Regions of Trinidad and Tobago

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Updates: 

The Trinidad and Tobago Central Statistical Office  has the results of the 2000 census. I entered them in the main table in place of the previous figures, which were inconsistent and approximate.

I've acquired additional data on the divisions of Trinidad and Tobago. Karem Abdalla pointed out the Profile of Local Government Corporations  table on the Web site of Trinidad and Tobago's National Library and Information System Authority. Unfortunately, Tobago is not included in this table. Mr. Abdalla provided separate data for Eastern and Western Tobago, but I'm not sure where they come from. Morris Fisher drew my attention to the new offices of the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation in Penal.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Trinidad and Tobago, the draft standard showed eight counties, three municipalities, and one ward. The final standard shows eleven regions and five municipalities. Most of the codes are different, but the code "SGE" was Saint George in the old scheme and Sangre Grande in the new one. The change in the standard corresponds to an actual change in the administrative division of Trinidad and Tobago.

Country overview: 

Trinidad and Tobago was a British colony for the first part of the 20th century. On 1962-08-31 it became an independent member of the British Commonwealth.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Trinidad og Tobago, Republikken Trinidad og Tobago (formal)
2. Dutch: Trinidad en Tobago, Republiek Trinidad en Tobago (formal)
3. English: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (formal)
4. Finnish: Trinidad ja Tobago
5. French: Trinité-et-Tobago f
6. German: Trinidad und Tobago n
7. Icelandic: Trínidad og Tóbagó
8. Italian: Trinidad e Tobago
9. Norwegian: Trinidad og Tobago, Republikken Trinidad og Tobago (formal)
10. Portuguese: Trindade e Tobago, Trinidad f e Tobago m (Brazil), Trinidade e Tobago (Brazil), República f de Trindade e Tobago (formal)
11. Spanish: Trinidad y Tobago, Trinidad y Tabago, República f de Trinidad y Tobago (formal)
12. Swedish: Trinidad och Tobago

Origin of name: 

Spanish Trinidad: Trinity, named by Columbus on sighting three peaks; Carib tavaco: tobacco pipe

Primary subdivisions: 

Trinidad and Tobago is divided into eleven regions, three boroughs, and two cities.

Note: the census data subdivide Tobago, not into Eastern and Western regions, but into seven parishes. Eastern Tobago includes the parishes of Saint George (2000 population: 4,797), Saint Mary (2,562), Saint Paul (4,748), and Saint John (2,780). Western Tobago includes Saint Andrew (12,838), Saint Patrick (9,847), and Saint David (6,618).

Territorial extent: 

1. Tobago consists of the islands of Tobago, Little Tobago, and Saint Giles' Islands.
2. The other divisions lie mainly on the island of Trinidad. In addition, Saint George includes the islands of Monos, Chacachacare, Gaspar Grande, and Huevos.

Change history: 

1. In 1900, Trinidad and Tobago was a British colony.
2. 1945-06: County councils were established. Counties were Caroni, Mayaro, Nariva, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick, Tobago, and Victoria. In addition, the borough of Arima and the cities of Port of Spain and San Fernando were independent of any county.
3. 1962-08-31: Trinidad and Tobago became an independent member of the British Commonwealth.
4. 1980: Tobago House of Assembly was formed as the organ of local government for Tobago. Status of Tobago changed to ward.
5. 1980-04-30: Point Fortin municipality split from Saint Patrick county. The resulting divisions were as shown in this table.

1. 1990: According to the Ministry of Local Government, seven new boroughs or counties were created. I haven't been able to find any documentation on the resulting divisions.
2. 1991-10-01: Chaguanas municipality split from Caroni county.
3. 1992: Local government reorganized into the divisions shown in the table above.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Port of Spain: Port-of-Spain (variant); Puerto España (Spanish)
2. Tobago: Tabago (Spanish)