Trinidad and Tobago

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Trinidad and Tobago is a republic located at the southern end of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, along the north coast of South America. First human settlements dates to 7000 years ago, with successive waves of occupation by Taino, Awarak, and Carib peoples. Trinidad was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1498 and colonized by the Spanish under Antonio de Sedeño in 1532. The island briefly capitulated to Walter Raleigh in 1595, and finally to the British commander Lieutenant-General Ralph Abercromby in 1797, and was formally ceded to the British under the Treaty of Amiens 1802. In 1814, the island of Tobago was ceded by the French to the British, and amalgamated with Trinidad in 1888. Chaguaramas was proposed as the site for the capital of the newly formed West Indies Federation in 1958, but internal politics resulted in a split between member states, and in 1962 Trinidad and Tobago became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations. The country adopted a republican constitution in 1976. The capital and main port is Port of Spain. Estimated population of Trinidad and Tobago in 2011 was 1,346,350.