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Introduction Trinidad and Tobago
Background:
 islands came under British control in 19th century; independence previously granted in 1962. country is one of most prosperous in Caribbean, thanks largely to petroleum and natural gas production and processing. Tourism, mostly in Tobago, is targeted for expansion and is growing.
Geography Trinidad and Tobago
Location:
 Caribbean, islands between Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela
Geographic coordinates:
 11 00 N, 61 00 W
Map references:
 Central America and Caribbean
Area:
 total: 5,128 sq km
land: 5,128 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
 slightly smaller than Delaware
Land boundaries:
 0 km
Coastline:
 362 km
Maritime claims:
 measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to outer edge of continental margin
contiguous zone: 24 NM
Climate:
 tropical; rainy season (June to December)
Terrain:
 mostly plains with some hills and low mountains
Elevation extremes:
 lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: El Cerro del Aripo 940 m
Natural resources:
 petroleum, natural gas, asphalt
Land use:
 arable land: 14.62%
permanent crops: 9.16%
other: 76.22% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
 30 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
 outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms
Environment - current issues:
 water pollution from agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; oil pollution of beaches; deforestation; soil erosion
Environment - international agreements:
 party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of selected agreements
Geography - note:
 Pitch Lake, on Trinidad's southwestern coast, is world's largest natural reservoir of asphalt
People Trinidad and Tobago
Total Population:
 1,104,209 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
 0-14 years: 22.2% (male 125,470; female 119,270)
15-64 years: 70% (male 402,137; female 370,600)
65 years and over: 7.9% (male 38,928; female 47,804) (2003 est.)
Median age:
 total: 29.9 years
male: 29.5 years
female: 30.4 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
 -0.68% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
 12.74 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
 8.71 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate:
 -10.79 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Sex ratio:
 at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.09 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
Population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
 total: 24.97 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 22.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 26.93 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy:
 Population: 69.59 years
male: 67.07 years
female: 72.23 years (2003 est.)
Total fertility rate:
 1.78 children born/woman (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
 2.5% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
 17,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
 1,200 (2001 est.)
Nationality:
 noun: Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s)
adjective: Trinidadian, Tobagonian
Ethnic groups:
 black 39.5%, East Indian (a local term - primarily immigrants from northern India) 40.3%, mixed 18.4%, white 0.6%, Chinese and other 1.2%
Religions:
 Roman Catholic 29.4%, Hindu 23.8%, Anglican 10.9%, Muslim 5.8%, Presbyterian 3.4%, other 26.7%
Languages:
 English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish, Chinese
Literacy:
 definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Population: 98.6%
male: 99.1%
female: 98% (2003 est.)
Government Trinidad and Tobago
Country name:
 conventional long form: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
conventional short form: Trinidad and Tobago
Government type:
 parliamentary democracy
Capital:
 Port-of-Spain
Administrative divisions:
 8 counties, 3 municipalities*, and 1 ward**; Arima*, Caroni, Mayaro, Nariva, Port-of-Spain*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick, San Fernando*, Tobago**, Victoria
Independence:
 31 August 1962 (from UK)
National holiday:
 Independence Day, 31 August (1962)
Constitution:
 1 August 1976
Legal system:
 based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
 chief of state: President George Maxwell RICHARDS (since 17 March 2003)
head of government: Prime Minister Patrick MANNING (since 24 December 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed from among members of Parliament
elections: president elected by an electoral college, which consists of members of Senate and House of Representatives, for a five-year term; election last held 14 February 2003 (next to be held NA 2008); president usually appoints as prime minister leader of majority party in House of Representatives
election results: George Maxwell RICHARDS elected president; percent of electoral college vote - 43%
Legislative branch:
 bicameral Parliament consists of Senate (31 seats; members appointed by president for a maximum term of five years) and House of Representatives (36 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held 7 October 2002 (next to be held by October 2007)
note: Tobago has a unicameral House of Assembly, with 15 members serving four-year terms
election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote - PNM 55.5%, UNC 44.5%; seats by party - PNM 20, UNC 16
Judicial branch:
 Supreme Court of Judicature (comprised of High Court of Justice and Court of Appeals; chief justice is appointed by president on advice of prime minister and leader of opposition; other justices are appointed by president on advice of Judicial and Legal Service Commission); High Court of Justice; Court of Appeals highest court of appeal is Privy Council in London
Political parties and leaders:
 National Alliance for Reconstruction or NAR [Hochoy CHARLES]; People's Empowerment Party or PEP [leader NA]; People's National Movement or PNM [Patrick MANNING]; Team Unity or TUN [Ramesh MAHARAJ]; United National Congress or UNC [Basdeo PANDAY]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
 Jamaat-al Musilmeen [Yasin BAKR]
International organization participation:
 ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-24, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission: Ambassador Marina Annette VALERE (as of February 2003)
chancery: 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
consulate(s) general: Miami and New York
FAX: [1] (202) 785-3130
telephone: [1] (202) 467-6490
Diplomatic representation from US:
 chief of mission: Ambassador Roy L. AUSTIN
embassy: 15 Queen's Park West, Port-of-Spain
mailing address: P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain
telephone: [1] (868) 622-6372 through 6376, 622-6176
FAX: [1] (868) 628-5462
Flag description:
 red with a white-edged black diagonal band from upper hoist side to lower fly side
Economy Trinidad and Tobago
Economy - overview:
 Trinidad and Tobago has earned a reputation as an excellent investment site for international businesses. A leading performer past four years has been booming natural gas sector. Tourism is a growing sector, although not proportionately as important as in many other Caribbean islands. economy benefits from low inflation and a trade surplus. year 2002 previously marked by solid growth in oil sector, offset in part by domestic political uncertainty.
GDP:
 buying power parity - $11.07 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
 3.2% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
 buying power parity - $10,000 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
 agriculture: 1.6%
industry: 43.2%
services: 55.2% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line:
 21% (1992 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
 lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
 4.3% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
 564,000 (2000)
Labor force - by occupation:
 construction and utilities 12.4%, manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 14%, agriculture 9.5%, services 64.1% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate:
 10.8% (2002)
Budget:
 revenues: $1.54 billion
expenditures: $1.6 billion, includes capital expenditures of $117.3 million (1998)
Industries:
 petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles
Industrial production growth rate:
 2.6% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
 5.315 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
 fossil fuel: 99.8%
hydro: 0%
other: 0.2% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
 4.943 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
 0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
 0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
 125,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
 24,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
 NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
 NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
 716 million bbl (37257)
Natural gas - production:
 15.19 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
 11.54 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
 3.65 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
 610.6 billion cu m (37257)
Agriculture - products:
 cocoa, sugarcane, rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; poultry
Exports:
 $4.2 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
 petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, steel products, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus, flowers
Exports - partners:
 US 56.9%, Jamaica 7.3%, France 4.4% (2002)
Imports:
 $3.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
 machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live animals
Imports - partners:
 US 42%, Cote d'Ivoire 5.5%, UK 5%, Japan 4.5%, Brazil 4.3% (2002)
Debt - external:
 $2.8 billion (2002 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
 $24 million (1999 est.)
Currency:
 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD)
Currency code:
 TTD
Exchange rates:
 Trinidad and Tobago dollars per US dollar - 6.24 (2002), 6.23 (2001), 6.3 (2000), 6.3 (1999), 6.3 (1998)
Fiscal year:
 1 October - 30 September
Communications Trinidad and Tobago
Telephones - main lines in use:
 252,000 (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
 17,411 (1997)
Telephone system:
 general assessment: excellent international service; good local service
domestic: NA
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Barbados and Guyana
Radio broadcast stations:
 AM 2, FM 12, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios:
 680,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
 4 (1997)
Televisions:
 425,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
 .tt
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
 17 (2000)
Internet users:
 120,000 (2002)
Transportation Trinidad and Tobago
Railways:
 minimal agricultural railroad system near San Fernando; common carrier railway service previously discontinued in 1968 (2001)
Highways:
 total: 8,320 km
paved: 4,252 km
unpaved: 4,068 km (1999 est.)
Waterways:
 none
Pipelines:
 condensate 253 km; gas 1,117 km; oil 478 km (2003)
Ports and harbors:
 Pointe-a-Pierre, Point Fortin, Point Lisas, Port-of-Spain, Scarborough, Tembladora
Merchant marine:
 total: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 7,032 GRT/5,106 DWT
ships by type: cargo 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 1, short-sea passenger 1
note: includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: US 1 (2002 est.)
Airports:
 6 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways:
 total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
 total: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 2 (2002)
Military Trinidad and Tobago
Military branches:
 Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force (including Ground Force, Coast Guard, and Air Wing), Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
Military manpower - availability:
 males age 15-49: 327,823 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
 males age 15-49: 233,488 (2003 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
 $90 million (1999)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
 1.4% (1999)
Transnational Issues Trinidad and Tobago
Disputes - international:
 none
Illicit drugs:
 transshipment point for South American drugs destined for US and Europe; producer of cannabis