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 Tobago House of Assembly is the local government body responsible for the island of Tobago within the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The THA was established in 1980 to rectify some of the disparities in the relationship between the two islands. In addition to the normal local government functions the THA handles many of the responsibilities of the central government, but lacks the ability to collect taxes or impose local laws or zoning regulations.
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.
This forested area has great biodiversity including many species of birds, mammals, frog and (non-poisonous) snakes. It is also one of the most approachable area of rain-forest since it is relatively small and there are Government appointed guides who provide an authoritative guiding service through the forest at very reasonable cost. The guides are very knowledgeable about the plants and the animals and can call down rare and exotic birds from the canopy by imitating their calls.
Tobago is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, part of the nation of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Head of State of Trinidad and Tobago is the president, currently Professor Emeritus George Maxwell Richards. The President is elected by an Electoral College consisting of the full membership of both houses of Parliament. The parliament consists of two chambers, the Senate (31 seats) and the House of Representatives (36 seats). The members of the Senate are appointed by the president. The 16 Government Senators are appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister, the 6 Opposition Senators are appointed on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition and the 9 Independent Senators are appointed by the President to represent other sectors of civil society. The 36 members of the House of Representatives are elected by the people for a maximum of five years.
Tobago was inhabited by Island Caribs at the time of European contact. The island later changed hands between the French, Dutch, British and Courlanders. The island was finally ceded to the British in 1814. Originally a very wealthy sugar colony, Tobago's economy collapsed after the abolition of slavery. In 1888 Tobago was annexed to Trinidad.
The climate is tropical, and the islands lie just south of the Atlantic hurricane belt. Average rainfall varies between 3800 mm on the Main Ridge to less than 1250 mm in the south-west of the island. There are two seasons, a wet season between June and December and a dry season between January and May.
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.
In 2004 the party was re-formed under the leadership of Hochoy Charles and won a single seat in the 2005 Tobago House of Assembly Elections. Having lost the election and the seat he contested, Charles offered to resign as party leader, but the resignation was not accepted on the grounds that the party needed experienced leadership.
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.
The principal economic forces in Tobago are tourism and government spending. Conventional beach and water-sports tourism is largely focussed in the south-east around the airport and the coastal strip. However ecotourism is growing in significance and much of this is focussed on the large area of protected forest in the centre and north of the main island and also on Little Tobago, a small island off the north east tip of the main island.