Trinidad and Tobago

The twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago was joined together in 1888 as a single British crown colony and gained independence in 1976. Trinidad and-Tobago was a member of the West Indian Federation (1958–62), a founding member of the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) in 1968, its post cursor the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in 1973, and the Caribbean Single Market in 2006. The islands of Trinidad and Tobago combined are 1,980 square miles (5,128 square kilometers) and as the southernmost archipelagic state of the Lesser Antilles, are located just 7 miles (11 kilometers) from the coast of Venezuela. The World Bank estimates its 2011 population to be 1,227,505, and the people of Trinidad and Tobago are mainly of African or East Indian descent, a ...