Trinidad and Tobago

Airports

6 total, 5 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

14 major transport aircraft

Highways

8,000 km total; 4,000 km paved, 1,000 km improved earth, 3,000 km unimproved earth

Pipelines

1,032 km crude oil; 19 km refined products; 904 km natural gas

Ports

Port-of-Spain, Point Lisas, Pointe-a-Pierre

Railroads

minimal agricultural system near San Fernando

Telecommunications

excellent international service via tropospheric scatter links to Barbados and Guyana; good local service; 109,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, 4 FM, 5 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Branches

Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force (Army), Coast Guard, Air Wing, Trinidad and Tobago Police Service

Defense expenditures

$59 million, 1.6% of GDP (1989 est.)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 339,260; 245,086 fit for military service

Agriculture

highly subsidized sector; major crops--cocoa and sugarcane; sugarcane acreage is being shifted into rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; poultry sector most important source of animal protein; must import large share of food needs

Budget

revenues $1.5 billion; expenditures $1.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1991 est.)

Currency

Trinidad and Tobago dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT$) = 100 cents

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $373 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $443 million

Electricity

1,176,000 kW capacity; 3,468 million kWh produced, 2,730 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TT$) per US$1--4.2500 (January 1991), 4.2500 (1990), 4.2500 (1989), 3.8438 (1988), 3.6000 (1987), 3.6000 (1986), 2.4500 (1985)

Exports

$1.7 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.); commodities--includes reexports--petroleum and petroleum products 82%, steel products 9%, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus (1988); partners--US 53%, CARICOM 16%, EC 10%, Latin America 3% (1989)

External debt

$2.5 billion (1989)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$4.05 billion, per capita $3,363; real growth rate - 3.7% (1989)

Imports

$1.3 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.); commodities--raw materials and intermediate goods 47%, capital goods 26%, consumer goods 26% (1988); partners--US 51%, Latin America 10%, UK 8%, Canada 5%, CARICOM 6% (1989)

Industrial production

growth rate 5.2%, excluding oil refining (1986); accounts for 30% of GDP, including petroleum

Industries

petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

11.4% (1989)

Overview

Trinidad and Tobago's petroleum-based economy began to emerge from a lengthy depression in 1990. The economy fell sharply through most of the 1980s, largely because of the decline in oil prices. This sector accounts for 80% of export earnings and more than 25% of GDP. The government, in response to the oil revenue loss, pursued a series of austerity measures that pushed the unemployment rate as high as 22% in 1988. The economy showed signs of recovery in 1990, however, helped along by rising oil prices. Agriculture employs only about 11% of the labor force and produces about 3% of GDP. Since this sector is small, it has been unable to absorb the large numbers of the unemployed. The government currently seeks to diversify its export base.

Unemployment rate

20% (1990)

Climate

tropical; rainy season (June to December)

Coastline

362 km Continental shelf: outer edge of continental margin or 200 nm; Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Delaware

Environment

outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms

Land boundaries

none

Land use

arable land 14%; permanent crops 17%; meadows and pastures 2%; forest and woodland 44%; other 23%; includes irrigated 4%

Natural resources

crude oil, natural gas, asphalt

Note

located 11 km from Venezuela

Terrain

mostly plains with some hills and low mountains

Total area

5,130 km2; land area: 5,130 km2

Administrative divisions

8 counties, 3 municipalities*, and 1 ward**; Arima*, Caroni, Mayaro, Nariva, Port-of-Spain*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick, San Fernando*, Tobago**, Victoria

Capital

Port-of-Spain

Communists

Communist Party of Trinidad and Tobago; Trinidad and Tobago Peace Council, James MILLETTE

Constitution

31 August 1976

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Angus Albert KHAN; Chancery at 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 467-6490; Trinidad and Tobago has a Consulate General in New York; US--Ambassador Charles A. GARGANO; Embassy at 15 Queen's Park West, Port-of-Spain (mailing address is P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain); telephone (809) 622-6372 through 6376, 6176

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Cabinet

Flag

red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper hoist side

Independence

31 August 1962 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Court of Appeal, Supreme Court Chief of State--President Noor Mohammed HASSANALI (since 18 March 1987); Head of Government--Prime Minister Arthur Napoleon Raymond ROBINSON (since 18 December 1986) National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), A. N. R. ROBINSON; People's National Movement (PNM), Patrick MANNING; United National Congress (UNC), Basdeo PANDAY; Movement for Social Transformation (MOTION), David ABDULLAH

Legal system

based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives

Long-form name

Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

Member of

ACP, C, CARICOM, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-24, G-77, GATT, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, LORCS, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

National holiday

Independence Day, 31 August (1962)

Other political pressure groups

National Joint Action Committee (NJAC), radical antigovernment black-identity organization; Trinidad and Tobago Peace Council, leftist organization affiliated with the World Peace Council; Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce; Trinidad and Tobago Labor Congress, moderate labor federation; Council of Progressive Trade Unions, radical labor federation

Suffrage

universal at age 18 House of Representatives--last held 15 December 1986 (next to be held by December 1991); results--NAR 66%, PNM 32%, other 2%; seats--(36 total) NAR 33, PNM 3; note--in 1989 six members were expelled from the NAR and formed the UNC, while retaining their parliamentary seats; as a result seats held are NAR 27, UNC 6, PNM 3

Type

parliamentary democracy

Birth rate

21 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

black 43%, East Indian 40%, mixed 14%, white 1%, Chinese 1%, other 1%

Infant mortality rate

18 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

463,900; construction and utilities 18.1%; manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 14.8%; agriculture 10.9%; other 56.2% (1985 est.)

Language

English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish

Life expectancy at birth

68 years male, 73 years female (1991)

Literacy

95% (male 97%, female 93%) age 15 and over can read and write (1980)

Nationality

noun--Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s); adjective--Trinidadian, Tobagonian

Net migration rate

- 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

22% of labor force (1988)

Population

1,285,297 (July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)

Religion

Roman Catholic 32.2%, Hindu 24.3%, Anglican 14.4%, other Protestant 14%, Muslim 6%, none or unknown 9.1%

Total fertility rate

2.4 children born/woman (1991)