Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. The island lies off the northeastern coast of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmost island in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. With an area of , it is also the List of Caribbean islands by area, fifth largest in the West Indies.

Name

The original name for the island in the Arawak language, Arawaks' language was which meant "Land of the Hummingbird". Christopher Columbus renamed it ('The Island of the Holy Trinity, Trinity'), fulfilling a vow he had made before setting out on his third voyage. This has since been shortened to ''Trinidad''.

History

Island Caribs, Caribs and Arawaks lived in Trinidad long before Christopher Columbus encountered the islands on his third voyage on 31 July 1498. The island remained Spanish until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists from the French Caribbean, especially Martinique.Besson, Gerard (2000-08-27). "Land of Beginnings – A historical digest", ''Newsday Newspaper''. In 1889 the two islands became a single British Crown colony. Trinidad and Tobago was granted self-governance in 1958 and independence from the United Kingdom in August 1962. and eventually became a republic on August 1976.

Geography

Major landforms include the hills of the Northern Range, Northern, Central Range, Trinidad and Tobago, Central and Southern Ranges (Dinah ranges), the Caroni Swamp, Caroni, Nariva Swamp, Nariva and Oropouche Swamps, and the Caroni and Naparima Plains. List of rivers of Trinidad and Tobago, Major river systems include the Caroni River (Trinidad and Tobago), Caroni, North and South Oropouche and Ortoire Rivers. There are many other natural landforms such as beaches and waterfalls. Trinidad has two seasons per the calendar year: the rainy season and the dry season. El Cerro del Aripo, at 940 metres (3,084 ft), is the highest point in Trinidad. It is part of the Aripo Massif and is located in the Northern Range on the island, northeast of the town of Arima.

Demographics

As of the 2011 Trinidad and Tobago Census, the population was 35.43% Indo-Trinidadian, Indian, 34.22% Afro-Trinidadian, African, 7.66% mixed African and East Indian, and 15.16% Multiracial, other mixed. Venezuela has also had a great impact on Trinidad's culture, such as introducing the music style parang to the island. Many groups overlap. For example, a "Dougla" is a person of African and East Indian descent who may identify as being part of either group.

Culture

There are multiple festivals featuring the music of the Caribbean and the steelpan, which originated in Trinidad and is the country's national instrument. These festivals include the world-renowned Carnival, J'ouvert, and Panorama, the national steel pan competition. Trinidad also has many Public holidays in Trinidad and Tobago, public holidays, such as Indian Arrival Day, Emancipation Day, Independence Day, Republic Day, Labour Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day, Divali, Holi, Phagwah, Eid al-Fitr, Corpus Christi (feast), Corpus Christi, Good Friday, Easter, Easter Monday, Christmas, and Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day. Places of cultural significance include Mount Saint Benedict and the Temple in the Sea.

Zoology

The island of Trinidad has a rich biodiversity. The fauna is overwhelmingly of South American origin. There are about 100 species of mammals including the Guyanese red howler monkey, the collared peccary, the red brocket deer, the ocelot and about 70 species of bats. There are over 400 species of birds including the endemic Trinidad piping-guan. Reptiles are well represented, with about 92 recorded species including the largest species of snake in the world, the green anaconda, the spectacled caiman, and one of the largest lizards in the Americas, the green iguana. Trinidad is also the largest leatherback turtle nesting site in the western hemisphere; they nest on Trinidad's eastern and northern beaches. There are 37 recorded frog species, including the tiny El Tucuche golden tree frog, Mannophryne trinitatis, Trinidad poison frog, and the more widespread huge marine toad, cane toad. About 43 species of freshwater fish are known from Trinidad, including the well known guppy. It is estimated that there are at least 80,000 arthropods, and at least List of butterflies of Trinidad and Tobago, 600 species of butterflies. The William Beebe Tropical Research Station (founded by William Beebe), also known as Simla, lies north of Arima.

Economy

The economy of Trinidad and Tobago is diversified, based to a large extent on oil and natural gas. It is one of the leading gas-based export centers in the world, being one of the top five exporters of liquefied natural gas and the largest onshore natural gas well was recently discovered in southern Trinidad. This has allowed Trinidad to capitalize on the biggest mineral reserves within its territories. It is an list of countries by proven oil reserves, oil-rich country and stable economically.

Geology

The Venezuela Tertiary Structural basin, Basin is a Tectonic subsidence, subsidence basin formed between the Caribbean and South American Plate Tectonics, plates, and is bounded on the north by the coast Mountain range, ranges of Venezuela and the Northern Range of Trinidad, and bounded on the south by the Guayana Shield. This Guayana shield supplied fine-grained Clastic rock, clastic sediments, which with the subsidence, formed a regional negative gravity anomaly and growth fault (geology), faults.Bane & Chanpong, p. 387. Oil and gas discoveries from the Pliocene Moruga Group (stratigraphy), Group include Teak (1968), Samaan (1971), Poui (1972) and Galeota.Woodside, P.R., The Petroleum Geology of Trinidad and Tobago, 1981, USGS Report 81-660, Washington: US Dept. of the Interior, pp. 2 and 25 These fields are mainly faulted anticline Structural trap, traps producing from depths of subsea, with Teak possessing a hydrocarbon column almost thick. The Northern Range is an Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous range of metamorphic rocks strike and dip, striking east and dipping south. The range's southern boundary is marked by a fault (geology), fault extending from the El Pilar Fault System in Venezuela. South of this fault is the Northern Basin, or Caroni Syncline, consisting of Tertiary sedimentary rocks unconformably overlying Jurassic and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks. South of this basin is the Central Range, consisting of Upper Tertiary sedimentary rocks lying unconformably atop Lower Eocene and Paleocene rocks. South of this range is the Naparima Plain, a fold and thrust belt, thrust belt of Oligocene and Lower Tertiary beds. Hydrocarbon bearing anticlines include those associated with Pitch Lake, Forest Reserve, Point Fortin, Penal, Barrackpore, and Balata Fields. The Los Bajos Fault is a wrench fault, with Lower Pliocene displacement of 6.51 miles, bordered on the north by the Siparia syncline, and on the south by the Erin syncline. Finally, the Southern Range consists of anticlinal folds, including the Rock Dome-Herrera anticline and the Moruga-West Field. East of this Rock Dome are en echelon folds containing the Lizard Springs Field. South of these folds is another fold trend containing the Moruga-East, Guayaguayare, Beach, and Galeota Fields. South of the Morne Diablo-Quinam Erin Field westward is a strongly folded anticline associated with shale diapirism, which extends west southwestward to the Pedernales Field in southeast Venezuela. The northeast portion of the Southern Range separates into a northern trend containing the Lizard Springs, Navette, and Mayaro Fields, while the southern trend contains the Beach Field.

Recreation

Trinidad is considered one of the best places in the world to catch Atlantic tarpon.

References

Sources

* Bane, S.C., and Chanpong, R.R. (1980) "Geology and Development of the Teak Oil Field, Trinidad, West Indies", in ''Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade: 1968–1978'', AAPG Memoir 30, Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, .

External links

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Gotrinidadandtobago.com: Trinidad and Tobago tourism website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trinidad Trinidad (island), 01 Islands of Trinidad and Tobago Windward Islands Former Spanish colonies Spanish West Indies 1530 establishments in the Spanish West Indies 1797 disestablishments in the Spanish West Indies 1797 establishments in the British Empire