TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO                                                             
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 5,130 km2; land area: 5,130 km2                                     
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Delaware                                
                                                                                
Land boundaries: none                                                           
                                                                                
Coastline: 362 km                                                               
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Continental shelf: outer edge of continental margin or 200 nm;                  
                                                                                
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;                                                
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to December)                              
                                                                                
Terrain: mostly plains with some hills and low mountains                        
                                                                                
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, asphalt                              
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 14%; permanent crops 17%; meadows and                     
pastures 2%; forest and woodland 44%; other 23%; includes irrigated             
4%                                                                              
                                                                                
Environment: outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical                
storms                                                                          
                                                                                
Note: located 11 km from Venezuela                                              
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 1,285,297 (July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)                      
                                                                                
Birth rate: 21 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                    
                                                                                
Net migration rate: - 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                        
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 18 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 73 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 2.4 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s);                               
adjective--Trinidadian, Tobagonian                                              
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: black 43%, East Indian 40%, mixed 14%, white 1%,              
Chinese 1%, other 1%                                                            
                                                                                
Religion: Roman Catholic 32.2%, Hindu 24.3%, Anglican 14.4%,                    
other Protestant 14%, Muslim 6%, none or unknown 9.1%                           
                                                                                
Language: English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish                            
                                                                                
Literacy: 95% (male 97%, female 93%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1980)                                                           
                                                                                
Labor force: 463,900; construction and utilities 18.1%;                         
manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 14.8%; agriculture 10.9%;                  
other 56.2% (1985 est.)                                                         
                                                                                
Organized labor: 22% of labor force (1988)                                      
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago                                 
                                                                                
Type: parliamentary democracy                                                   
                                                                                
Capital: Port-of-Spain                                                          
                                                                                
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                                                                        
                                                                                
Independence: 31 August 1962 (from UK)                                          
                                                                                
Constitution: 31 August 1976                                                    
                                                                                
Legal system: based on English common law; judicial review of                   
legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ          
jurisdiction                                                                    
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 31 August (1962)                            
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet                            
                                                                                
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper                   
house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives                   
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, Supreme Court                                 
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State--President Noor Mohammed HASSANALI (since 18 March               
1987);                                                                          
                                                                                
Head of Government--Prime Minister Arthur Napoleon Raymond ROBINSON             
(since 18 December 1986)                                                        
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders:                                                  
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                     
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 18                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
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                                                                    
                                                                                
Communists: Communist Party of Trinidad and Tobago; Trinidad and                
Tobago Peace Council, James MILLETTE                                            
                                                                                
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                              
                                                                                
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                                        
                                                                                
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                                     
                                                                                
Flag: red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper                 
hoist side                                                                      
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
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.                    
                                                                                
GDP: $4.05 billion, per capita $3,363; real growth rate - 3.7%                  
(1989)                                                                          
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.4% (1989)                                  
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: 20% (1990)                                                   
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $1.5 billion; expenditures $1.7 billion,                       
including capital expenditures of $NA (1991 est.)                               
                                                                                
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)                  
                                                                                
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)                                                               
                                                                                
External debt: $2.5 billion (1989)                                              
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 5.2%, excluding oil refining                 
(1986); accounts for 30% of GDP, including petroleum                            
                                                                                
Electricity: 1,176,000 kW capacity; 3,468 million kWh produced,                 
2,730 kWh per capita (1990)                                                     
                                                                                
Industries: petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement,             
beverage, cotton textiles                                                       
                                                                                
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                                                
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $373                   
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $443 million                                                         
                                                                                
Currency: Trinidad and Tobago dollar (plural--dollars);                         
1 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT$) = 100 cents                                  
                                                                                
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)                                            
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: minimal agricultural system near San Fernando                        
                                                                                
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                              
                                                                                
Civil air: 14 major transport aircraft                                          
                                                                                
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                                                    
                                                                                
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                                                          
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force (Army), Coast Guard,                
Air Wing, Trinidad and Tobago Police Service                                    
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 339,260; 245,086 fit for                    
military service                                                                
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $59 million, 1.6% of GDP (1989 est.)                      
                                                                                
