The country has remained a member of the Commonwealth, and until 2003 has retained the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as its highest court of appeal.
Following elections in January, 2005, the People's National Movement holds 11 seats in the THA while the Democratic Action Congress holds one seat.
The Democratic Action Congress (DAC) was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago founded by A.N.R. Robinson from the Action Commission of Democratic Citizens (ACDC) in 1971. It contested General Elections between 1976 and 1981 but was never able to control more than the two Tobago seats. In 1986 it merged into the National Alliance for Reconstruction.
Tobago is linked to the world through the airport at Crown Point, and the Scarborough harbour. Domestic flights connect Tobago with Trinidad, and international flights connect with the Caribbean and Europe.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President. The President is obligated to appoint the person with the most support in the House of Representatives to this post; this has always been the leader of the party which won the most seats in the previous election.
Tobago is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, part of the nation of Trinidad and Tobago.
Local Government functions in Tobago are handled by the Tobago House of Assembly. The current Chief Secretary of the THA is Orville London. The People's National Movement controls 11 seats in the Assembly, while the Democratic Action Congress controls the other seat.
Tobago has a land area of 300 km² (116 mi²), and is approximately 42 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide. It is located at latitude 11°N, longitude 60°W, slightly north of Trinidad. The population is 54,084 (2000). The capital of Tobago is Scarborough, with a population of about 17,000. While Trinidad is multiethnic, the population of Tobago is overwhelmingly Afro-Tobagonian, although with a growing proportion of Indo-Trinidadians and Europeans (predominantly Germans and Scandinavians). Between 1990 and 2000 the population of Tobago grew by 11.28%, making it one of the fasting growing areas of the country.
The Tobago forest reserve claims to be the oldest protected forests in the western world. It was designated as a protected Crown reserve on April 17 1776 following representations by Soame Jenyns a Member of Parliament in Britain who had the responsibility for the development of Tobago. It has remained a protected area ever since.
Although Tobago lies to the south of the hurricane belt, it was nevertheless struck by Hurricane Flora on September 30, 1963. The effects of the hurricane were so severe that it changes the face of Tobago's economy. The hurricane laid waste to the plantations of Banana, Coconut and Cocoa, which largely sustained the economy. It also wreaked considerable damage to the largely pristine tropical rainforest that makes up a large proportion of the interior of the northern half of the island. Subsequently, many of the plantations were abandoned and the economy changed direction away from cash crop agriculture towards tourism.
Scarborough, Tobago is the largest town on Tobago, one of the two islands of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and contains more than half of the population of the island. The town is dominated by Fort King George, a 18th Century fortification named for King George III which now hosts a historic/archaeologic museum.
The country's highest court is the Court of Appeals, whose chief justice is appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and leader of the opposition. Final appeal on some matters is decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. Trinidad and Tobago was chosen by its Caribbean neighbors (CARICOM) to be the headquarters site of a contemplated Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to replace the Privy Council in the fall of 2003
Tobago is also a popular diving location since it is the most southerly of the Caribbean island with coral communities. Trinidad, which is further south has no significant coral because of low salinity and high silt content which result from its position close in the mouth of Venezuela's River Orinoco. Diving on Tobago tends to be centred at Speyside, almost diametrically across the island from the airport.
The general direction and control of the government rests with the Cabinet, led by a Prime Minister and answerable to the House of Representatives. The 36 members of the House are elected to terms of at least 5 years. Elections may be called earlier by the president at the request of the prime minister or after a vote of no confidence in the House of Representatives. In 1976, the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18. The Senate's 31 members are appointed by the President: 16 on the advice of the prime minister, six on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and nine independents selected by the President from among outstanding members of the community. Local government is through nine Regional Corporations and five municipalities. Tobago was given a measure of self-government in 1980 and is governed by the Tobago House of Assembly. In 1996, Parliament passed legislation which gave Tobago greater self-government.
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a nation located in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Venezuela. It is an archipelagic state consisting of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and 21 smaller islands, the most important being Chacachacare, Monos, Huevos, Gaspar Grande (or Gasparee), Little Tobago and St Giles Is. The larger and more populated island is Trinidad, while the island of Tobago is smaller (303 square kilometres; about 6% of the total area) and less populous (50,000 people; 4% of the total population). Citizens are officially called Trinidadians or Tobagonians or Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, but are informally referred to as Trinis or Trinbagonians.