Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago has two main islands.

Trinidad is the big island. Tobago is the small one. Both are near South America.

Trinidad and Tobago is a country of two main islands and several smaller ones in the southeastern Caribbean. Trinidad, the big island, is only 11 kilometers from Venezuela at its closest point. Tobago, much smaller, lies 30 kilometers to the northeast.

English is the official language, though most people speak Trinidad English, a creole. The Central Statistical Office estimated 1,367,764 people in 2025. The photo shows Port of Spain, the capital, from the air in 2024, with its tall towers by the harbor.

The two main islands form the southernmost links in the Caribbean chain, northeast of Venezuela and northwest of Guyana. Trinidad covers about 4,800 km² and lies 11 km from Venezuela across the Gulf of Paria and two narrow channels; Tobago, about 300 km², lies 30 km northeast and is about 50 km long.

The last census was in 2011, so the newest official figure is the Central Statistical Office's provisional mid-2025 estimate of 1,367,764. Since 1976 the country has been a republic: Parliament elects the president, and the prime minister leads the government. Tobago has had its own House of Assembly since 1980. The photo shows Port of Spain from the air (August 2024).

Port of Spain is the capital city.

It is a busy port on the island of Trinidad. Scarborough is the main town on Tobago.

Port of Spain, on Trinidad's northwest coast, is the capital and the main commercial port. Its mix of people and buildings shows French Creole and other European influences. San Fernando, a large city to the south, and Scarborough, the chief town of Tobago, are other important centers.

Ships and planes link Tobago with Trinidad, and Piarco International Airport connects the islands with the rest of the Caribbean, the Americas and Europe. A campus of the University of the West Indies is in St. Augustine, east of the capital.

Port of Spain, the capital and chief commercial port, is notably cosmopolitan, with European and French Creole influence in its architecture. San Fernando on the west coast has a large East Indian population; Scarborough is Tobago's administrative and market town. Britannica notes extensive port facilities at Point Lisas.

Piarco (Trinidad) and Crown Point (Tobago) international airports link the islands to the Caribbean, the Americas and western Europe. The University of the West Indies campus at St. Augustine is about 16 km east of Port of Spain, and the University of Trinidad and Tobago dates from 2004. Education is free at primary and secondary levels.

Trinidad has mountains, waterfalls and swamps.

It also has a lake made of thick, black pitch.

Trinidad's Northern Range is a continuation of mountains in Venezuela. Its highest peak, El Cerro del Aripo, is 940 meters, and waterfalls such as Maracas Falls drop 91 meters. Two lower ranges cross the middle and south of the island, with swamps such as the Caroni and Nariva swamps in the low areas.

In the south lie oil fields, mud volcanoes and Pitch Lake, a deep deposit of natural asphalt. Tobago's Main Ridge slopes down to a coral plain with reefs, including Buccoo Reef. The photo shows Quinam Bay on Trinidad's south coast.

Physiographically the islands extend the South American mainland. The Northern Range averages about 460 m and peaks at El Cerro del Aripo (940 m); Blue Basin and Maracas falls are each 91 m. The Central Range reaches 308 m at Mount Tamana, and the low Southern Range completes three east–west ridges that shape drainage; the Ortoire and Caroni are the longest rivers.

An oil-bearing belt covers the southern quarter of Trinidad, where gas and water seepages form mud volcanoes such as the Devil's Woodyard, and Pitch Lake holds a deep asphalt deposit. Tobago's Main Ridge reaches about 550 m. Mean temperatures run from about 25 °C in February to 29 °C in April, with a main dry season from January to May. The photo shows Quinam Bay on the Columbus Channel, south coast of Trinidad.

The scarlet ibis is a bright red bird. It is a national bird of Trinidad and Tobago.

Leatherback turtles lay eggs on the beaches.

The Caroni Swamp is a bird sanctuary visited by flocks of flamingos and egrets, and home to scarlet ibises, a national bird. The Nariva Swamp is home to many birds and mammals, including the manatee. Endangered leatherback sea turtles nest on many beaches, such as Matura Beach on Trinidad.

In the forests live agoutis, lappes (pacas), armadillos, porcupines, iguanas and caimans. Howler monkeys are rare. The ibis in the photo was photographed wading in shallow water; the place is not recorded.

Britannica describes the Caroni Swamp sanctuary, with flamingos, egrets and the scarlet ibis (a national bird), whose populations have declined markedly since the 1970s through illegal hunting and pollution; the Nariva Swamp, with manatees, is also threatened despite protection, especially by illegal rice farms. Matura Beach is perhaps the most notable of many nesting sites of the endangered leatherback sea turtle.

Forest fauna includes the paca (lappe), agouti, collared peccary (quenck), armadillo (tattoo), prehensile-tailed porcupine, iguana and caiman. Howler monkeys are rare, ocelots have disappeared from the wild, and the greater bird of paradise, once introduced to Little Tobago, had gone by the early 21st century. The ibis photo's location is not recorded.

People in Trinidad and Tobago have families from many lands.

At Carnival, steel bands play music on drums made from metal.

Many people descend from Africans who were brought to work on plantations, and many from workers who came from India after slavery ended. People of mixed heritage and families from Europe, China and the Middle East add to the mix. Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is an important celebration.

The islands are known for steel-band and calypso music and the limbo dance, all highlights of the yearly Carnival. Writers V. S. Naipaul, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and Earl Lovelace come from here. Cricket and football (soccer) are the most popular sports.

Trinidad's two largest groups, roughly equal in size, are descendants of enslaved Africans and Indo-Trinidadians, descendants of indentured labourers from the Indian subcontinent (1845–1917); people of mixed ethnicity form a slightly smaller third group. By the early 21st century about one-third were Protestant, one-fifth Roman Catholic and almost one-fifth Hindu, with Muslim and other communities. The Santa Rosa Caribs of Arima keep alive a heritage that claims partial descent from the first inhabitants.

Steel band, calypso and limbo, derived from African music and dance, are central to Carnival, and Indo-Trinidadian music and dance have flourished since the 1970s. Writers include Samuel Selvon, Earl Lovelace, Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul and cricket historian C. L. R. James. Oil, natural gas and LNG dominate the economy, with tourism largest on Tobago.