]! ^! The islands came under British control in the 19th century; independence was granted in 1962. The country is one of the most prosperous in the Caribbean thanks largely to petroleum and natural gas production and processing. Tourism, mostly in Tobago, is targeted for expansion and is growing. 
]" ^" Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela ^# 11 00 N, 61 00 W ^$ Central America and the Caribbean ^% `! 5,128 sq km `" 5,128 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& slightly smaller than Delaware ^' 0 km ^( 362 km ^) measured from claimed archipelagic baselines `$ 12 nm `H 24 nm `I 200 nm `J 200 nm or to the outer edge of the continental margin ^* tropical; rainy season (June to December) ^+ mostly plains with some hills and low mountains ^, `% Caribbean Sea 0 m `& El Cerro del Aripo 940 m ^- petroleum, natural gas, asphalt ^. `' 14.62% `( 9.16% `) 76.22% (2001) ^/ 30 sq km (1998 est.) ^0 outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms ^1 water pollution from agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; oil pollution of beaches; deforestation; soil erosion _J `K Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands `L none of the selected agreements ^2 Pitch Lake, on Trinidad's southwestern coast, is the world's largest natural reservoir of asphalt 
]# ^3 1,088,644 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 20.7% (male 115,594/female 109,665) `+ 71% (male 403,301/female 369,664) `, 8.3% (male 40,638/female 49,782) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 30.91 years `- 30.46 years `. 31.44 years (2005 est.) ^6 -0.74% (2005 est.) ^7 12.81 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 9.37 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 -10.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.05 male(s)/female `0 1.05 male(s)/female `+ 1.09 male(s)/female `, 0.82 male(s)/female `1 1.06 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 24.31 deaths/1,000 live births `- 26.23 deaths/1,000 live births `. 22.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 66.73 years `- 65.6 years `. 67.91 years (2005 est.) ^= 1.75 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> 3.2% (2003 est.) ^? 29,000 (2003 est.) ^@ 1,900 (2003 est.) ^A `2 Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s) `3 Trinidadian, Tobagonian ^B Indian (South Asian) 40%, African 37.5%, mixed 20.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 0.8% (2000 census) ^C Roman Catholic 26%, Hindu 22.5%, Anglican 7.8%, Baptist 7.2%, Pentecostal 6.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 4%, other Christian 5.8%, Muslim 5.8%, other 10.8%, unspecified 1.4%, none 1.9% (2000 census) ^D English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish, Chinese ^E `M age 15 and over can read and write `1 98.6% `- 99.1% `. 98% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 Republic of Trinidad and Tobago `5 Trinidad and Tobago ^H parliamentary democracy ^I Port-of-Spain ^J 9 regional corporations, 2 city corporations, 3 borough corporations, and 1 ward : regional corporations: Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo, Diego Martin, Mayaro/Rio Claro, Penal/Debe, Princes Town, Sangre Grande, San Juan/Laventille, Siparia, Tunapuna/Piarco : city corporations: Port-of-Spain, San Fernando; : borough corporations: Arima, Point Fortin, Chaguanas : ward: Tobago ^K 31 August 1962 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 31 August (1962) ^M 1 August 1976 ^N based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `6 President George Maxwell RICHARDS (since 17 March 2003) `7 Prime Minister Patrick MANNING (since 24 December 2001) `8 Cabinet appointed from among the members of Parliament `9 president elected by an electoral college, which consists of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives, for a five-year term; election last held 14 February 2003 (next to be held in 2008); the president usually appoints as prime minister the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives `: George Maxwell RICHARDS elected president; percent of electoral college vote - 43% ^Q bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (31 seats; 16 members appointed by the ruling party, 9 by the President, 6 by the opposition party for a maximum term of five years) and the House of Representatives (36 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) `9 House of Representatives - last held 7 October 2002 (next to be held by October 2007) `: House of Representatives - percent of vote - PNM 55.5%, UNC 44.5%; seats by party - PNM 20, UNC 16 note: Tobago has a unicameral House of Assembly with 12 members serving four-year terms ^R Supreme Court of Judicature (comprised of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeals; the chief justice is appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; other justices are appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission); High Court of Justice; Court of Appeals; the highest court of appeal is the Privy Council in London ^S National Alliance for Reconstruction or NAR [Lennox SANKERSINGH]; People's National Movement or PNM [Patrick MANNING]; Team Unity or TU [Ramesh MAHARAJ]; United National Congress or UNC [Basdeo PANDAY]; Democratic Action Committee or DAC [Hochoy CHARLES], note - only active in Tobago ^T Jamaat-al Muslimeen [Yasin BAKR] ^U ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-24, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `N Ambassador Marina Annette VALERE `O 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 `P [1] (202) 467-6490 `Q [1] (202) 785-3130 `R Miami and New York ^W `N Ambassador Roy L. AUSTIN `Z 15 Queen's Park West, Port-of-Spain `[ P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain `P [1] (868) 622-6372 through 6376, 622-6176 `Q [1] (868) 628-5462 ^X red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper hoist side to the lower fly side 
]% ^Y Trinidad and Tobago, the leading Caribbean producer of oil and gas, has earned a reputation as an excellent investment site for international businesses. Tourism is a growing sector, although not proportionately as important as in many other Caribbean islands. The economy benefits from low inflation and a growing trade surplus. Prospects for growth in 2004 are good as prices for oil, petrochemicals, and liquified natural gas are expected to remain high, and foreign direct investment continues to grow to support expanded capacity in the energy sector. The government is coping with a rise in violent crime. ^Z $11.48 billion (2004 est.) ^[ 5.7% (2004 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $10,500 (2004 est.) ^] `; 2.7% `< 47% `= 50.3% (2004 est.) ^^ 590,000 (2004 est.) ^_ agriculture 9.5%, manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 14%, construction and utilities 12.4%, services 64.1% (1997 est.) ^` 10.4% (2004 est.) ^a 21% (1992 est.) _! `> NA `? NA _" 3.3% (2004 est.) _P 19.4% of GDP (2004 est.) _# `@ $3.25 billion `A $3.193 billion, including capital expenditures of $117.3 million (2004 est.) _Q 54.4% of GDP (2004 est.) _$ cocoa, rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; poultry _% petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles _& 7.2% (2004 est.) _' 5.743 billion kWh (2002) _( 5.341 billion kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 140,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) _, 24,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _R 990 million bbl (1 January 2004) _S 25 billion cu m (2003 est.) _T 13.76 billion cu m (2003 est.) _U 11.79 billion cu m (2003 est.) _V 0 cu m (2001 est.) _W 589 billion cu m (1 January 2004) _X $1.548 billion (2004 est.) _/ $6.671 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) _0 petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, steel products, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus, flowers _1 US 67.1%, Jamaica 5.7%, France 3.5% (2004) _2 $4.65 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) _3 machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live animals _4 US 23.9%, Venezuela 11.5%, Germany 11.2%, Brazil 10.7%, Spain 6.4%, Italy 5.1% (2004) _Y $2.927 billion (2004 est.) _5 $2.94 billion (2004 est.) _6 $24 million (1999 est.) _7 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD) _8 Trinidad and Tobago dollars per US dollar - 6.299 (2004), 6.2951 (2003), 6.2487 (2002), 6.2332 (2001), 6.2998 (2000) _9 1 October - 30 September 
]& _: 325,100 (2002) _; 361,900 (2002) _< `B excellent international service; good local service `C NA `D country code - 1-868; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Barbados and Guyana _= AM 4, FM 18, shortwave 0 (2004) _> 4 (2004) _? .tt _@ 8,003 (2003) _A 138,000 (2002) 
]' _B `! 8,320 km `E 4,252 km `F 4,068 km (1999 est.) _[ condensate 253 km; gas 1,117 km; oil 478 km (2004) _C Pointe-a-Pierre, Point Lisas, Port-of-Spain _K `! 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 7,178 GRT/3,633 DWT by type: passenger 2, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 1 `S 1 (United States 1) `\ 4 (2005) _D 6 (2004 est.) _E `! 3 `] 1 `G 1 `^ 1 (2004 est.) _L `! 3 `_ 1 `T 2 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force: Ground Force, Coast Guard (includes Air Wing) (2004) _M 18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2001) _] males age 18-49: 293,094 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 203,531 (2005 est.) _N $66.7 million (2003) _O 0.6% (2003) 
]) _H Barbados will assert its claim before UNCLOS that the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into its waters; Guyana has also expressed its intention to challenge this boundary as it may extend into its waters as well _I transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; producer of cannabis 