Trinbago Association

Background

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is the Birth place of the Steel Pan, home of the Hummingbird and a melting pot of Culture,Religion and Ethnicities . It is located on two islands in the Caribbean Sea off the east coast of Venezuela. The area of Trinidad is 1,864 square miles, and Tobago’s area is 116 square miles. The combined area is slightly smaller than the state of Delaware. Tobago is 20 miles from the island of Trinidad. The nearest neighboring country to the islands is Venezuela, which is seven miles away. There are three low mountain ranges that run east to west across Trinidad with a large plain in between where sugar cane is grown. Parts of the east and west coasts of the island are swamps. The highest point on the islands is El Cerro del Aripo, which is 3,085 feet high and located in the northern mountain range on Trinidad. Much of the north of the island is covered in forests. Tobago has beautiful white sand beaches because of the coral located around the island. The center of the island is hilly and the south and west coasts are flat. The climate of Trinidad and Tobago is tropical, so it is warm all year there. The average temperature ranges from 73 to 90 degrees. There are two seasons: a dry season from January to May and a rainy season from June to December. Fortunately the islands are not in the usual path of Atlantic hurricanes.

People

The first people who lived on the islands were mostly from the Carib and Arawak tribes of native peoples. After Columbus landed on Trinidad in 1498, the island was ruled by Spain for 300 years. During that time not many Spanish people moved there, but many French people came to Trinidad to get away from the revolution in their country. Later the British took over the island and some British people moved there.

Most of the people of Trinidad and Tobago today are descended from Africans and Indians (from the country of India) who were brought to the islands to work on big plantations. Today about 40% of Trinidadians and Tobagonians are black and 40% are Indians. The rest are mostly whites, Chinese and native peoples.

The population of Trinidad and Tobago is about 1,300,000 with about 45,000 living on Tobago and the rest on Trinidad. About 72% of people live in cities.

The main religions of the people are Roman Catholic (32%), Hindu (24%), and Protestant (28%). The official language is English, but many people also speak Hindi, French and Spanish. Education is free and required for ages 5 to 12, and about 98% of people over the age of 15 can read and write.

Customs, Traditions & Celebrations

The islands of Trinidad and Tobago are famous for their steel band music. This music is an important part of Carnival, the biggest celebration of the year on the islands. Carnival is a giant celebration that happens before Lent every year. There are many parties and parades where thousands of people dress up in fantastic costumes and dance the calypso. It is very colorful and lots of fun for everyone.
Trinidad and Tobago also have their own university and many local artists and writers. There are theaters that put on plays and many musical concerts and celebrations. For sports, people enjoy soccer, rugby, cricket, horse racing, and boat racing. There are powerboat races between the two islands

Lifestyle

Trinidad and Tobago is a multi-religious nation. The largest religious groups are the Roman Catholics and Hindus; the Anglicans, Muslims, Presbyterians, Methodist are among the smaller faiths. Two Afro-Caribbean syncretic faiths, the Shouter or Spiritual Baptists and the Orisha faith (formerly called Shangos, a less than complimentary term) are among the fastest growing religious groups. The fastest growing groups are a host of American-style evangelical and fundamentalist churches usually lumped as “Pentecostal” by most Trinidadians (although this designation is often inaccurate). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has also expanded its presence in the country since the mid-1980s.
Census data from 1990 states that 29.4% of the population was Roman Catholic, 23.8% Hindu, 10.9% Anglican, 5.8% Muslim, 3.4% Presbyterianism and 26.7% other.