Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago is the southernmost archipelagic country in the Caribbean, comprising the two main islands of Trinidad and Tobago plus smaller islets, lying six nautical miles north to northeast of Venezuela, about 70 nautical miles south of Grenada and 155 nautical miles southwest of Barbados, and covering 5,131 square kilometers. Port of Spain is the capital, though Chaguanas is the largest municipality, and the country's population was estimated at about 1.51 million in 2025. Indigenous peoples inhabited the islands for centuries before Spanish colonization following Columbus's 1498 arrival; British forces captured Trinidad in 1797, both islands were formally ceded to Britain in 1802, and the two were unified as a single colony in 1889, gaining independence on 31 August 1962 and becoming a republic in 1976. Trinidad and Tobago is a unitary parliamentary republic, with President Christine Kangaloo and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar leading a bicameral Parliament. Unlike most of its Caribbean neighbors, the country's economy is primarily industrial, built on large reserves of oil and gas, and it is internationally known for its African and Indian Caribbean cultures, its Carnival celebrations, and as the birthplace of steelpan music and calypso.