1981 Edition

Area

5,128 km2; 41.9% in farms (25.7% cropped or fallow, 1.5% pasture, 10.6% forests, and 4.1% unused or built on), 58.1% outside of farms, including grassland, forest, built-up area, and wasteland

Coastline

362 km

Communists

none known

Elections

held every three years, last in April 1978

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm

Member of

ADB, Commonwealth, ESCAP, South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation, South Pacific Bureau Forum

Suffrage

granted to all literate adults over 21 years of age who pay taxes

Ethnic divisions

43% Negro, 40% East Indian, 14% mixed, 1% white, 2% other

Labor force

393,800 (July 1975), 13.5% agriculture, 20.0% mining, quarrying, and manufacturing, 17.4% commerce; 15.7% construction and utilities; 7.5% transportation and communications; 23.0% services, 2.9% other

Language

English

Literacy

95%

Nationality

noun — Trinidadian(s), Tobagan(s); adjective— Trinidadian, Tobagan

Organized labor

30% of labor force

Population

1,203,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.5%"

Religion

26.8% Protestant, 31.2% Roman Catholic, 23.0% Hindu, 6.0% Muslim, 13.0% unknown

Branches

legislative branch consists of 36-member elected House of Representatives and 31-member appointed Senate; executive is Cabinet led by the Prime Minister; judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice and includes a Court of Appeal, High Court, and lower courts

Capital

Port-of-Spain

Communists

not significant

Elections

elections to be held at intervals of not more than five years; last election held 9 November 1981 Political parties and leaders: People's National Movement (PNM), George Chambers; United Labor Front (ULF), Basdeo Panday; Organization for National Reconstruction (ONR), Karl Hudson-Phillips; Democratic Action Congress (DAC), Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson; Tapia House Movement, Lloyd Best Voting strength (198i election): 55% of registered voters cast ballots; PNM captured 26 seats^ in House of Representatives, ULF 8, and DAC the 2 Tobago seats

Government leaders

Prime Minister George CHAMBERS, President Ellis CLARKE

Legal system

based on English common law; constitution came into effect 1976; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Member of

CARICOM, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IBRD, International Coffee Agreement, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDE, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISO, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, NAM, OAS, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

31 August

Official name

Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

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

Political subdivisions

8 counties (29 wards, Tobago is 30th) TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (Continued)

Suffrage

universal over age 18

Type

independent state since August 1962; in August 1976 country officially became a republic severing legal ties to British crown

Agriculture

largely dominated by coconut and banana production with subsistence crops of taro, yams, sweet potatoes, and bread fruit

main crops — sugarcane, cocoa, coffee, rice, citrus, bananas; largely dependent upon imports of food

Aid

economic aid commitments — Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (1970-79), $57 million

economic — bilateral commitments including Ex-Im (FY70-80), US, $295.2 million; (1970-79) other Western countries, ODA and OOF, $100 million

Budget

(FY77) $10 million

(1978) central government revenues $1.3 billion, expenditures $1.2 billion (current $618 million, capital $560 million)

Electric power

4,100 kW capacity (1980); 8 million kWh produced (1980), 87 kWh per capita

555,000 kW capacity (1981); 2.0 billion kWh produced (1981), 1,697 kWh per capita

Exports

$5.6 million (1978); 65% copra, 7% coconut products, 8% bananas

$4.0 billion (f.o.b., 1980 prelim.); petroleum and petroleum products, ammonia, fertilizer

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

calendar year

Fishing

catch 4,823 metric tons (1978); exports $1.1 million (1975), imports $4.5 million (1975)

GDP

$6,708 million (1980 prov.), $5,719 per capita; 42% private consumption, 17% government consumption, 28% investment, 13% foreign; growth rate (1980), 10%

GNP

$34.2 million (1976), $370 per capita

Imports

$12.4 million (1978); food, machinery, and petroleum

$3.1 billion (c.i.f., 1980); crude petroleum (31%), machinery, fabricated metals, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, chemicals

Major industries

petroleum, tourism, food processing, cement

Major trade partners

(FY74) exports — 25% Netherlands, 22% Australia, 20% New Zealand, 11% Norway; imports — 63% New Zealand and Australia

imports — US 27%, UK 10%, Japan 7%, crude oil for refineries supplied almost exclusively from Saudi Arabia and Indonesia; exports— US 58%, CARICOM 8%

Monetary conversion rate

1 Tonga dollar=US$l.ll (1979)

tied to US dollar in 1976; 2.40 Trinidad and Tobago dollars=US$l

Airfields

4 total, 4 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways 1,220-2,439 m

8 total, 6 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

no major transport aircraft

19 major transport aircraft

Highways

249 km total (1974); 177 km rolled stone; 72 km coral base

7,900 km total; 3,600 km paved, 1,100 km improved earth, 3,200 km unimproved earth

Military budget

proposed for fiscal year ending 31 December 1979, $105.0 million; 4.8% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 331,000; 235,000 fit for military service

Pipelines

1,032 km crude oil and refined products; 832 km natural gas

Ports

2 minor

3 major (Port of Spain, Chaguaramas Bay, Point Tembladora), 6 minor

Railroads

none

none

Supply

mostly from UK

Telecommunications

1,285 telephones (1.4 per 100 popl.); 11,000 radio sets; no TV sets; 1 AM station; 1 ground satellite station Cent/inn Sei At /antic Ocean Pottol-' Sjum • TRINIDAD 'T^ AND TOBAGO VHNEZUEIA fSee reference map III)

excellent international service via tropospheric scatter links to Barbados and Guyana; good local service; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station; 75,000 telephones (7.0 per 100 popl.); 2 AM, 2 FM, and 3 TV stations DEFENSE FORCES