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Small Business (BC),
Vancouver, Canada |
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Background: |
First colonized by the Spanish,
the islands came under British control in the early 19th century. The
islands` sugar industry was hurt by the emancipation of the slaves in
1834. Manpower was replaced with the importation of contract laborers from
India between 1845 and 1917, which boosted sugar production as well as the
cocoa industry. The discovery of oil on Trinidad in 1910 added another
important export. Independence was attained in 1962. The country is one of
the most prosperous in the Caribbean thanks largely to petroleum and
natural gas production and processing. Tourism, mostly in Tobago, is
targeted for expansion and is growing. The government is coping with a
rise in violent crime. |
|
Country name: |
conventional long form:
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
conventional short form:
Trinidad and Tobago |
|
Government type: |
parliamentary democracy |
|
Capital: |
name: Port-of-Spain
geographic coordinates: 10 39 N, 61 31 W
time
difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time) |
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Administrative divisions: |
9 regional corporations, 2 city
corporations, 3 borough corporations, 1 ward
regional
corporations: Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo, Diego Martin, Mayaro/Rio Claro,
Penal/Debe, Princes Town, Sangre Grande, San Juan/Laventille, Siparia,
Tunapuna/Piarco
city corporations: Port-of-Spain, San Fernando
borough corporations: Arima, Chaguanas, Point Fortin
ward: Tobago |
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Independence: |
31 August 1962 (from UK) |
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National holiday: |
Independence Day, 31 August
(1962) |
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Constitution: |
1 August 1976 |
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Legal system: |
based on English common law,
judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court, has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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Suffrage: |
18 years of age, universal
|
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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 the members of Parliament
elections: president elected by an electoral college, which
consists of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives, for a
five-year term (eligible for a second term), election last held on 11
February 2008 (next to be held by February 2013), the president usually
appoints as prime minister the leader of the majority party in the House
of Representatives
election results: George Maxwell RICHARDS
reelected president, percent of electoral college vote - NA |
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Legislative branch: |
bicameral Parliament consists
of the Senate (31 seats, 16 members appointed by the ruling party, nine by
the President, six by the opposition party to serve a maximum term of five
years) and the House of Representatives (41 seats, members are elected by
popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of
Representatives - last held on 5 November 2007 (next to be held in 2012)
election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote -
PNM 46%, UNC 29.7%, seats by party - PNM 26, UNC 15
note:
Tobago has a unicameral House of Assembly with 12 members serving
four-year terms, last election held in January 2005, seats by party - PNM
11, DAC 1 |
|
Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court of Judicature
(comprised of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeals, the
chief justice is appointed by the president after consultation with the
prime minister and the leader of the opposition, other justices are
appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service
Commission), High Court of Justice, Caribbean Court of Appeals member,
Court of Appeals, the highest court of appeal is the Privy Council in
London |
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Congress of the People [Winston
DOOKERAN], Democratic Action Congress or DAC [Hochoy CHARLES] (only active
in Tobago), Democratic National Alliance or DNA [Gerald YETMING]
(coalition of NAR, DDPT, MND), Movement for National Development or MND
[Garvin NICHOLAS], National Alliance for Reconstruction or NAR [Dr. Carson
CHARLES], People`s National Movement or PNM [Patrick MANNING], United
National Congress or UNC [Basdeo PANDAY] |
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Political pressure groups and leaders: |
Jamaat-al Muslimeen [Yasin
BAKR] |
|
International organization participation: |
ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO,
G-24, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS,
OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WTO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Marina Annette VALERE
chancery: 1708 Massachusetts
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone: [1] (202) 467-6490
FAX: [1] (202) 785-3130
consulate(s) general: Miami,
New York |
|
Diplomatic representation from the 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) 622-6371 through 6376
FAX: [1]
(868) 628-5462 |
|
Flag description: |
red with a white-edged black
diagonal band from the upper hoist side to the lower fly side
|
|
Economy - overview: |
Trinidad and Tobago has earned
a reputation as an excellent investment site for international businesses
and has one of the highest growth rates and per capita incomes in Latin
America. Recent growth has been fueled by investments in liquefied natural
gas (LNG), petrochemicals, and steel. Additional petrochemical, aluminum,
and plastics projects are in various stages of planning. Trinidad and
Tobago is the leading Caribbean producer of oil and gas, and its economy
is heavily dependent upon these resources but it also supplies
manufactured goods, notably food and beverages, as well as cement to the
Caribbean region. Oil and gas account for about 40% of GDP and 80% of
exports, but only 5% of employment. The country is also a regional
financial center, and tourism is a growing sector, although it is not
proportionately as important as in many other Caribbean islands. The
economy benefits from a growing trade surplus. Economic growth reached
12.6% in 2006 and 5.5% in 2007 as prices for oil, petrochemicals, and LNG
remained high, and as foreign direct investment continued to grow to
support expanded capacity in the energy sector. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity): |
$22.93 billion (2007 est.)
|
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GDP (official exchange rate): |
$14.15 billion (2007 est.)
|
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GDP - real growth rate: |
5.5% (2007 est.) |
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GDP - per capita (PPP): |
$21,700 (2007 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 0.6%
industry: 62%
services: 37.4% (2007 est.) |
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Labor force: |
615,400 (2007 est.) |
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Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture 4%, manufacturing,
mining, and quarrying 12.9%, construction and utilities 17.5%, services
65.6% (2006 est.) |
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Unemployment rate: |
6% (2007 est.) |
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Population below poverty line: |
17% (2007 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
7.6% (2007 est.) |
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Investment (gross fixed): |
23.5% of GDP (2007 est.) |
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Budget: |
revenues: $6.415 billion
expenditures: $6.214 billion (2007 est.) |
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Public debt: |
26.5% of GDP (2007 est.) |
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Agriculture - products: |
cocoa, rice, citrus, coffee,
vegetables, poultry |
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Industries: |
petroleum, chemicals, tourism,
food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles |
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Industrial production growth rate: |
8% (2007 est.) |
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Electricity - production: |
7.704 billion kWh (2007) |
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Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 99.8%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0.2% (2001)
|
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Electricity - consumption: |
7.083 billion kWh (2007) |
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Electricity - exports: |
0 kWh (2005) |
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Electricity - imports: |
0 kWh (2005) |
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Oil - production: |
120,000 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - consumption: |
24,770 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - exports: |
202,100 bbl/day (2004) |
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Oil - imports: |
91,780 bbl/day (2004) |
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Oil - proved reserves: |
605.8 million bbl (1 January
2007 est.) |
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Natural gas - production: |
39.92 billion cu m (2007 est.)
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Natural gas - consumption: |
37.29 billion cu m (2007 est.)
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Natural gas - exports: |
21.03 billion cu m (2007 est.)
|
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Natural gas - imports: |
0 cu m (2007) |
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Natural gas - proved reserves: |
702.8 billion cu m (1 January
2007 est.) |
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Current account balance: |
$3.884 billion (2007 est.)
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Exports: |
$14.13 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
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Exports - commodities: |
petroleum and petroleum
products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol, ammonia, urea, steel
products, beverages, cereal and cereal products, sugar, cocoa, coffee,
citrus fruit, vegetables, flowers |
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Exports - partners: |
US 59.8%, Spain 5.3%, Jamaica
5.2% (2006) |
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Imports: |
$6.477 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
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Imports - commodities: |
mineral fuels, lubricants,
machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live
animals, grain |
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Imports - partners: |
US 30.6%, Brazil 12%, Venezuela
6.8%, Gabon 4.7%, Colombia 4.6% (2006) |
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Economic aid - recipient: |
$200,000 (2007 est.) |
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$6.761 billion (31 December
2007 est.) |
|
Debt - external: |
$3.025 billion (31 December
2007 est.) |
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Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: |
$12.44 billion (2007) |
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Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: |
$1.419 billion (2007) |
|
Market value of publicly traded shares: |
$15.57 billion (2006) |
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Currency (code): |
Trinidad and Tobago dollar
(TTD) |
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Currency code: |
TTD |
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Exchange rates: |
Trinidad and Tobago dollars per
US dollar - 6.3275 (2007), 6.3107 (2006), 6.2842 (2005), 6.299 (2004),
6.2951 (2003) |
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Fiscal year: |
1 October - 30 September
|
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Telephones - main lines in use: |
325,500 (2006) |
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Telephones - mobile cellular: |
1.655 million (2006) |
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Telephone system: |
general assessment:
excellent international service, good local service
domestic:
mobile-cellular teledensity exceeds 150 telephones per 100 persons
international: country code - 1-868, submarine cable systems
provide connectivity to US and parts of the Caribbean and South America,
satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), tropospheric
scatter to Barbados and Guyana |
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 4, FM 18, shortwave 0 (2001)
|
|
Radios: |
680,000 (1997) |
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Television broadcast stations: |
6 (2005) |
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Televisions: |
425,000 (1997) |
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Internet country code: |
.tt |
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Internet hosts: |
24,681 (2007) |
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Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
17 (2000) |
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Internet users: |
163,000 (2005) |
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Airports: |
6 (2007) |
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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 (2007) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 3
914 to
1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
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Pipelines: |
condensate 245 km, gas 1,320
km, oil 563 km (2007) |
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Roadways: |
total: 8,320 km
paved: 4,252 km
unpaved: 4,068 km (1999) |
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Merchant marine: |
total: 9 ships (1000 GRT
or over) 27,599 GRT/8,081 DWT
by type: passenger 2,
passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 2
foreign-owned: 1 (US 1)
registered in other countries: 1 (Bahamas 1, unknown 1) (2007)
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Ports and terminals: |
Point Fortin, Point Lisas,
Port-of-Spain |
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Disputes - international: |
in April 2006, the Permanent
Court of Arbitration issued a decision that delimited a maritime boundary
with Trinidad and Tobago and compelled Barbados to enter a fishing
agreement that limited Barbadian fishermen`s catches of flying fish in
Trinidad and Tobago`s exclusive economic zone, in 2005, Barbados and
Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory international arbitration under
UNCLOS challenging whether the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago`s and
Venezuela`s maritime boundary extends into Barbadian waters, Guyana has
also expressed its intention to include itself in the arbitration as the
Trinidad and Tobago-Venezuela maritime boundary may extend into its waters
as well |
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Illicit drugs: |
transshipment point for South
American drugs destined for the US and Europe, producer of cannabis
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