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| Flights to Tobago Trinidad and Tobago |
| Enjoy and book our selection of routes and flights to Tobago Trinidad and Tobago: |
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| » Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Information |
| Trinidad and Tobago is ideal for the traveler with more than just fun-in-the-sun on their agenda. Although its largely unpublicized beaches are considered one of the islands' best kept secrets, Trinidad's identity is sophisticated, exciting and very cosmopolitan. |
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| » Tobago Trinidad and Tobago General Information |
| Capital: Port of Spain |
| Currency: Trinidad and Tobago Dollar |
| Language: English |
| Telephone codes: 00 1 868 |
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| » Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Useful Links |
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| » Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Practical Information |
| › Public Holidays |
| New Years Day (1 Jan); Good Friday; Easter Monday; Christmas Day (25 Dec); Boxing Day (26 Dec). Trinidad's Carnival is the king of all Caribbean Carnivals and many Trinidadians prepare for it with obsessive devotion. From New Year's Day onwards, activities start swinging into full gear, culminating on Carnival Monday, two days before Ash Wednesday, which usually falls sometime in February or March. The Pan Jazz Festival, held in November, brings together pan drummers and jazz musicians for three days of concerts in Trinidad. There are also numerous East Indian festivals that are based on the lunar calendar; the biggest is Divali, which usually falls in November. |
| › Visas |
| Citizens of the USA, Canada, and most European Commonwealth countries do not require visas. Visas are required by citizens of some countries, including Australia, New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka. In most countries, visas are obtained through the British Embassy. |
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| » Tobago Trinidad and Tobago History |
Both Trinidad and Tobago were originally settled by Amerindians of South American origin. Trinidad was first settled by pre-agricultural Archaic people at least 7000 years, making it the earliest-settled part of the Caribbean. Ceramic-using agriculturalists settled Trinidad around 250 BCE and then moved up the Lesser Antillean chain. At the time of European contact Trinidad was occupied by various Arawakan- and Cariban-speaking tribes including the Nepoya, Suppoya and Yao, while Tobago was occupied by the Island Caribs and Galibi.
The Amerindian name for Trinidad was Kairi or Iere which is usually translated as The Land of the Hummingbird, although others have reported that it simply meant island. Christopher Columbus encountered the island of Trinidad on July 31, 1498 and named it after the Holy Trinity. Columbus reported seeing Tobago, which he named Bella Forma, but did not land on the island. The name Tobago is probably derived from tobacco.
The Spanish established a presence on Trinidad, but due to a lack of settlers, eventually allowed any Roman Catholic European to settle on the island, leading to substantial immigration from France and elsewhere. Meanwhile, Tobago changed hands between British, French, Dutch and Courlanders. Britain consolidated its hold on both islands during the Napoleonic Wars, and they were combined into the colony of Trinidad and Tobago in 1889. As a result of these colonial struggles Amerindian, Spanish, French and English place names are all common in the country. African slaves and Indian, Chinese, Portuguese and free African indentured labourers immigrated to supply labour in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Emigration from Barbados and the Lesser Antilles, Venezuela and Syria and Lebanon also impacted on the ethnic make-up of the country.
Although originally a sugar colony, cacao dominated the economy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. After the collapse of the cacao crop (due to disease and the Great Depression) petroleum increasingly came to dominate the economy. The Depression and the rise of the oil economy led to changes in the social structure.
The presence of American military bases in Chaguaramas and Cumuto in Trinidad during World War II profoundly changed the character of society. In the post-war period, the wave of decolonisation that swept the British Empire led to the formation of the West Indies Federation in 1958 as a vehicle for independence. Chaguaramas was the proposed site for the federal capital. The Federation dissolved after the withdrawal of Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago elected for independence in 1962.
In 1970, a number of students gathered to protest in front of the Canadian Embassy to protest an application fee for students visas, in at what the time was a copycat of the 1960s civil rights movement in north america. The results are known today as the Black Riots of 1970.
In 1976 the country severed its links with the British monarchy and became a republic within the Commonwealth.
In 1990, 114 men of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, led by Yasin Abu Bakr, stormed Parliament and the only TV Station in the country, and held the country's government hostage for six days.
Petroleum, petrochemicals and natural gas continue to be the backbone of the economy. Tourism is the mainstay of the economy of Tobago, although it has declined in the environment after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Trinidad and Tobago is one of the most prosperous nations in the Caribbean, although less so than it was during the "oil boom" between 1973 and 1983. |
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| Trinidad and Tobago News |
Agricultural project to begin in Trinidad with Cuban assistance
June 18, 2008
The Tucker Valley Project, carried out with Cuban technical support, was presented on Tuesday in Port of Spain, by Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources... powered by "Caribbean Net News"
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Fifth summit update for OAS general assembly in Trinidad
May 30, 2008
Logistics and security planning for the Fifth Summit of the Americas is now in an accelerated mode as Trinidad and Tobago prepares for the meeting of 34 hemispheric heads of state and government in April 2009.... powered by "Caribbean Net News"
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