Geography

View a Map of the Country

Location: Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela
Geographic coordinates: 11 00 N, 61 00 W
Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
total area: 5,130 sq km
land area: 5,130 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than Delaware
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 362 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the outer edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: none
Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to December)
Terrain: mostly plains with some hills and low mountains
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: El Cerro del Aripo 940 m
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, asphalt
Land use:
arable land: 14%
permanent crops: 17%
meadows and pastures: 2%
forest and woodland: 44%
other: 23%
Irrigated land: 220 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: water pollution from agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; oil pollution of beaches; deforestation; soil erosion
natural hazards: outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms
international agreements: party to - Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity

CEHI's Activities

Waste Management

The Institute provided documentation to assist the Environmental Management Authority in the development of national standards for waste waters for Trinidad & Tobago.

The Institute also trained two Ministry of Health staff members and one staff member of the Tobago House of Assembly in the “ Operation and Maintenance of Waste Water Treatment Plants”. As a follow-up to this training, the Institute provided audio-visual material to the Ministry of Health to allow in-house training of Public Health Inspectors.

The Institute co-sponsored a Workshop on “Port Waste Management”, organized by the Trinidad & Tobago Solid Waste Management Company Limited. It also provided a resource person for the workshop.

Economy

Economic overview: Trinidad and Tobago's oil- and petrochemical-dependent economy enjoys a high per capita income, although living standards have declined since the boom years of 1973-82. The country managed to record a second successive year of economic growth in 1995, the first period of substantial expansion since the early 1980s. A broad economic reform program, including the floating of the exchange rate, trade and capital market liberalization, and an extensive privatization program by the previous administration has left the incoming PANDAY government in a relatively sound economic position. Trinidad and Tobago's economic prospects continue to depend heavily on world petroleum prices, however, and further progress toward diversification will be an important challenge in the medium term.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $16.2 billion (1995 est.)
GDP real growth rate: 3.5% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita: $12,100 (1995 est.)
GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: 4.8%
industry: 44.5%
services: 50.7% (1995 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.4% (1995)
Labor force: 404,500
by occupation: construction and utilities 13%, manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 14%, agriculture 11%, services 62% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate: 17.8% (December 1995)
Budget:
revenues: $1.65 billion
expenditures: $1.61 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1996 est.)
Industries: petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles
Industrial production growth rate: 1% (1994 est.)
Electricity:
capacity: 1,150,000 kW
production: 3.9 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 2,740 kWh (1993)
Agriculture: cocoa, sugarcane, rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; poultry
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe and producer of cannabis
Exports: $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, steel products, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus, flowers
partners: US 48%, Caricom countries15%, Latin America 9%, EU 5% (1994)
Imports: $996 million (c.i.f., 1994)
commodities: machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live animals
partners: US 47.7%, Venezuela 10%, UK 8.3%, other EU 8% (1994)
External debt: $2 billion (1994)
Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $10 million (1993)
Currency: 1 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TT$) per US$1 - 5.9412 (January 1996), 5.9192 (1995), 5.9249 (1994), 5.3511 (1993), 4.2500 (fixed rate 1989-1992); note - effective 13 April 1993, the exchange rate of the TT$ is market-determined as opposed to the prior fixed relationship to the US dollar
Fiscal year: calendar year