Table of Contents Chapter 1 1 Country Overview 1 Country Overview 2 Key Data 4 Trinidad and Tobago 5 Central America and the Caribbean 6 Chapter 2 8 Political Overview 8 History 9 Political Conditions 12 Political Risk Index 43 Political Stability 58 Freedom Rankings 73 Human Rights 85 Government Functions 87 Government Structure 90 Principal Government Officials 96 Leader Biography 101 Leader Biography 101 Foreign Relations 103 National Security 110 Defense Forces 111 Chapter 3 114 Economic Overview 114 Economic Overview 115 Nominal GDP and Components 117 Population and GDP Per Capita 119 Real GDP and Inflation 120 Government Spending and Taxation 121 Money Supply, Interest Rates and Unemployment 122 Foreign Trade and the Exchange Rate 123 Data in US Dollars 124 Energy Consumption and Production Standard Units 125 Energy Consumption and Production QUADS 127 World Energy Price Summary 128 CO2 Emissions 129 Agriculture Consumption and Production 130 World Agriculture Pricing Summary 132 Metals Consumption and Production 133 World Metals Pricing Summary 135 Economic Performance Index 136 Chapter 4 148 Investment Overview 148 Foreign Investment Climate 149 Foreign Investment Index 152 Corruption Perceptions Index 165 Competitiveness Ranking 177 Taxation 186 Stock Market 187 Partner Links 187 Chapter 5 188 Social Overview 188 People 189 Human Development Index 194 Life Satisfaction Index 198 Happy Planet Index 209 Status of Women 218 Global Gender Gap Index 221 Culture and Arts 231 Etiquette 236 Travel Information 241 Diseases/Health Data 253 Chapter 6 259 Environmental Overview 259 Environmental Issues 260 Environmental Policy 261 Greenhouse Gas Ranking 262 Global Environmental Snapshot 273 Global Environmental Concepts 285 International Environmental Agreements and Associations 299 Appendices 323 Bibliography 324 Trinidad and Tobago Chapter 1 Country Overview Trinidad and Tobago Review 2016 Page 1 of 335 pages Trinidad and Tobago Country Overview TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO A country in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago are islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. First colonized by the Spanish, the islands came under British control in the early 19th century. The colonial era was marked by sugar and cocoa production. These plantations utilized African slave labor before transitioning to indentured labor from Asia after the abolition of slavery in the 1800s through 1917. The discovery of oil on Trinidad in 1910 added another important export. Disturbances resulting from the depressed economic situation of the 1930s provided suitable conditions for the foundation of active labor movements, which, in turn, evolved into political organizations, particularly after the introduction of full adult suffrage in 1946. These developments themselves gave rise to growing nationalist sentiment and the emergence of party politics -- albeit in an unstructured form -- during the 1940s and early 1950s. In 1958, the British established an independent Federation of the West Indies made up of the British colonies of the Caribbean. Committed to the idea of a federation, Trinidad joined Federation of the West Indies, and pursued independence jointly. Under the aegis of the federation, Trinidad became the capital. Disagreement over the structure of the federation arose, however, and eventually led to its collapse when Jamaica withdrew from the union in 1961. The course of Trinidad and Tobago's sovereignty was charted alone. Independence was fully achieved in 1962, and Trinidad and Tobago became a member-state of the British Commonwealth. Soon thereafter, Trinidad and Tobago became the first Commonwealth member of the Organization of American States. Trinidad and Tobago is a unitary state, with a parliamentary democracy modeled after that of Great Britain. Trinidad and Tobago is one of the wealthiest countries in the Caribbean, thanks to its large reserves of oil and gas, the exploitation of which dominates its economy. It is a major producer of petroleum and natural gas in the region. In recent times, the country has been coping with a rise in crime. Trinidad and Tobago Review 2016 Page 2 of 335 pages Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Review 2016 Page 3 of 335 pages Trinidad and Tobago Key Data Key Data Region: Central America and the Caribbean Population: 1222363 Climate: Tropical; rainy season (June to December) English (official); French, Spanish, Hindi, Patois, and local dialects are also Languages: spoken Currency: 1 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT$) = 100 cents Independence Day is 31 August (1962), Emancipation Day is 1 August, Holiday: Republic Day is 24 September Area Total: 5130 Area Land: 5130 Coast Line: 362 Trinidad and Tobago Review 2016 Page 4 of 335 pages Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Country Map Trinidad and Tobago Review 2016 Page 5 of 335 pages Trinidad and Tobago Central America and the Caribbean Regional Map Trinidad and Tobago Review 2016 Page 6 of 335 pages Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Review 2016 Page 7 of 335 pages Trinidad and Tobago Chapter 2 Political Overview Trinidad and Tobago Review 2016 Page 8 of 335 pages Trinidad and Tobago History In 1498, Christopher Columbus landed in Trinidad on his third voyage, but the island was not immediately inhabited by colonial powers. Indeed, Spanish colonists eventually settled the island almost a century later. Most of the original inhabitants, the Caribs and the Arawaks, died from imported diseases, while the survivors were largely assimilated through intermarriage with the colonizers, as well as later immigrant populations. Under Spanish rule, Trinidad was literally ignored by the colonial powers, until Spain issued a "cedula" declaring that citizens of other Roman Catholic nations could settle in Trinidad. This led to an influx of immigrants from France. The French population increased even more when French buccaneers settled on the island soon thereafter, and again in the 19th century after the Haitian Revolution, when the French elite took refuge in Trinidad. Other Europeans also settled on the island during the colonial period, and as the triangular trade and plantation system took root in the Western Hemisphere, Trinidad's economy increasingly relied on large sugar and cocoa plantations. Although Spanish-ruled Trinidad survived attacks by the French and the Dutch, it was finally captured by the British in 1797, and formally ceded to the British in 1802. Despite being ruled officially by the British, Trinidad remained culturally and administratively Spanish, and under de facto French control. Tobago's development was more similar to that of other plantation islands in the Lesser Antilles (the smaller islands of the Caribbean), and quite different from Trinidad's. During the colonial period, it changed hands more often than any other Caribbean island (reports suggest any number from as little as 22 to as many as 54). Colonial rule included the Spanish, French, British, Dutch, Latvians, Germans and Danes. Tobago's longest term of colonial rule was under the French, who retained possession of the island for 100 years. The British then took possession of the island in 1762, and the French ceded the island to Britain the following year. It was not until 1814 that Britain was granted ownership of the island in perpetuity. Both of the islands were separate subject states under British colonial rule for much of the 1800s. In 1888, however, the British incorporated Trinidad and Tobago into a single colony to be Trinidad and Tobago Review 2016 Page 9 of 335 pages Trinidad and Tobago administered as a unitary enclave of the British Crown. Meanwhile, under British rule in the early 1800s, African slavery was introduced. Because slavery was abolished in the British West Indies in 1838, the system had literally existed in Trinidad and Tobago for less than 50 years. Most of the African population had come as freed slaves or as runaways seeking refuge. In this way, Trinidad and Tobago's legacy of slavery differs markedly from many other Western Hemisphere nations. Trinidad and Tobago's black-white dichotomy was then transformed into a multicultural milieu when indentured laborers and an ever-increasing merchant class arrived from India, China, the Middle East, the Mediterranean islands, Portugal, Italy, Madeira, and Ireland. Missionaries also arrived from Great Britain and Canada. Over time, with the development of small land holdings-a characteristic uncommon to any colonial enclave in the Americas-as well as a burgeoning commercial sector, Trinidad and Tobago was less strictly characterized by a plantation society, as was the case for the other islands of the Caribbean. In addition, the "Creole" population (made up of both Europeans and non-Europeans) had access to higher education and formed an intellectual middle class far earlier than the proliferation of middle tiers in other parts of the Americas. Because this segment of the population became highly familiar with various liberal political philosophies of the time, it planted the seeds of national consciousness and sovereignty in Trinidad and Tobago. At the turn of the 20th century, oil was discovered and added to the growth of the colony. In the early 20th century, trade unionism, especially surrounding the sugar cane and energy industries began to develop. Disturbances resulting from the depressed economic situation of the 1930s provided suitable conditions for the foundation of active labor movements, which, in turn, evolved into political organizations, particularly after the introduction