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Communications

Airports [time series]

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

Civil air [time series]

14 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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

Pipelines [time series]

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

Ports [time series]

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

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

minimal agricultural system near San Fernando

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force, Trinidad and Tobago Police Service

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

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

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 343,292; 248,674 fit for military service

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for about 3% of GDP and 4% of labor force; highly subsidized sector; major crops--cocoa and sugarcane; sugarcane acreage is being shifted into rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; must import large share of food needs

Aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-85), $370 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $437 million

Budget [time series]

revenues $1.4 billion; expenditures $2.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $430 million (1988 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

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

Electricity [time series]

1,176,000 kW capacity; 3,350 million kWh produced, 2,700 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

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

Exports [time series]

$1.4 billion (f.o.b., 1987); commodities--includes reexports--petroleum and petroleum products 70%, fertilizer, chemicals 15%, steel products, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus (1987); partners--US 61%, EC 15%, CARICOM 9%, Latin America 7%, Canada 3% (1986)

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$2.02 billion (December 1987)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

$3.75 billion, per capita $3,070; real growth rate - 2.0% (1988 est.)

Imports [time series]

$1.2 billion (c.i.f., 1987); commodities--raw materials 41%, capital goods 30%, consumer goods 29% (1986); partners--US 42%, EC 21%, Japan 10%, Canada 6%, Latin America 6%, CARICOM 4% (1986)

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 5.2%, excluding oil refining (1986)

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

15.0% (1989 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

Trinidad and Tobago's petroleum-based economy has been in decline since 1982. During the first half of the 1980s, the petroleum sector accounted for nearly 80% of export earnings, 40% of government revenues, and almost 25% of GDP. In recent years, however, the economy has suffered because of the sharp fall in the price of oil. The government, in response to the revenue loss, pursued a series of austerity measures that pushed the unemployment rate to 22% in 1988. Agriculture employs only about 11% of the labor force and produces less than 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 [time series]

22% (1988)

Geography

Climate [time series]

tropical; rainy season (June to December)

Coastline [time series]

362 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly smaller than Delaware

Continental shelf [time series]

200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

maritime boundary with Venezuela in the Gulf of Paria

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms

Exclusive fishing zone [time series]

200 nm;

Extended economic zone [time series]

200 nm;

Land boundaries [time series]

none

Land use [time series]

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

Natural resources [time series]

crude oil, natural gas, asphalt

Note [time series]

located 11 km from Venezuela

Terrain [time series]

mostly plains with some hills and low mountains

Maritime claims (Territorial sea) [time series]

12 nm

Area (Total area) [time series]

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

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

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 [time series]

Port-of-Spain

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

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

Constitution [time series]

31 August 1976

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

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 or 6376, 6176

Executive branch [time series]

president, prime minister, Cabinet

Flag [time series]

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

Independence [time series]

31 August 1962 (from UK)

Judicial branch [time series]

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)

Legal system [time series]

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

Legislative branch [time series]

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

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ACP, CARICOM, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 31 August (1962)

Political parties (Other political pressure groups) [time series]

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

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), A. N. R. Robinson; People's National Movement (PNM), Patrick Manning; United National Congress, Basdeo Panday; Movement for Social Transformation (MOTION), David Abdullah

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 18 House of Representatives--last held 15 December 1986 (next to be held by December 1991); results--NAR 66%, PNM 32%, others 2%; seats--(36 total) NAR 33, PNM 3

Government type (Type) [time series]

parliamentary democracy

People

Birth rate [time series]

28 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

10 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

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

Languages (Language) [time series]

English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

69 years male, 74 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

98%

Nationality [time series]

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

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor [time series]

22% of labor force (1988)

Population [time series]

1,344,639 (July 1990), growth rate 2.2% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

36.2% Roman Catholic, 23.0% Hindu, 13.1% Protestant, 6.0% Muslim, 21.7% unknown

Total fertility rate [time series]

3.3 children born/woman (1990)