Trinidad and Tobago is formally the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the southernmost island nation in the Caribbean. It is recognized for its fossil-fuel wealth. Including the primary islands Trinidad and Tobago, and also many much smaller islands, it is positioned 130 kilometres (81 miles) south of Grenada and also 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) off the shore of northeastern Venezuela.

It shares maritime limits with Barbados to the northeast, Grenada to the northwest and also Venezuela to the south as well as west. Trinidad and Tobago is generally considered to be part of the West Indies. According to some geographic interpretations, Trinidad and Tobago are additionally part of the Windward Islands and also Lesser Antilles, while other interpretations regard Trinidad and Tobago as a separate island group.

The island of Trinidad was inhabited for centuries by Native peoples before ending up being a swarm in the Spanish Empire, following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498. Spanish guv José María Chacón surrendered the island to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1797.

Throughout the same period, the island of Tobago transformed hands among Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonists much more times than any other island in the Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago were delivered to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens as different states and unified in 1889. Trinidad and Tobago got independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976.

Trinidad and Tobago has the third greatest GDP per head based upon acquiring power parity (PPP) in the Americas after the United States and Canada. It is acknowledged by the World Bank as a high-income economic climate. Unlike most Caribbean nations as well as regions, which count greatly on tourism, the economy is mostly industrial with an emphasis on oil as well as petrochemicals; a lot of the country’s riches is derived from its big books of oil and gas.

Trinidad and Tobago is popular for its African and Indian societies, shown in its big and famous Circus, Diwali, and also Hosay celebrations, as well being the birthplace of steelpan, the limbo, as well as songs designs such as calypso, soca, rapso, parang, chutney, and also chutney soca.