% of
the labor force and produces about 3% of GDP. Since this sector is
small, it has been unable to absorb the large numbers of the unemployed.
The government currently seeks to diversify its export base.
GDP: $4.05 billion, per capita $3,363; real growth rate - 3.7%
(1989)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.4% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 20% (1990)
Budget: revenues $1.5 billion; expenditures $1.7 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1991 est.)
Exports: $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--includes reexports--petroleum and petroleum products
82%, steel products 9%, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus (1988);
partners--US 53%, CARICOM 16%, EC 10%, Latin America 3% (1989)
Imports: $1.3 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--raw materials and intermediate goods 47%, capital
goods 26%, consumer goods 26% (1988);
partners--US 51%, Latin America 10%, UK 8%, Canada 5%,
CARICOM 6% (1989)
External debt: $2.5 billion (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 5.2%, excluding oil refining
(1986); accounts for 30% of GDP, including petroleum
Electricity: 1,176,000 kW capacity; 3,468 million kWh produced,
2,730 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement,
beverage, cotton textiles
Agriculture: highly subsidized sector; major crops--cocoa and
sugarcane; sugarcane acreage is being shifted into rice, citrus, coffee,
vegetables; poultry sector most important source of animal protein; must
import large share of food needs
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $373
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $443 million
Currency: Trinidad and Tobago dollar (plural--dollars);
1 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TT$) per US$1--4.2500
(January 1991), 4.2500 (1990), 4.2500 (1989), 3.8438 (1988), 3.6000
(1987), 3.6000 (1986), 2.4500 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: minimal agricultural system near San Fernando
Highways: 8,000 km total; 4,000 km paved, 1,000 km improved earth,
3,000 km unimproved earth
Pipelines: 1,032 km crude oil; 19 km refined products; 904 km
natural gas
Ports: Port-of-Spain, Point Lisas, Pointe-a-Pierre
Civil air: 14 major transport aircraft
Airports: 6 total, 5 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: excellent international service via
tropospheric scatter links to Barbados and Guyana; good local service;
109,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, 4 FM, 5 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT earth station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force (Army), Coast Guard,
Air Wing, Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 339,260; 245,086 fit for
military service
Defense expenditures: $59 million, 1.6% of GDP (1989 est.)