Trinidad

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Trinidad

Trinidad (Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
: "Trinity

Trinity

In Christianity doctrine, the Trinity is the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in monotheism. The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostasis , but one being....
") is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms

Islands of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelago republic in the southern Caribbean which consists of numerous landforms....
which make up the country of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an island country in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles....
. Trinidad is the southernmost island in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
and lies just 11 km (7 miles) off the northeastern coast of Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
. Trinidad has an area of 4,768 km² (1,864 sq. mi.

Square mile

The square mile is an Imperial system and US customary system of measure for an area equal to the area of a square of one mile. It should not be confused with miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared....
), the sixth largest in the West Indies and is located between and .

he history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Amerindians.

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History

? The history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Amerindians. Both islands were encountered by Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a Republic of Genoa navigator, colonialist and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean?funded by Queen Isabella of Spain?led to general European awareness of the America in the Western Hemisphere....
on his third voyage in 1498. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands. Trinidad remained in Spanish hands until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists. In 1888 the two islands were incorporated into a single crown colony. Trinidad and Tobago obtained self-governance in 1958 and independence from the British Empire in 1962. It became a republic in 1976.

Contemporary Trinidad

Today Trinidad is the result of a fusion of many different cultures. It hosts an annual pre-Lent

Lent

Lent, in Christianity, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter. Conventionally it is described as being forty days long, though different Christian denominations calculate the forty days differently....
en Carnival

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival

The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is celebrated two days before Ash Wednesday.Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is the event of the year....
. It is the birthplace of Calypso music

Calypso music

Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the beginning of the 20th century....
, the Steelpan

Steelpan

Steelpans is a musical instrument and a form of music originating from Trinidad. Steelpan musicians are called pannists....
musical instrument and Limbo

Limbo (dance)

Limbo is a dance that originated on the island of Trinidad, though Hawaii is often mistakenly associated with limbo. The dancer moves to a Caribbean music, then leans backward and dances under a horizontal stick without touching it....
dance. Styles of popular music include Calypso

Calypso music

Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the beginning of the 20th century....
, Chutney music

Chutney music

Chutney music is a form of music indigenous to the southern Caribbean and to a lesser extent[Guyana], which derives elements from soca music and Indian filmi songs....
, Soca

Soca music

Soca is a form of dance music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from calypso music. It originally combined the melodic lilting sound of calypso with insistent percussion and local chutney music....
and Parang

Parang

Parang is a type of music with Caribbean and Latin American cultural influences. The word is derived from the Spanish word parranda, meaning 'merry-making' or 'a group of serenaders'....
.

Major landforms include the hills of the Northern

Northern Range

The Northern Range is the range of tall hills across the northern portion of Trinidad, the major island in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago....
, Central

Central Range

Central Range may refer to several ranges of mountains, including:* Central Range, New Guinea* Central Range, Taiwan* Central Range, Trinidad and Tobago...
and Southern Ranges(Dinah ranges), the Caroni

Caroni Swamp

The Caroni Swamp is the largest mangrove wetland in Trinidad and Tobago. It is located on the west coast of Trinidad, south of Port of Spain and northwest of Chaguanas, where the Caroni River, Trinidad and Tobago meets the Gulf of Paria....
, Nariva

Nariva Swamp

The Nariva Swamp is the largest freshwater wetland in Trinidad and Tobago and has been designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention....
and Oropouche Swamps, and the Caroni and Naparima Plains. Major river systems include the Caroni

Caroni River (Trinidad and Tobago)

The Caroni River is the largest river in Trinidad and Tobago, running for 40 km from its origins in the Northern Range on the island of Trinidad, through the northern lowlands of the Caroni Plains and enters the Gulf of Paria at the Caroni Swamp....
, North and South Oropouche and Ortoire River

Ortoire River

The Ortoire River is a large river in Trinidad and Tobago. It forms the boundary between the counties of Nariva and Mayaro in east Trinidad.It is green in color and at one time had an iron bridge with wooden planks but it has been replaced with an all paved concrete bridge; also it was made higher to reduce flooding....
s. Native mammals include the Red Brocket Deer, Collared Peccary

Collared Peccary

Collared Peccary, Pecari tajacu, is a peccary species found in North America, Central America, South America and Trinidad, living in many habitats, such as the Sonoran desert, chaco, deep rainforest, caatinga, cerrado, pantanal and deciduous forest....
, Red Howler Monkey

Venezuelan Red Howler

The Venezuelan Red Howler Monkey is a South American species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey. It is found in the western Amazon Basin in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil....
and the Ocelot

Ocelot

The Ocelot , also known as the Painted Leopard, McKenney's Wildcat, Jaguatirica or Manigordo is a wild Felidae distributed over South America and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean....
. Trinidad has a rich avifauna

List of birds of Trinidad and Tobago

A total of 469 species of birds have been recorded on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. There are few places in the world where so many bird species can be seen in such a small area, many of them unique, very rare, or of particular interest....
, including a single endemic

Endemic

Endemic, in a broad sense, can mean "belonging" or "native to", "characteristic of", or "prevalent in" a particular geography, race, field, area, or Natural environment; native to an area or scope....
species, the Trinidad Piping Guan.

Trinidad is also an industrial island with a diversified economy, based to a large extent on oil

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
and natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills....
, industry and agriculture. It is one of the leading gas-based export centers in the world, being the leading exporter of ammonia and methanol and among the top five exporters of liquefied natural gas

Liquefied natural gas

Not to be confused with Natural Gas Liquids .Liquefied natural gas or LNG is natural gas that has been converted temporarily to liquid form for ease of storage or transport....
. This has allowed Trinidad to capitalize on the large mineral reserves within its territories.

Trinidad

History

Contemporary Trinidad

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