Chaguaramas lies in the North West Peninsula of
TrinidadTrinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the country of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just 11 km off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of 4,768 km² it is also the fifth...
west of
Port of SpainPort of Spain is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population of 250,000...
; the name is often applied to the entire peninsula, but is sometimes used to refer to the most developed area. The entire peninsula was leased to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1940 for the construction of a naval base under the
Destroyers for Bases AgreementThe Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, September 2, 1940, transferred fifty destroyers from the United States Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions. The destroyers became the Town class....
.
The base was also used during the early 1960s as a BMEWS early warning radar site, as well as serving as a missile tracking site on the U.S.
Chaguaramas lies in the North West Peninsula of
TrinidadTrinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the country of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just 11 km off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of 4,768 km² it is also the fifth...
west of
Port of SpainPort of Spain is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population of 250,000...
; the name is often applied to the entire peninsula, but is sometimes used to refer to the most developed area. The entire peninsula was leased to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1940 for the construction of a naval base under the
Destroyers for Bases AgreementThe Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, September 2, 1940, transferred fifty destroyers from the United States Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions. The destroyers became the Town class....
.
The base was also used during the early 1960s as a BMEWS early warning radar site, as well as serving as a missile tracking site on the U.S. Air Force
Eastern Test RangeThe Eastern Range is a rocket range that supports missile and rocket launches from the two major launch heads located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center. The range has also supported Ariane launches from the Guiana Space Centre as well as providing support for...
.
The base was scaled back in 1956 and the area was returned to
Trinidad and TobagoThe Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the...
control in 1963 .
Chaguaramas was the location slated for the construction of the capital of the short-lived
West Indies FederationThe West Indies Federation, also known as the Federation of the West Indies, was a short-lived Caribbean federation that existed from January 3, 1958, to May 31, 1962. It consisted of several Caribbean colonies of the United Kingdom...
. It is also the place where the
Treaty of ChaguaramasThe Treaty of Chaguaramas established the Caribbean Community and Common Market, later known as CARICOM. It was signed on July 4, 1973 in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago....
was signed, establishing Caricom, the Caribbean Community and Common Market, in 1973.
The Chaguaramas Peninsula supports one of the few remaining areas of
dry forestTrinidad and Tobago dry forests are tropical dry forests located primarily in western and southern parts of the island of Trinidad, in southern parts of the island of Tobago and on smaller offshore islands including Chacachacare, Monos, Huevos, Gaspar Grande, Little Tobago and Saint Giles...
in western Trinidad.
It has been the center of Yachting activity in Trinidad.
The Chaguaramas area also contains some dockside facilities, mostly for the transfer of
bauxiteBauxite is the most important aluminium ore. It consists largely of the minerals gibbsite Al
3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, together with the iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite and small amounts of anatase TiO
2...
ore between ship and shore, or from smaller boats to ocean-going vessels. The function of such docks is easily recognizable as the docks and buildings are colored pink from the bauxite dust.
The waterways in this area are considered excellent by divers and fishermen.
Further reading
Transatlantic Sketches, Comprising Visits to the Most Scenes in North and South, by Sir Richard Alexander. Published 1833, R. Bentley, Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized September 20, 2006, by Google. (See Chapted XIII.)
External links