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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 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.

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 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.

Hurricane Flora was one of the strongest and deadliest hurricanes in history. Flora blasted through the Caribbean in September and October, 1963. Flora first struck the island of Tobago as a Category 3 hurricane where it caused such great damage that it changed the economy of the island from cash-crop agriculture towards tourism and fishing. Flora then crossed the Caribbean Sea and strenghened to a Category 4 whand slammed into the southern part of Haiti before hitting Cuba near Guantanamo Bay. Flora then slowed up and stalled over Cuba before veering 180 degrees and heading to the northeast into the Atlantic, sparing the East Coast of the U.S..

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.

Since December 24, 2001, the governing party has been the People's National Movement led by Patrick Manning; the Opposition party is the United National Congress led by Basdeo Panday.

Tobago is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, part of the nation of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a unitary state, with a parliamentary democracy modelled on that of the UK, from whom it gained independence in 1962. Under the 1976 republican Constitution, the British monarch was replaced as head of state by a President chosen by an electoral college composed of the members of the bicameral Parliament, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

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

Little Tobago, the small neighbouring island supports some of the best dry forest remaining in Tobago. Little Tobago and St. Giles Island are important seabird nesting colonies.

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.

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.