Oil discovery, slaves helped Trinidad and Tobago develop
Nov 19, 2007
WHEN Trinidad was explored by Columbus in 1498, it was inhabited by the Arawaks; Carib Indians inhabited Tobago. Trinidad remained in Spanish possession, despite raids by other European nations, until it was ceded to Britain in 1802.
Brief history of Trinidad
and Tobago
WHEN Trinidad was explored by Columbus in 1498, it was inhabited by the Arawaks; Carib Indians inhabited Tobago. Trinidad remained in Spanish possession, despite raids by other European nations, until it was ceded to Britain in 1802.
Tobago passed between Britain and France several times, but it was ultimately given to Britain in 1814.
Slavery was abolished in 1834. Between 1845 and 1917, thousands of indentured workers were brought from India to work on sugarcane plantations, which boosted sugar production as well as the cocoa industry.
The discovery of oil on Trinidad in 1910 added another important export. In 1889 Trinidad and Tobago were made a single colony. Independence was attained in 1962.
Trinidad, named Iere (probably meaning ‘humming bird’) by the Arawak inhabitants, was claimed for the Spanish Crown by Christopher Columbus in 1498.
The embattled Spanish colony which developed was raided by the English, Dutch and French through the 17th century.
Large-scale importation of African slaves enabled a plantation economy to develop.
French Haitians (who were offered incentives by the Spanish Crown) swelled the settler population. Tobago’s name derives from the Carib word ‘Tavaco’, the pipe in which the Amerindians smoked tobacco leaves, and was inhabited by Caribs at the time of Columbus’s visit.
These people had all been killed by 1632 when 300 Dutch settlers arrived. Tobago changed hands more frequently between 1650 and 1814 than any other Caribbean territory: ownership shifting from a settler (Cornelius Lampsius, declared owner and Baron of Tobago by Louis XIV of France) to the Duke of Courland, to a company of London merchants, to neutral status in 1748, to the English Crown by the Treaty of Paris of 1763.
Geography
The country, the most southerly of the West Indian island states, situated 11.2km off the Venezuelan coast, consists of two islands, Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago lie in the Caribbean Sea with mountains in the north that reach a height of 3,085 ft (940 m) at Mount Aripo. Tobago, at just 116 sq mi (300 sq km), is heavily forested with hardwood trees.
The people
The population is of about 40% African and 41% Indian descent, with smaller numbers of people of European, Latin American and Chinese descent. About 51,000 people live on Tobago; 76% of the whole population lives in urban areas. However, growth has been reduced by emigration to 1.1% p.a. 1970–90 and 0.5% p.a. 1990–2004. English is the official and national language.
There are also English, French and Spanish-based Creoles. Indian languages including Hindi are also spoken.
Did you know?
-Trinidad and Tobago is one of the wealthiest countries in the Caribbean, thanks to its large reserves of oil and gas, the exploitation of which dominates its economy.
-Inhabited mostly by people of African and Indian descent, the two-island state enjoys a per capita income well above the average for Latin America.
-Natural gas – much of it exported to the US – is expected to overtake oil as its main source of revenue.
Compiled by Elizabeth Agiro
and Tobago
WHEN Trinidad was explored by Columbus in 1498, it was inhabited by the Arawaks; Carib Indians inhabited Tobago. Trinidad remained in Spanish possession, despite raids by other European nations, until it was ceded to Britain in 1802.
Tobago passed between Britain and France several times, but it was ultimately given to Britain in 1814.
Slavery was abolished in 1834. Between 1845 and 1917, thousands of indentured workers were brought from India to work on sugarcane plantations, which boosted sugar production as well as the cocoa industry.
The discovery of oil on Trinidad in 1910 added another important export. In 1889 Trinidad and Tobago were made a single colony. Independence was attained in 1962.
Trinidad, named Iere (probably meaning ‘humming bird’) by the Arawak inhabitants, was claimed for the Spanish Crown by Christopher Columbus in 1498.
The embattled Spanish colony which developed was raided by the English, Dutch and French through the 17th century.
Large-scale importation of African slaves enabled a plantation economy to develop.
French Haitians (who were offered incentives by the Spanish Crown) swelled the settler population. Tobago’s name derives from the Carib word ‘Tavaco’, the pipe in which the Amerindians smoked tobacco leaves, and was inhabited by Caribs at the time of Columbus’s visit.
These people had all been killed by 1632 when 300 Dutch settlers arrived. Tobago changed hands more frequently between 1650 and 1814 than any other Caribbean territory: ownership shifting from a settler (Cornelius Lampsius, declared owner and Baron of Tobago by Louis XIV of France) to the Duke of Courland, to a company of London merchants, to neutral status in 1748, to the English Crown by the Treaty of Paris of 1763.
Geography
The country, the most southerly of the West Indian island states, situated 11.2km off the Venezuelan coast, consists of two islands, Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago lie in the Caribbean Sea with mountains in the north that reach a height of 3,085 ft (940 m) at Mount Aripo. Tobago, at just 116 sq mi (300 sq km), is heavily forested with hardwood trees.
The people
The population is of about 40% African and 41% Indian descent, with smaller numbers of people of European, Latin American and Chinese descent. About 51,000 people live on Tobago; 76% of the whole population lives in urban areas. However, growth has been reduced by emigration to 1.1% p.a. 1970–90 and 0.5% p.a. 1990–2004. English is the official and national language.
There are also English, French and Spanish-based Creoles. Indian languages including Hindi are also spoken.
Did you know?
-Trinidad and Tobago is one of the wealthiest countries in the Caribbean, thanks to its large reserves of oil and gas, the exploitation of which dominates its economy.
-Inhabited mostly by people of African and Indian descent, the two-island state enjoys a per capita income well above the average for Latin America.
-Natural gas – much of it exported to the US – is expected to overtake oil as its main source of revenue.
Compiled by Elizabeth Agiro