Caribbean · TTO
Trinidad and Tobago
The story · 10 chapters
How it was drawn
Two islands off Venezuela with separate pasts: Spanish then British Trinidad, and much disputed Tobago, joined in 1889 and independent since 1962.
Play the story Take the first lessonThrough the ages
Rivals in history
The kingdoms, empires and states Trinidad and Tobago fought or stood against, from the first to today.
Walter Raleigh raids Spanish Trinidad in 1595, burns San Jose de Oruna and captures governor Antonio de Berrio, then sails up the Orinoco in search of El Dorado.
- Dutch Republic1628 to 1677
Dutch colonists settle Tobago from 1628 and take over its Courland colony in 1659. In 1677 a French fleet under Admiral d'Estrees destroys their fort, ending Dutch Tobago.
- Duchy of Courland1654 to 1659
The small Baltic duchy of Courland plants a colony on Tobago in 1654. Dutch settlers on the same island seize it in 1659, while the duke is a prisoner of the Swedes.
- Kingdom of France1677 to 1814
France takes Tobago from the Dutch in 1677 and fights Britain for it for over a century. It is British from 1763, French from 1781, then changes hands three more times before France gives it up for good in 1814.
- British Colonial Empire1797 to 1802
In February 1797 a British fleet under Ralph Abercromby sails into the Gulf of Paria. Spain's governor, Jose Maria Chacon, surrenders Trinidad without a battle, and Spain cedes it at Amiens in 1802.
- Venezuela1942 to 1990
Britain and Venezuela divide the Gulf of Paria by treaty in 1942, one of the first seabed boundary agreements. The rest of the sea border stays open until a 1990 treaty, and fishing in the gulf remains a sore point.
- Barbados2004 to 2006
Barbados takes the dispute over their sea boundary, and over Barbadian fishing for flying fish in Trinidad and Tobago's waters, to an arbitral tribunal. Its 2006 award draws the line and leaves fishing access to be negotiated.
Today
Trinidad and Tobago now
First colonized by the Spanish, Trinidad and Tobago came under British control in the early 19th century. The emancipation of enslaved people in 1834 disrupted the twin islands' sugar industry. Contract workers arriving from India between 1845 and 1917 augmented the labor force, which boosted sugar production as well as the cocoa industry. The discovery of oil on Trinidad in 1910 added another important export that remains the country's dominant industry. Trinidad and Tobago attained independence in 1962.
- Capital
- Port of Spain
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Head of government
- Kamla Persad-Bissessar
- Head of state
- Christine Kangaloo
- Languages
- English
- Area
- 5,128 km²
Through time
Then and now
- Population1.5 million2023 · 648,800 in 1950
- Life expectancy73.5 years2023 · 57.0 years in 1950
- GDP per person$25,7732022 · $5,856 in 1950
- Living in cities54%2025 · 22% in 1950
- Literacy97%1990 · 78% in 1950
- Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
- Military alliancesRio Pact2024 · None of these in 1950
- Military spending0.9% of GDP2025
- War deathsNone2025
Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.
Relations
Close partners and tensions
Close partners
- United States
Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 24 October 2026.