Tobago Land Sale Investment

A Brief On The Island Of Tobago

History

At the time of European contact, Tobago was inhabited by Island Caribs. The first European visitors appear to have been English in 1580. According to the earliest English-language source cited in the Oxford English Dictionary, Tobago bore a name that has become the English word tobacco. The first settlers were Courlanders in 1654. It changed hands 33 times between Courland, Spain, England, France, Sweden, and the Dutch Republic until in 1814 it became part of the British Empire. In 1889, Tobago was united with Trinidad into a British crown colony. In 1962, they became an independent Commonwealth nation of Trinidad and Tobago, in 1976 a republic.

Economy of Trinidad and Tobago

Tobago’s economy is tightly linked with Trinidad, and is based on liquefied natural gas (LNG), petrochemicals, and steel. The principal economic forces specific to Tobago are tourism and government spending. Conventional beach and water-sports tourism is largely focussed in the south-west around the airport and the coastal strip. However, ecotourism is growing in significance, and much of it is focussed on the large area of protected forest in the centre and north of the main island and on Little Tobago, a small island off the northeast tip of the main island.

Tourism is concentrated in the southwest of the island, around Crown Point, Store Bay, Pigeon Point, and Buccoo Reef. This area has large expanses of sand and is dominated by resort type developments. Tobago has many idyllic beaches around its coastline, especially those at Castara, Bloody Bay, and Englishman’s Bay.

Tobago is linked to the world through the Crown Point International Airport and the Scarborough harbour. Domestic flights connect Tobago with Trinidad, and international flights connect with the Caribbean and Europe. There is also a daily fast ferry service between Port of Spain and Scarborough.

The island of Tobago is also thought to be the island that the story Robinson Crusoe was written about. However, the book is probably based on some of the experiences of Alexander Selkirk, who was marooned in the Pacific’s Juan Fernandez Islands.

This island was also the filming location for the Walt Disney movie The Swiss Family Robinson.

Tobago is the site of the famous “mystery tombstone”.

Geography and Climate

Tobago is primarily hilly and of volcanic origin. The southwest of the island is flat and consists largely of coralline limestone. The hilly spine of the island, the Main Ridge. The highest point in Tobago is the 550 meter (1804 ft) Pigeon Peak near Speyside.

Tobago is divided into seven parishes – Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Patrick, and Saint Paul.

The climate is tropical, and the island lies 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.

Environmental Problems

Coral reefs have been damaged recently by silt and mud runoff during construction of a road along the north east coast. There has also been damage to the reef in Charlotteville village caused by sealing the road at Flagstaff Hill and diverting more silty water down the stream from Flagstaff down to Charlotteville.

Ecology

The Tobago Forest Reserve (or the Main Ridge 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.

This forested area has great biodiversity including many species of birds, mammals, frogs, (nonpoisonous) snakes, butterflies and other invertebrates. It is one of the most approachable areas of rain forest, since it is relatively small and there are government-appointed guides who provide an authoritative guiding service through the forest at a reasonable cost. The guides are knowledgeable about the plants and the animals, and can call down rare and exotic birds from the canopy by imitating their calls.

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, with Red-billed Tropicbird, Magnificent Frigatebird and Audubon’s Shearwater amongst others.

Government

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 8 seats in the Assembly, while the Tobago Organization of the People controls the 4 other seats.

Tobago featured in the international press in early 2007 for its forward thinking in the creation of a Minister of Mental Health position. Minister Ellen Tang was appointed on the 1-year anniversary of the launch of the hugely successful Happiness Project. Her aide Melody Williams has been allocated a major proportion of the annual housing funding to revamp government housing projects all over the island.

All briefs are from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia…
“Tobago” Main article: Economy of Trinidad and Tobago…
Last modified on 14 January 2010 at 23:20.

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