Mayaro is the name of a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

on southeastern

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

island, in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

History

The "Mayaro District" was the first area of settlement on the east coast. Many estates were granted to French planters who settled

in the late 18th century. No roads crossed the island and the area was only accessible by steamer until the late 19th century.

Geography

The name Mayaro is applied to several villages along the coast. The

of Mayaro occupies a large area of southeastern Trinidad, but the name is usually only applied to the coastal strip. County Mayaro is divided into two wards: Trinity and Guayaguayare. Along this strip a number of villages exist to which the name Mayaro is generally applied. From north to south these are: Kernaham/Cascadou, Ortoire, St. Joseph, Beau Sejour, Plaisance, Pierreville, Beaumont, St. Ann's, Radix, Ste. Marguerite, Lagon Doux, Grand Lagoon and Lagon Palmiste. Beyond that are several small villages and then the town of Guayaguayare. Mayaro falls under the jurisdiction of the Rio Claro–Mayaro Regional Corporation. Until 1990 it was administered together with the neighbouring county of Nariva by the Nariva–Mayaro County Council.

Economy

Mayaro is also associated with oil production - most of Trinidad's oil and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

production comes from offshore oil fields to the east of Mayaro. The major producer is BP Trinidad & Tobago (bpTT), together with BHP. Onshore oil production is under the control of Petrotrin, although a considerable area has been farmed out to small independent oil producers.

Politics

Mayaro is covered by the Mayaro parliamentary constituency for elections to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

References

* Anthony, Michael. 2002
Where's Mayaro?
''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'', 14 July 2002.

External links