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  Communications

Highways: 198 km sealed road (Tongatapu); 74 km (Vava‘u); 94 km unsealed roads usable only in dry weather

Ports: Nukualofa, Neiafu, Pangai

Merchant marine: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 37,249 GRT/50,116 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 roll-on /roll-off cargo, 2 container, 1 liquefied gas

Civil air: no major transport aircraft

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

Telecommunications: 3,529 telephones; 66,000 radio receivers; no TV sets; stations—1 AM, no FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Defense Forces

Branches: Land Force, Maritime Force

Military manpower: NA

Defense expenditures: NA  Trinidad and Tobago



Geography

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

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Delaware

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 362 km

Maritime claims:
 * Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation
 * Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
 * Extended economic zone: 200 nm
 * Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: maritime boundary with Venezuela in the Gulf of Paria

Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to December)

Terrain: mostly plains with some hills and low mountains

Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, asphalt

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

Environment: outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms

Note: located 11 km from Venezuela

People

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

Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 10 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 74 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 3.3 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s); adjective—Trinidadian, Tobagonian

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

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

Language: English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish

Literacy: 98%

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

Organized labor: 22% of labor force (1988)

Government

Long-form name: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

Type: parliamentary democracy

Capital: Port-of-Spain

Administrative divisions: 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

Independence: 31 August 1962 (from UK)

Constitution: 31 August 1976

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

National holiday: Independence Day, 31 August (1962)

Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet

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

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, Supreme Court

Leaders: Chief of State—President Noor Mohammed HASSANALI (since 18 March 1987);

Head of Government—Prime Minister Arthur Napoleon Raymond ROBINSON (since 18 December 1986)

Political parties and leaders: 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: universal at age 18

Elections: 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  311