Simple directory > Regional > Trinidad and Tobago

Country : Trinidad and Tobago Official name: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Head of State: President Maxwell Richards (inaugurated 17 Mar 2003) Head of government: Prime Minister Patrick Manning (PNM) (since Dec 2001) Ruling party: People's National Movement (PNM) Area: 5,128 square km Population: 1.30 million (2004) Capital: Port-of-Spain Official language: English Currency: Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT$) = 100 cents Exchange rate: TT$6.23 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$7,355 (2003) GDP real growth: 6.70% (2003) Labour force: 564,000 (2003) Unemployment: 10.20% (2003) Inflation: 3.70% (2003) Oil production: 163,000 bpd (2003) Balance of trade: US$1.33 billion (2003) Foreign debt: US$2.80 billion (2003)

Historical profile

1498 Trinidad was sighted by a Spanish expedition led by Christopher Columbus.

1532 The island was colonised by the Spanish.

1595 Spanish colonisers were defeated by an English fleet under Sir Walter Raleigh.

1630s The Dutch settled on Tobago and created sugar plantations.

1763 Trinidad was occupied by France, with Spanish consent.

1781 The French seized Tobago.

1797 Trinidad was seized by the British during the Napoleonic wars.

1802 Trinidad was officially transferred to British sovereignty.

1814 Tobago became a British colony of the Windward Island group.

1834 Slavery was abolished and indentured workers were brought in from India to work on the sugar plantations.

1889 Tobago was amalgamated with Trinidad and together the islands became a unified British colony.

1945 Universal suffrage was granted.

1956 Eric Williams founded the People's National Movement (PNM).

1958 Trinidad and Tobago became part of the British-sponsored West Indies Federation.

1959 Britain gave Trinidad and Tobago internal self-government with Williams as prime minister.

1962 When Jamaica opted to leave the Federation, Trinidad and Tobago followed, becoming independent within the Commonwealth.

1967 Trinidad and Tobago joined the Organisation of American States (OAS).

1968 Anglophone Caribbean states, including Trinidad and Tobago, formed the Caribbean Free Trade Area (Carifta), which became the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) in 1973.

1970 A state of emergency was declared after the army mutinied against the minority East Indian population.

1972 The state of emergency was lifted.

1976 On 1 August, Trinidad and Tobago became a republic within the Commonwealth. The PNM won the September parliamentary elections. Ellis Clarke, previously the governor general, was sworn in as the country's first president in December and Eric Williams became prime minister.

1981 Williams died and George Chambers became prime minister.

1986 The PNM lost power – its first defeat since 1957 – as the Tobago-based National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), headed by Arthur Robinson, won a decisive victory.

1987 Noor Hassanali became president.

1990 More than 100 Islamic extremists staged an uprising, blowing up the police headquarters, seizing parliament and holding Prime Minister Robinson and several senior officials hostage. The coup attempt was short-lived.

1991 The NAR lost the December general election to the PNM. Patrick Manning became prime minister.

1995 The South Asian-dominated United National Congress (UNC) won the largest number of seats at the general election and formed a coalition government with the support of the NAR. Basdeo Panday became prime minister.

1999 Trinidad and Tobago restored the death sentence.

2000 The ruling UNC won the general election.

2001 Parliament was dissolved in October when the prime minister demanded new elections for 10 December after the UNC lost its majority. The UNC and the PNM each won 18 seats in the election and held talks on forming a coalition, agreeing to accept President Robinson's nomination for prime minister. Patrick Manning (PNM) was sworn in as prime minister on 24 December. However, Basdeo Panday, the former prime minister, scrapped the agreement, politically paralysing the country.

2002 Prime Minister Patrick Manning's PNM won the parliamentary elections.

2003 On 14 February, parliament elected Maxwell Richards as president; he was inaugurated on 17 March. Anne Green was elected chief islander in November.

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