- The Republic of Trinity-and-Tobago is a formed State of two islands to broad of South America (Venezuela). History of Trinity-and-Tobago
Before the contact with Europeans, the island of Trinity was occupied by Amerindian tribes, in particular Nepoya and Suppoya. Tobago as for it was inhabited by Kalinago. The indigenous name of Trinity was Kairi (or Iere), which would mean "Country of the Hummingbirds" (for others that means "island quite simply"). Christophe Colomb discovered the island of Trinity on July 31, 1498, and its name according to the Holy Trinity gave him. Tobago was named Bella Forma, which became Tobago later, deformation of tobacco (English tobacco). The Spaniards colonized the island of Trinity. Tobago changed European colonial power regularly. Nevertheless, the colonization of the two islands remained relatively not very important. The islands were then in turn British, French, Dutch and "lettones" (Courlande) to become finally British at the end of the Napoleonean wars. The islands were gathered within the same colony by the British in 1889. These changes explain the origins of the names of the places in the country. African slaves, Indians, of the Chinese, of the Portuguese, and freed African slaves populated the island at the XIXe century and the beginning of the XXe century. Immigrants come from Barbades, remainder of the Antilles, Syria and Lebanon come to supplement the melting-pot of the country.
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