Trinidad

For other uses, see Trinidad (disambiguation).
Trinidad
Nickname: Land of the Hummingbird

Map of Trinidad and Tobago
Location of Trinidad in the Lesser Antilles
Geography
Location Windward Islands
Coordinates 10°27′38″N 61°14′55″W / 10.46056°N 61.24861°WCoordinates: 10°27′38″N 61°14′55″W / 10.46056°N 61.24861°W
Area 4,748 km2 (1,833 sq mi)
Highest elevation 940 m (3,080 ft)
Highest point El Cerro del Aripo
Country
Island Trinidad
Largest settlement Chaguanas (pop. 100,000)
Demographics
Population 1,300,000
Density 262.7 /km2 (680.4 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups Black, White, Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic
Additional information

Time zone: GMT −4 (Trinidad does not observe DST)

Common languages: English, English-patois
Trinidad and Tobago on a world map

Trinidad (Spanish: "Trinity") is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies just 11 km (6.8 mi) off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. Though part of the South American continent, from a socio-economic standpoint it is often referred to as the southernmost island in the Caribbean. With an area of 4,768 km2 (1,841 sq mi) it is also the fifth largest in the West Indies.

Many believe the original name for the island in the Arawaks' language was "Iëre" which meant "Land of the Humming Bird". Some believe that "Iere" was actually a mispronunciation or corruption by early colonists of the Arawak word "Kairi" which simply means "Island". Christopher Columbus renamed it "La Isla de la Trinidad" ("The Island of the Trinity"), fulfilling a vow he had made before setting out on his third voyage of exploration.[1]

History

Caribs and Arawaks lived in Trinidad long before Columbus encountered the islands on his third voyage in 1498. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands. Trinidad remained Spanish until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists from the French Caribbean, especially Martinique.[2] In 1889 the two islands became a single crown colony. Trinidad and Tobago obtained self-governance in 1958 and independence from the British Empire in 1962.[3]

Geography

Major landforms include the hills of the Northern, Central and Southern Ranges (Dinah ranges), the Caroni, Nariva and Oropouche Swamps, and the Caroni and Naparima Plains. Major river systems include the Caroni, North and South Oropouche and Ortoire Rivers. There are many other natural landforms such as beaches and waterfalls. Trinidad has two seasons per calendar year, the rainy season and the dry season.

Food

Trinidad is popular for its savory food options. The food is diverse breakfasts, cultural and traditional in many cases. It is influenced by many different styles, such as East Indian, Spanish, African, Chinese and more. Over time it has been adapted and changed to what is known as Trinidadian food today. The most popular Trinidadian dishes include pelau (rice, vegetables and sometimes meat cooked together), doubles (an East Indian delicacy), roti, callaloo, fried bake and shark and crab and dumplings.

Culture

Diversity is the status quo in Trinidad and Tobago. It is sometimes known as a "rainbow island" or more fondly "a callaloo" (local dialect for a delicious dish prepared by blending a variety of ingredients). There is a wide range of ethnicity, religion, and culture. As of the 2012 Trinidad and Tobago Census,the population was 39.5%" African "Afro-Trinidadian" 29.5% East Indian "Indo-Trinidadian, 23% mixed and 8% Other " Venezuela has also had a great impact on Trinidad's culture, such as introducing the music style parang to the island. Many of these groups overlap heavily due to admixture, for example "Dougla" is a common term used to describe a person which is of African and East Indian descent but may self-identify as either group.[4][5][6] Trinidad religion primarily centers round Roman Catholic, Christian, Anglican, Hindu and Muslim faiths. Roman Catholicism constitutes the largest religion denomination of the country. Some of the more popular religious festivals are the Santa Rosa Festival, Christmas, Easter, Divali and Phagwa. There are also multiple festivals that are based around the music of the Caribbean and the steel pan, which originated in Trinidad and is the country's national instrument. These festivals include the world famous Carnival, J'ouvert, and Panorama, the national steel pan competition. There are also places that can be visited that hold cultural significance, such as Mount Saint Benedict and the Temple in the Sea.

Zoology

Internal waves around northern Trinidad, as seen from space

The island of Trinidad has a wide biodiversity of both plant and animal species that are unique to the island. Native animals include the Black Tailed Tree Boala, Red sprocket Deer, Collared Peckcary, Red Howler Monkey and Ocelot. Trinidad has a rich avifauna, including a single endemic species, the Trinidad Piping-Guan.

Economy

It is an industrial island with a diversified economy, based to a large extent on oil, natural gas, industry and agriculture. It is one of the leading gas-based export centres in the world, being the leading exporter of ammonia and methanol and among the top five exporters of liquefied natural gas. This has allowed Trinidad to capitalise on the biggest mineral reserves within its territories. It is an oil-rich country and stable economically.

Geology

Regional Geology of Trinidad and Venezuela[7]

The Venezuela Tertiary Basin is a subsidence basin formed between the Caribbean and South American plates, and is bounded on the north by the coast ranges of Venezuela and the Northern Range of Trinidad, and bounded on the south by the Guayana shield.[8] This Guayana shield supplied fine-grained clastic sediments, which with the subsidence, formed a regional negative gravity anomaly and growth faults.[9] Oil and gas discoveries from the Pliocene Moruga Group include Teak (1968), Samaan (1971), Poui (1972) and Galeota.[10] These fields are mainly faulted anticline traps producing from depths of 1.2 km to 4.2 km subsea, with Teak possessing a hydrocarbon column almost 1 km thick.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hart, Marie (1972) [1965]. The New Trinidad and Tobago: A Descriptive Account of the Geography and History of Trinidad and Tobago. London and Glasgow: Collins. p. 13.
  2. ↑ Besson, Gerard (2000-08-27). "Land of Beginnings – A historical digest", Newsday Newspaper.
  3. ↑ "Railroad Map of Trinidad". World Digital Library. 1925. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  4. ↑ Race Relations in Colonial Trinidad 1870-1900
  5. ↑ Trinidad French Creole
  6. ↑ Estimates of African, European and Native American Ancestry in Afro-Caribbean Men .
  7. ↑ Woodside, P.R., The Petroleum Geology of Trinidad and Tobago, 1981, USGS Report 81-660, Washington: US Dept. of the Interior, p. 4a
  8. ↑ Bane, S.C., and Chanpong, R.R., 1980, Geology and Development of the Teak Oil Field, Trinidad, West Indies, in Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade: 1968-1978, AAPG Memoir 30, Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, ISBN 0891813063, p. 392
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Bane, S.C., and Chanpong, R.R., 1980, Geology and Development of the Teak Oil Field, Trinidad, West Indies, in Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade: 1968-1978, AAPG Memoir 30, Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, ISBN 0891813063, p. 387
  10. ↑ Woodside, P.R., The Petroleum Geology of Trinidad and Tobago, 1981, USGS Report 81-660, Washington: US Dept. of the Interior, pp. 2 and 25

External links

Look up trinidad in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.