The history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Indigenous First Peoples. Both islands were visited by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498 and claimed in the name of Spain. Trinidad was administered by Spain hands until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch, and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands following the second Treaty of Paris (1814). In 1889, the two islands were incorporated into a single political entity. Trinidad and Tobago obtained its independence from the British Empire in 1962 and became a republic in 1976.
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Trinidad and Tobago, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Rose of Lima was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic in Lima, Peru, who became known for both her life of severe penance and her care of the poverty stricken of the city through her own private efforts. Saint Rose of Lima was born to a noble family and is the Patron Saint of embroidery, gardening and cultivation of blooming flowers. A lay member of the Dominican Order, she was declared a saint by the Catholic Church, being the first person born in the Americas to be canonized as such.
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies 11 km (6.8 mi) off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmost island in the West Indies. With an area of 4,768 km2 (1,841 sq mi), it is also the fifth largest in the West Indies.
Parang is a popular folk music originating from Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago that was brought to Trinidad and Tobago by Venezuelan migrants who were primarily of Amerindian, Spanish, Mestizo, Pardo, and African heritage, something which is strongly reflected in the music itself. The word is derived from two Spanish words: parranda, meaning "a spree”, and parar meaning "to stop".
Arima, officially The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs of Trinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent to Sangre Grande and Arouca at the south central foothills of the Northern Range. To the south is the Caroni–Arena Dam. Coterminous with Town of Arima since 1888, the borough of Arima is the fourth-largest municipality in population in the country. The census estimated it had 33,606 residents in 2011.
The Panyols are a Pardo (tri-racial) ethnic group in Trinidad and Tobago of mixed Spanish, South American Amerindian, Trinidadian and Tobagonian Amerindian, Afro-Latin American, and Afro-Trinidadian and Tobagonian descent. They comprise the Cocoa Estate Plantations owners community along with peasant workers from Venezuela and Colombia, also referred to as Pagnols, local Spanish, Cocoa panyols. They were born of the shared Island nation, on both sides of the Gulf of Paria, Peninsulas that settling within the Northern Range Rain Forest Mountains Valleys of Trinidad and Tobago Caura River, down the mountains into the Tacarigua River into the Caroni River, and the Orinoco, and Caura River, Venezuela. They played an important role in the development of the cocoa industry in Trinidad and Tobago, running the Cocoa Estate and not to be confused with the freed community of former slaves.
Spanish Missions in Trinidad were established as part of the Spanish colonisation of its new possessions. In 1687 the Catholic Catalan Capuchin friars were given responsibility for religious conversions of the indigenous Amerindian residents of Trinidad and the Guianas. In 1713 the missions were handed over to the secular clergy. Due to shortages of missionaries, although the missions were established they often went without Christian instruction for long periods of time.
Arouca is a town in the East–West Corridor of Trinidad and Tobago located 19 km (12 mi) east of Port of Spain, along the Eastern Main Road. It is located west of Arima, east of Tunapuna and Tacarigua, south of Lopinot, and north of Piarco. It is governed by the Tunapuna–Piarco Regional Corporation. Arouca may be a corruption of Arauca, an Amerindian tribe.
Hinduism is the second largest religion in Trinidad and Tobago. Hindu culture arrived in 1845 in Trinidad and Tobago. According to the 2011 census there were 240,100 declared Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago. There are also various temples in Trinidad and Tobago to accommodate Hindus.
The Macushi are an indigenous people living in the borderlands of southern Guyana, northern Brazil in the state of Roraima, and in an eastern part of Venezuela.
Valentina Medina, aka Iere, born in Mount Pleasant, Arima, was the fifth Carib Queen since the introduction of the title in 1875.
Holy Cross College is situated on Calvary Hill, in the city of Arima, which is located in the north-east of Trinidad. This twin island republic is the last in the archipelago of the Caribbean, just north of Venezuela in South America.
John Albert Bullbrook was an author, archaeologist and archaeological historian, who went to Trinidad in 1913 as a petroleum geologist. He began his archaeological career in 1919, pioneering the search on the indigenous population of Trinidad.
Indigenous peoples in Guyana, or Native Guyanese, are Guyanese people who are of indigenous ancestry. They comprise approximately 9.16% of Guyana's population. Amerindians are credited with the invention of the canoe, as well as Cassava-based dishes and Guyanese pepperpot, the national dish of Guyana. Amerindian languages have also been incorporated in the lexicon of Guyanese Creole.
Maximilian Forte is a professor of anthropology in the Concordia University Department of Sociology and Anthropology in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The Carib Queen is the leader of the indigenous community in Trinidad and Tobago. The Queen, whose title was established in 1875, is based at the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago. The position is a lifetime appointment.
Jennifer Cassar was a Trinidadian cultural activist and civil servant. Cassar served as the Carib Queen, a leader of the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community and the indigenous community in Trinidad and Tobago, from 2011 until her death in 2018. Cassar, a career civil servant and the sixth Carib Queen since the title's creation in 1875, was the first Carib Queen to hold a secular job.
Nona Lopez Calderon Galera Moreno Aquan is Carib Queen of the Arima First Peoples. She was revealed to the community on May 29, 2019 after a traditional ceremony at the community’s centre in Arima.
Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal was a Trinidad and Tobago arachnologist. She discovered several new species of spiders in Trinidad and Tobago, and published some of the first surveys of spider populations in many countries of the Caribbean.
