View source for Tobago

{{Short description|Autonomous island in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago}}
{{About|the island}}
{{Distinguish|Tabacco (disambiguation){{!}}Tabacco|Tabaco|Tobacco}}
{{Use Trinidad and Tobago English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Multiple issues|
{{Update|date=February 2024}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2021}}
}}

{{Infobox political division
| name                   = Tobago
| official_name          = Ward of Tobago
| nickname               = 
| settlement_type        = [[Ward (electoral subdivision)|Ward]]
| image_map              = Td-map.png
| map_caption            = Map of [[Trinidad]] and Tobago
| image_map2             = Caribbean - Tobago.PNG
| map_caption2           = Location of Tobago in the [[Caribbean]]
| etymology              = ''Tabaco'' ({{translation|Tobacco}})
| coordinates            = {{coord|11|11|0|N|60|44|15|W}}
| capital                = [[Scarborough, Tobago|Scarborough]]
| largest_city           = capital
| official_languages     = [[Trinidadian and Tobagonian English|English]]
| languages_type         = [[Vernacular language]]
| languages              = [[Tobagonian Creole]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-trinidad-and-tobago.html | title=What Languages Are Spoken In Trinidad And Tobago? | date=August 2017 | publisher=WorldAtlas.com | accessdate=2022-08-03}}</ref>
| ethnic_groups          = {{tree list}}
* 85.3% [[Afro-Trinidadian and Tobagonian|African]]
* 8.5% [[Multiracial people|Mixed]]
** 4.2% [[Dougla people|Dougla]]
* 2.5% [[Indo–Trinidadians and Tobagonians|Indian]]
* 1.0% [[Tobago#Ancestry and ethnicity|Other]]
* 2.6% Not stated
{{tree list/end}}
| ethnic_groups_year     = 2011
| ethnic_groups_ref      = <ref name=2011Census>{{cite report|title=Trinidad and Tobago 2011 Population and Housing Census Demographic Report|publisher=Trinidad and Tobago Central Statistical Office|url=http://www.tt.undp.org/content/dam/trinidad_tobago/docs/DemocraticGovernance/Publications/TandT_Demographic_Report_2011.pdf|access-date=2019-08-20}}</ref>
| religion               = {{tree list}}
* 72.87% Christianity
** {{no wrap|66.24% [[Protestantism]]}}
** {{no wrap|6.64% [[Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago|Roman Catholicism]]}}
* 12.35% [[Tobago#Religion|Other]]
* 5.39% [[Irreligion|None]]
* 9.83% Not stated
{{tree list/end}}
| religion_year          = 2011
| religion_ref           = <ref name=2011Census/>
| subdivision_type       = Country
| subdivision_name       = {{flagu|Trinidad and Tobago}}
| established_title      = 
| established_date       = 
| government_type        = [[Autonomous administrative division]]
| legislature            = [[Tobago House of Assembly]]
| leader_title1          = {{nowrap|[[Chief Secretary of Tobago|Chief Secretary]]}}
| leader_name1           = [[Farley Chavez Augustine]]
| leader_title2          = 
| leader_name2           = 
| leader_title3          = [[Presiding Officer of the Tobago House of Assembly|House Presiding Officer]]
| leader_name3           = [[Abby Taylor]]
| national_representation_type1 = [[House of Representatives (Trinidad and Tobago)|House of Representatives]]
| national_representation1 = [[List of MPs for constituencies in Tobago|2 MPs]]
| demonym                = [[Trinidadians and Tobagonians|Tobagonian]]
| area_km2               = 300
| area_sq_mi             = 115.831
| population_census      = 60,735<ref name=density>{{cite report |title=Trinidad and Tobago 2011 Population and Housing Census Demographic Report |url=http://www.tt.undp.org/content/dam/trinidad_tobago/docs/DemocraticGovernance/Publications/TandT_Demographic_Report_2011.pdf?download |page=26 |publisher=Trinidad and Tobago Central Statistical Office|access-date=27 May 2016}}</ref>
| population_census_year = 2011
| population_density_km2 = 203
||population_density_sq_mi =78.3787
| currency               = [[Trinidad and Tobago dollar]]
| currency_code          = TTD
| timezone               = [[Atlantic Standard Time|AST]]
| utc_offset             = -4
| drives_on              = left
| calling_code           = [[North American Numbering Plan|+1]] [[Area code 868|(868)]]
}}

'''Tobago''',{{efn|Pronounced {{IPAc-en|t|ə|ˈ|b|eɪ|ɡ|oʊ}}}} officially the '''Ward of Tobago''', is an [[island]] and [[Ward (electoral subdivision)|ward]] in [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. It is {{convert|35|km|nmi|-1|abbr=off}} northeast of the larger island of [[Trinidad]] and about {{convert|160|km|nmi|round=5|abbr=off}} off Venezuela's northeastern coast. It is southeast of [[Grenada]] and southwest of [[Barbados]].

== Etymology ==
[[Christopher Columbus]] named Tobago ''Belaforme'' "because from a distance it seemed beautiful". The Spanish friar [[Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa]] wrote that the [[Kalina people|Kalina]] (mainland Caribs) called the island ''Urupina'' because of its resemblance to a big snail,<ref name="Boomert"/>{{Rp|84–85}} while the [[Island Caribs|Kalinago]] (Island Caribs) called it ''Aloubaéra'', supposedly because it resembled the ''alloüebéra'', a giant snake that supposedly lived in a cave on the island of [[Dominica]].<ref name="Boomert" />{{Rp|79}} The earliest known record of the use of the name ''Tabaco'' to refer to the island is a Spanish royal order issued in 1511. That name was inspired by the resemblance of the island's shape to the fat cigars smoked by the [[Taíno]] inhabitants of the Greater Antilles.<ref name="Boomert" />{{Rp|84–85}}

== History ==
{{main|History of Tobago}}
{{See also|History of Trinidad and Tobago}}

===Indigenous Tobago===
[[File:Tobago jade ceremonial ax.jpg|thumb|left|[[Greenstone (archaeology)|Greenstone]] ceremonial axe, from [[shell midden]], Mount Irvine Bay, Tobago, 1957.]]
Tobago was settled by indigenous people belonging to the [[Ortoiroid people|Ortoiroid cultural tradition]] sometime between 3500 and 1000 BCE.<ref name="Boomert">{{Cite book|title=The indigenous peoples of Trinidad and Tobago : from the first settlers until today|last=Boomert|first=Arie|date=15 January 2016|isbn=9789088903540|location=Leiden|oclc=944910446}}</ref>{{Rp|21–24}} In the first century of the [[Common Era]], [[Saladoid]] people settled in Tobago.<ref name = "Reid2004">{{Cite journal|last=Reid|first=Basil|year=2004|title=Reconstructing the Saladoid Religion of Trinidad and Tobago|journal=The Journal of Caribbean History|volume=32|pages=243–278}}</ref> They brought with them pottery-making and agricultural traditions, and are likely to have introduced crops which included [[cassava]], [[sweet potato]]es, [[Dioscorea trifida|Indian yam]], [[Xanthosoma|tannia]] and [[Maize|corn]].<ref name="Boomert" />{{Rp|32–34}} Saladoid cultural traditions were later modified by the introduction of the [[Barrancoid people|Barrancoid]] culture, either by trade or a combination of trade and settlement.<ref name="Boomert" />{{Rp|34–44}} After 650 CE, the Saladoid culture was replaced by the Troumassoid tradition in Tobago.<ref name="Boomert" />{{Rp|45}} Troumassoid traditions were once thought to represent the settlement of the [[Island Caribs]] in the Lesser Antilles and Tobago, but this is now associated with the Cayo ceramic tradition. No archaeological sites exclusively associated with the Cayo tradition are known from Tobago.<ref name="Boomert" />{{Rp|60}}

Tobago's location made it an important point of connection between the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles and their Kalina allies and trading partners in the [[The Guianas|Guianas]] and Venezuela. In the 1630s Tobago was inhabited by the Kalina, while the neighbouring island of Grenada was shared by the Kalina and Kalinago.<ref name="Boomert"/>{{Rp|115–119}}

Columbus sighted Tobago on 14 August 1498, during his fourth voyage, but he did not land.<ref name="Learie">{{Cite book|last=Learie|first=Luke B.|title=Identity and secession in the Caribbean : Tobago versus Trinidad, 1889–1980|date=2007|publisher=University of the West Indies Press|isbn=978-9766401993|location=Kingston, Jamaica|oclc=646844096}}</ref>{{Rp|2}} The Spanish settlers in Hispaniola were authorised to conduct slave raids against the island in a royal order issued in 1511.<ref name="Boomert"/> These raids, which continued until at least the 1620s,<ref name="Boomert" />{{Rp|115–119}} decimated the island's population.<ref name="Boomert" />{{Rp|83}}

===European colonisation===
[[File:Plan of Nieuw Vlissingen.jpg|thumb|left|Seventeenth-century map showing the fort of Nieuw Vlissingen.]]
In 1628, Dutch settlers established the first European settlement in Tobago, a colony they called Nieuw Walcheren at Great Courland Bay. They also built a fort, Nieuw Vlissingen, near the modern town of [[Plymouth, Tobago|Plymouth]]. The settlement was abandoned in 1630 after indigenous attacks, but was re-established in 1633. The new colony was destroyed by the Spanish in Trinidad after the Dutch supported a Nepoyo-led revolt in Trinidad. Attempts by the English to colonise Tobago in the 1630s and 1640s also failed due to indigenous resistance.<ref name="Boomert" />{{Rp|115–119}}

The indigenous population also prevented European colonisation in the 1650s, including an attempt by the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], but the Polish or Lithuanian explorers did not colonise the Island of Tobago, who colonised the island intermittently between 1637 and 1690.{{Clarify|reason=The didn't colonise it but they colonised it?|date=June 2023}} Over the ensuing years, the [[Curonian colonization of the Americas|Curonians]] ([[Duchy of Courland]]), Dutch, English, French, Spanish and Swedish had caused Tobago to become a focal point in repeated attempts of colonisation, which led to the island having changed hands 33 times, the most in [[Caribbean]] history, before the [[Treaty of Paris (1814)|Treaty of Paris]] ceded it to the British in 1814. In 1662, the Dutch brothers [[Adrian Lampsins|Adrian]] and [[Cornelius Lampsins]] were granted the title of ''Barons of Tobago,'' and ruled until the English captured the island in 1666. Adrian briefly recaptured Tobago in 1673, but was killed in battle when the English, under Sir [[Tobias Bridge]], yet again took control of the island.<ref>Riddell (Author), Henri de Bourbon (comte de Chambord.), John. "The Patent of Baron to C Van Lampsins." The Pedigree of the Duchess of Mantua, Montferrat and Ferrara, Oxford University, 1885, pp. 8–10.</ref>

[[File:Prise de Tobago 1781 par les Francais.jpg|thumb|left|French attack on the British island of Tobago in 1781 with text. French painting from 1784.]]

From about 1672, during the temporary English rule of 1672–1674,<ref>
{{cite book
|last1= Nimblett
|first1= Lennie M.
|title= Tobago: The Union with Trinidad 1889–1899
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KpSleX0cBAEC
|publisher= AuthorHouse
|date= 2012
|pages= 11–12
|isbn= 9781477234501
|access-date= 5 February 2015
|quote= 1672: England declared war against the Netherlands and captured Tobago.<br /> 1673: The Dutch defeated the English in the third Anglo/Dutch war and occupied Tobago in May 1674 after the Peace of Westminster.
}}
</ref> Tobago had a period of stability during which [[plantation]] culture began.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} Sugar, cotton and indigo factories sprang up and Africans were imported by the British to work as slaves. The economy flourished. France had abandoned the island to Britain in 1763,<ref>
{{cite book
|last1= Nimblett
|first1= Lennie M.
|title= Tobago: The Union with Trinidad 1889–1899
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KpSleX0cBAEC
|publisher= AuthorHouse
|date= 2012
|page= 12
|isbn= 9781477234501
|access-date= 5 February 2015
|quote= The island remained in dispute between Britain and France and was essentially a neutral island between 1679 and 1763. [...] Tobago [was] formally ceded by France to Britain at the Treaty of Paris 1763 after the Seven Years War.
}}
</ref> and by 1777 Tobago was exporting great quantities of cotton, indigo, rum and sugar. 

In 1781, the French retook the island during the [[Invasion of Tobago]].<ref name="atm">{{cite book |last1=Mahan |first1=A.T. |title=The Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence |date=1969 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=New York |pages=167–168}}</ref> On 24 May 1781, the fleet of [[Comte de Grasse]] landed troops on the island under the command of General Marquis de Bouillé. By 2 June 1781, they had successfully gained control of the island.

===British rule and independence===
In 1814, when the island again came under British control, another phase of successful sugar-production began.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} But a severe hurricane in 1847, combined with the collapse of [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|plantation]] underwriters, end of slavery in 1834 and the competition from sugar with other European countries, marked the end of the sugar trade. In 1889, the island became a ward of Trinidad. Without sugar, the islanders had to grow other crops, planting acres of limes, coconuts and cocoa and exporting their produce to Trinidad. In 1963, [[Hurricane Flora]] ravaged Tobago, destroying the villages and crops. A restructuring programme followed and attempts were made{{by whom|date=February 2015}} to diversify the economy. The development of a tourist industry began.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence from the British Empire in August 1962 and became a republic on 31 August 1976.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://guardian.co.tt/opinion/45-years-a-republic-6.2.1389840.1663fd2aca|title=45 years a Republic|publisher=Trinidad & Tobago Guardian|language=English|date=24 August 2021|access-date=6 January 2022}}</ref>

== Geography ==
[[File:Castara Bay (Tobago 2009).jpg|thumb|Castara Bay]]
[[File:ISS034-E-49777 - View of Trinidad and Tobago.jpg|thumb|Tobago from space|alt=Please orient this picture northwards so that the southwest portion of the island is in the bottom left of the frame.]]
Tobago has a land area of [[1 E8 m2|300&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>]]<ref name="density" /> and is approximately {{convert|40|km|mi|abbr=off}} long and {{convert|10|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} wide. It is located at latitude 11° 15' N, longitude 60° 40' W, slightly north of Trinidad.

The island of Tobago is the main exposed portion of the [[Geology of Trinidad and Tobago#Tobago terrane|Tobago terrane]], a fragment of crustal material lying between the [[Caribbean Plate|Caribbean]] and [[South American Plate]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Speed|first1=R. C.|last2=Smith-Horowitz|first2=P. L.|year=1998|title=The Tobago Terrane|journal=International Geology Review|language=en|volume=40|issue=9|pages=805–830|doi=10.1080/00206819809465240|issn=0020-6814|bibcode=1998IGRv...40..805S}}</ref> Tobago is primarily hilly, mountainous and of volcanic origin.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://islands.unep.ch/IWX.htm#Tobago|publisher=[[United Nations Earthwatch]] |title=Tobago (Great Tobago) [1551]|access-date=2011-10-19}}</ref> The southwest of the island is flat and consists largely of [[coral]]line [[limestone]]. The mountainous spine of the island is called the [[Main Ridge, Tobago|Main Ridge]]. The highest point in Tobago is the {{convert|550|m}} Pigeon Peak near [[Speyside, Tobago|Speyside]].<ref name=Anthony>{{cite book|author=Anthony, Michael|title=Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago|publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland, and London, UK|year=2001|isbn=0-8108-3173-2|author-link=Michael Anthony (author)}}</ref>

=== Climate ===
The climate is tropical, and the island lies just south of the Atlantic [[Main Development Region]], making it vulnerable to occasional low-latitude [[tropical cyclone]]s. Average rainfall varies between {{convert|3800|mm|in|abbr=in}} on the Main Ridge to less than {{convert|1250|mm|in|abbr=in}} in the southwest. There are two seasons: a wet season between June and December, and a dry season between January and May.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metoffice.gov.tt/Climate|title=Climate {{!}} Trinidad & Tobago Meteorological Service|website=www.metoffice.gov.tt|language=en|access-date=2017-02-02}}</ref>

{{Weather box
|location = Tobago ([[A.N.R. Robinson International Airport]]) (1973–2004)
|metric first = y
|single line = y
|Jan high C = 30.2
|Feb high C = 30.5
|Mar high C = 30.9
|Apr high C = 31.4
|May high C = 31.7
|Jun high C = 31.1
|Jul high C = 30.7
|Aug high C = 31.2
|Sep high C = 31.5
|Oct high C = 31.4
|Nov high C = 30.9
|Dec high C = 30.3
|year high C = 
|Jan mean C = 26.3
|Feb mean C = 26.5
|Mar mean C = 26.8
|Apr mean C = 27.6
|May mean C = 28.1
|Jun mean C = 27.6
|Jul mean C = 27.4
|Aug mean C = 27.6
|Sep mean C = 27.8
|Oct mean C = 27.6
|Nov mean C = 27.3
|Dec mean C = 26.7
|year mean C = 
|Jan low C = 22.5
|Feb low C = 22.5
|Mar low C = 22.8
|Apr low C = 23.9
|May low C = 24.6
|Jun low C = 24.2
|Jul low C = 24.0
|Aug low C = 24.0
|Sep low C = 24.1
|Oct low C = 23.9
|Nov low C = 23.6
|Dec low C = 23.0
|year low C = 
|Jan record high C = 32.4
|Feb record high C = 33.1
|Mar record high C = 33.2
|Apr record high C = 35.0
|May record high C = 34.0
|Jun record high C = 33.4
|Jul record high C = 33.0
|Aug record high C = 35.0
|Sep record high C = 33.8
|Oct record high C = 33.7
|Nov record high C = 32.8
|Dec record high C = 36.1
|Jan record low C = 19.0
|Feb record low C = 19.0
|Mar record low C = 19.2
|Apr record low C = 18.7
|May record low C = 21.0
|Jun record low C = 20.1
|Jul record low C = 21.0
|Aug record low C = 20.3
|Sep record low C = 20.0
|Oct record low C = 19.1
|Nov record low C = 19.2
|Dec record low C = 19.6
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 65.9
|Feb precipitation mm = 52.8
|Mar precipitation mm = 21.4
|Apr precipitation mm = 52.9
|May precipitation mm = 105.8
|Jun precipitation mm = 172.5
|Jul precipitation mm = 266.9
|Aug precipitation mm = 244.6
|Sep precipitation mm = 182.6
|Oct precipitation mm = 240.2
|Nov precipitation mm = 207.5
|Dec precipitation mm = 161.0
|year precipitation mm = 1774.2
|unit precipitation days = 1 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 9.8
|Feb precipitation days = 7.0
|Mar precipitation days = 5.2
|Apr precipitation days = 5.2
|May precipitation days = 8.9
|Jun precipitation days = 15.6
|Jul precipitation days = 17.1
|Aug precipitation days = 15.4
|Sep precipitation days = 13.7
|Oct precipitation days = 14.8
|Nov precipitation days = 16.2
|Dec precipitation days = 13.0
|year precipitation days = 142.0
|source 1 = NOAA<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datasets/GHCND/stations/GHCND:TDM00078962/detail
| title = Daily Summaries Station Details
| publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
| access-date = 13 July 2021
}}</ref>
}}

==== Hurricanes ====
The island was struck by [[Hurricane Flora]] in 1963. The effects were so severe that they changed the face of Tobago's economy. The hurricane laid waste to the banana, coconut, and [[cacao bean|cacao]] plantations that largely sustained the economy, and it wreaked considerable damage on the largely pristine tropical rainforest that makes up a large proportion of the interior of the island's northern half. Many of the plantations were subsequently abandoned, and the economy changed direction away from cash crop agriculture and toward tourism. [[Hurricane Ivan]], while less severe than Flora, also caused significant damage in 2004.

== Government ==
{{Main|Politics of Trinidad and Tobago}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| caption_align = center
| image1 = The Hon Christine Kangaloo.jpg
| width1 = 140
| caption1 = [[Christine Kangaloo]]<br /><small>[[President of Trinidad and Tobago]]<br />since 20 March 2023</small>
| direction = 
| total_width = 
| alt1 = 
}}
Central and local government functions in Tobago are handled by the [[Tobago House of Assembly]]. The current [[Chief Secretary of Tobago]] is Farley Chavez Augustine from the [[Progressive Democratic Patriots]], which controls 14 of the 15 seats in the Assembly, with the [[Tobago Council of the People's National Movement]] led by [[Ancil Dennis]] controlling one seat since the [[December 2021 Tobago House of Assembly election]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Staff|date=22 January 2009|url=https://newsday.co.tt/2024/02/29/pnm-tobago-council-leader-wants-integrity-commission-to-investigate-friendship-road-project/|title=Ancil Dennis critiises THA|work=Trinidad and Tobago Live Online|access-date=2024-03-04}}</ref>

Tobago is represented by two seats in the [[Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Tobago East]] and [[Tobago West]]. The two seats are controlled by the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement, which won and retained them in the [[2015 Trinidad and Tobago general election|2015]] and [[2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election]].

In the [[2025 Trinidad and Tobago general election|2025 general election]], held on 28 April 2025, both seats were won by the Tobago People’s Party, ending decades of representation by the People’s National Movement on the island <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-29 |title=Trinidad and Tobago election: Opposition sails to victory |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx284988058o |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>.

This marked the first occasion in which a Tobago-based political party secured both of the island’s parliamentary seats, reflecting a significant shift in the island’s political landscape and strengthening the TPP’s role in national affairs  <ref>{{Cite news |last=Duncan |first=Natricia |last2=Haynes |first2=Kejan |last3=Correspondent |first3=Caribbean |date=2025-04-29 |title=Former PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar wins election in Trinidad and Tobago |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/29/former-pm-kamla-persad-bissessar-wins-election-in-trinidad-and-tobago |access-date=2025-10-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>.

=== Districts ===
[[File:Tobago parishes.svg|thumb|right|Historical parishes of Tobago]]
Historically, Tobago was divided into seven parishes (Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Patrick and Saint Paul). In 1768 each parish of Tobago nominated representatives to the Tobago House of Assembly. On 20 October 1889 the British crown implemented a Royal [[Order in Council]] constituting Tobago as a ward of Trinidad, thus terminating local government on Tobago and forming a unified colony government.

In 1945 when the county council system was first introduced, Tobago was administered as a single county of Trinidad.

In 1980 provisions were made for the Tobago House of Assembly to be revived as an entity providing local government in Tobago. Under the revived system, Tobago is made up of 12 local electoral districts with each district electing one Assemblyman to the THA.

{|  class="wikitable sortable"
! No.
! [[Electoral district]]s<ref>[http://www.ebctt.com/ourOperations.php Electoral Districts in the Electoral Area of Tobago in relation to Tobago House of Assembly Elections], Elections & Boundaries Commission of T&T</ref>

|-
| 1
| Bagotelle / Bacolet
|-
| 2
| Belle Garden / Glamorgan
|-
| 3
| Bethel / New Grange
|-
| 4
| Bethesda / Les Coteaux
|-
| 5
| Bon Accord / Crown Point
|-
| 6
| Buccoo / Mt. Pleasant
|-
| 7
| Darryl Spring / Whim
|-
| 8
| Lambeau / Lowlands
|-
| 9
| Mason Hall / Moriah
|-
| 10
| Mt. St. George / Goodwood
|-
| 11
| Parlatuvier/L’Anse Fourmi/Speyside
|-
| 12
| Plymouth/Black Rock
|-
| 13
| Roxborough/Argyle
|-
| 14
| Scarborough/Mt. Grace
|-
| 15
| Signal Hill/Patience Hill
|}

==Demographics==
The population was 60,874 at the 2011 census.<ref name="density" /> The capital, [[Scarborough, Tobago|Scarborough]], has a population of 17,537. While Trinidad is [[Multiethnic society|multiethnic]], Tobago's population is primarily of African descent, with a growing proportion of Trinidadians of East Indian descent and Europeans. Between 2000 and 2011, the population of Tobago grew by 12.55 per cent, making it one of the fastest-growing areas of Trinidad and Tobago.

===Ancestry and ethnicity===

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;"
|+ '''Tobago racial breakdown'''
|-
! Racial composition  !! 2011<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://guardian.co.tt/sites/default/files/story/2011_DemographicReport.pdf|title=NON-INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION BY SEX, AGE GROUP, ETHNIC GROUP AND MUNICIPALITY|author=Central Statistical Office}}</ref> 
|-

| [[Afro–Trinidadians and Tobagonians]] ||85.2%
|-
| [[Dougla|Dougla (Indian and Black)]] || 4.2%
|-
| [[Multiracial]] || 4.2%
|-
| [[Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians]] || 2.5% 
|-
| [[White Trinidadian and Tobagonian|White Trinidadian/Tobagonian]] || 0.7% 
|-
| [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American (Amerindian)]] || 0.1%
|-
| [[Chinese Trinidadian and Tobagonian|Chinese]] || 0.08%  
|-
| [[Arabs|Arab (Syrian/Lebanese)]] || 0.02%
|-
| Other || 0.1%
|-
| Not stated || 2.6%
|}

===Religion===
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;"
|+ '''Tobago religious breakdown'''
|-
! Religious composition  !! 2011<ref name="auto"/> 
|-

| [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventism]] ||16.26%
|-
| [[Pentecostalism]]/[[Evangelicalism]]/[[Full Gospel]] || 14.69%
|-
| [[Diocese of Trinidad and Tobago|Anglicanism]] || 12.80%
|-
| [[Spiritual Baptist]] || 10.56% 
|-
| [[Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago|Roman Catholicism]] || 6.64% 
|-
| [[Methodism]] || 4.93%
|-
| [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] || 4.56%  
|-
| [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] || 1.62%
|-
| [[Trinidad Orisha|Orisha-Shango]] || 1.52%
|-
| [[Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago|Hinduism]] || 0.67%
|-
| [[Baptists]] || 0.63%
|-
| [[Islam in Trinidad and Tobago|Islam]] || 0.57%
|-
| [[Rastafari]] || 0.39%
|-
| [[Presbyterianism]]/[[Congregational church|Congregationalism]] || 0.18%
|-
| Other || 10.38%
|-
| Not Stated || 9.83%
|-
| [[Irreligion|None]] || 5.39%
|}

== Economy ==
[[File:St. Giles Island - August 2013 (50).JPG|thumb|right|St Giles Island, northernmost part of<br />Trinidad and Tobago, a bird sanctuary]]
[[File:Tobago - August 2013 (1530).JPG|thumb|right|Tobago – August 2013 (1530)]]
[[File:Tobago Cuisine (10).JPG|thumb|right|Tobago Cuisine – Crab and Dumplings]]
[[File:Scarborough Tobago Panorama 2015.jpg|thumb|right|Panoramic shot of Downtown Scarborough, Tobago]]
[[File:Tobago Cuisine (20).JPG|thumb|right|Tobago Cuisine – Pacro Water and Sea Moss drinks]]
[[File:Boccoo2-2005.jpg|thumb|right|Pigeon Point, Tobago.]]
[[File:Artisanal Fishing - Tobago, West Indies.jpg|thumb|Fishing – Tobago, West Indies]]
[[File:Castara village Beach1.jpg|thumb|right|Castara village beach]]
{{main|Economy of Trinidad and Tobago}}

Tobago's main economy is based on tourism, fishing, and government spending, government spending being the largest. The local governing body, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), employs 62% of the labour force.

Tourism is still a fledgling industry. Conventional beach and water-sports tourism is largely in the southwest around the airport and the coastal strip. Meanwhile, [[ecotourism]] is growing in significance, much of it focused 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 main island's northeast tip.

The southwestern tourist area around Crown Point, Store Bay, Buccoo Reef, and [[Pigeon Point, Tobago|Pigeon Point]] has large expanses of sand and is dominated by resort-type developments. Tobago has many idyllic beaches along its coastline, especially those at [[Castara]], Bloody Bay, and [[Englishman's Bay]]. Tobago is linked to the world through the [[Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson International Airport]] (formerly Crown Point Airport) and Scarborough harbour. Domestic flights connect Tobago with Trinidad, and international flights connect with the Caribbean and Europe. There is a daily fast ferry service between Port of Spain and Scarborough.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

Tobago's economy is tightly linked with Trinidad's, which is based on liquefied natural gas (LNG), petrochemicals, and steel. 

=== Diving ===
Tobago is also a popular diving location, since it is the southernmost of the Caribbean islands that have coral communities. Trinidad, which is further south, has no significant coral because of low [[salinity]] and high silt content, the result of its position close to the mouth of Venezuela's [[Orinoco|Orinoco River]]. [[Scuba diving]] on Tobago tends to be centred at [[Speyside, Trinidad and Tobago|Speyside]], almost diametrically across the island from the airport. {{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

The island has some of the best diving sites in the Caribbean. There are three wrecks located around its shores, but the one usually considered the best is the ''Maverick Ferry'', which used to travel between Trinidad and Tobago. The ferry is {{convert|350|ft|m|abbr=off}} long and has been sunk in {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=off}} just off Rocky Point, Mt. Irvine. The top of the wreck is at {{convert|15|m|ft|abbr=off}}. The wreck has an abundance of marine life, including a {{convert|4|ft|m|adj=mid|abbr=off}} [[Epinephelus itajara|jewfish]], a member of the [[grouper]] family. The wreck was purposely sunk for divers, and so all the doors and windows were removed. The waters around the island are home to many species of tropical fish, [[Batoidea|rays]], sharks, and turtles.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/discover-tobago/2016/apr/15/tobagos-spectacular-dive-sites|title=This page has been removed|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

===Golf===
Tobago is home to two golf courses, both of which are open to visitors. The older of the two is Mount Irvine Hotel Golf Course, built in 1968. It was seen throughout the world after hosting the popular golf show "Shell's Wonderful World of Golf". The course is built among coconut palms and has a view of the Caribbean Sea from almost every hole. Formerly known as Tobago Plantations Golf Course, the recently renamed Magdalena Grand Hotel & Golf Club was opened in 2001 and has hosted the European Seniors Tour on three occasions. {{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

== In art ==

=== ''Robinson Crusoe'' ===
Tobago roughly matches the size and location of the island in ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'',<ref>Rhead, Louis. [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/08/12/102131943.pdf LETTER TO THE EDITOR: "Tobago Robinson Crusoe's Island"], ''The New York Times'', 5 August 1899.</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080706142926/http://www.islandguide.biz/caribbean/tobago-robinson-crusoe.htm "Robinson Crusoe and Tobago"]}}, ''Island Guide''</ref> described as being located close to Trinidad and the mouth of [[Orinoco]]. However, the book is generally thought to be based on the experiences of [[Alexander Selkirk]], who was marooned in the Pacific's [[Juan Fernández Islands]], on [[Robinson Crusoe Island|the island later named after Robinson Crusoe]]. On Tobago, there is [[Crusoe Cave]].

===''Swiss Family Robinson''===
{{See also|Swiss Family Robinson (1960 film)}}
In 1958, Tobago was chosen by the [[Walt Disney Company]] as the setting for a film based upon the [[Johann Wyss]] novel ''[[Swiss Family Robinson (1960 film)|Swiss Family Robinson]]''. When producers saw the island for the first time, they "fell instantly in love".<ref name="TCM1">{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/203349 |last=Passafiume |first=Andrea |title=SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1960) |work=Turner Classic Movies |access-date= 9 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Maltin|first=Leonard |year=1995 |title=The Disney Films : 3rd Edition |publisher=[[Hachette Books|Hyperion Books]] |location=New York. |isbn=0-7868-8137-2 |page=176}}</ref> The script required animals, which were brought from all around the world, including eight dogs, two giant tortoises, forty monkeys, two elephants, six ostriches, four zebras, one hundred flamingos, six hyenas, two anacondas, and one tiger.<ref name=TCM1/>

Filming locations include Richmond Bay (the Robinsons beach), Mount Irvine Bay (the Pirates beach), and the Craig Hall Waterfalls. The treehouse was constructed in a 200-foot tall saman in the Goldsborough Bay area. After filming, locals convinced Disney, who had intended to remove all evidence of filmmaking, to let the treehouse remain, without interior furnishing. In 1960, the treehouse was listed for sale for $9,000, a fraction of its original cost, and became a popular attraction before the structure was destroyed by Hurricane Flora in 1963.<ref name="kkidney1">{{cite web |url=http://miehana.blogspot.com/2010/03/some-really-really-big-roots.html |title=Some Really, Really Big Roots |work=Kevin Kidney |date=27 March 2010 |access-date=6 January 2015}}</ref> The tree still remains, however, and is located on the property of the Roberts Auto Service and Tyre Shop, located in Goldsborough, just off of Windward Road. A local Tobago resident says, "The tree has fallen into obscurity; only a few of the older people knew of its significance. As a matter of fact, not many people know of the film ''Swiss Family Robinson'', much less that it was filmed here in Tobago."<ref name="kkidney2">{{cite web | url=http://miehana.blogspot.com/2010/10/swiss-family-tree-found.html |title=Swiss Family Tree Found |work=Kevin Kidney |date=6 October 2010 |access-date=2015-01-06}}</ref>

== Ecology ==
[[File:Phaethon aethereus Little Tobago.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[Red-billed tropicbird]] on [[Little Tobago]].]]
The [[Tobago Forest Reserve]] (Main Ridge Reserve) is the oldest protected rain forest in the Western hemisphere and is biodiverse. It was designated a protected Crown reserve on 17 April 1776 after representations by [[Soame Jenyns]], a member of parliament in [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] responsible for Tobago's development. It has remained a protected area since.<ref name=MainRidge>{{cite web|url=https://nationaltrust.tt/location/the-main-ridge-forest-reserve/|title=The Main Ridge Forest Reserve|website=nationaltrust.tt|publisher=National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago}}</ref><ref name=UNESCO>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5646/|title=Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve|publisher=UNESCO}}</ref>

This forested area has great [[biodiversity]], including many species of [[List of birds of Trinidad and Tobago|birds]] (such as the dancing [[blue-backed manakin]]), mammals, frogs, (non-venomous) snakes, [[List of Butterflies of Tobago|butterflies]] and other invertebrates.<ref name=MainRidge /><ref name=UNESCO /> Tobago also has nesting beaches for the [[leatherback turtle]], which come to shore between April and July.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

The island of Tobago has multiple [[coral reef]] ecosystems.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Lapointe|first1=Brian E.|last2=Langton|first2=Richard|last3=Bedford|first3=Bradley J.|last4=Potts|first4=Arthur C.|last5=Day|first5=Owen|last6=Hu|first6=Chuanmin|date=1 March 2010|title=Land-based nutrient enrichment of the Buccoo Reef Complex and fringing coral reefs of Tobago, West Indies|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X09004639|journal=Marine Pollution Bulletin|language=en|volume=60|issue=3|pages=334–343|doi=10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.10.020|pmid=20034641|bibcode=2010MarPB..60..334L |issn=0025-326X|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/tobagos-major-tourist-attraction-6.2.808091.09065114fd|title=Tobago's major tourist attraction...|website=guardian.co.tt|language=en|access-date=2020-03-18}}</ref> [[The Buccoo Reef]], the Culloden Reef and Speyside Reef are the three largest coral reef marine ecosystems in Tobago.<ref name=":32">{{Cite journal|last1=Buglass|first1=Salome|last2=Donner|first2=Simon D.|last3=Alemu I|first3=Jahson B.|date=15 March 2016|title=A study on the recovery of Tobago's coral reefs following the 2010 mass bleaching event|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X16300376|journal=Marine Pollution Bulletin|language=en|volume=104|issue=1|pages=198–206|doi=10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.01.038|pmid=26856646|bibcode=2016MarPB.104..198B |issn=0025-326X|hdl=2429/51752|hdl-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref> These coral reef systems protect the shores of Tobago from eroding.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Burke|first1= Lauretta Marie|last2= Greenhalgh|first2=Suzie|last3= Prager|first3= Daniel|last4= Cooper|first4=Emily|title=Coastal capital, Tobago : the economic contribution of Tobago's coral reefs|oclc=919637127}}</ref>

[[Little Tobago]], the small neighbouring island, supports some of the best [[Trinidad and Tobago dry forests|dry forest]] remaining in Tobago. Little Tobago and [[Saint Giles Island|St Giles Island]] are important [[seabird]] nesting colonies, with [[red-billed tropicbird]]s, [[magnificent frigatebird]]s and [[Sargasso shearwater]]s, among others.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newsday.co.tt/2021/07/11/red-billed-tropicbird-one-of-the-laziest-birds-in-little-tobago/|title=Red-billed tropicbird, one of the laziest birds in Little Tobago|author=Gittens, Tyrell|date=11 July 2021|website=newsday.co.tt|publisher=Trinidad and Tobago Newsday}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationaltrust.tt/five-big-things-little-tobago-adventure/|title=Five Big Things About Our Little Tobago Adventure|author=Morris John, Ashleigh|date=13 December 2016|website=nationaltrust.tt|publisher=National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago}}</ref>

=== Environmental problems ===
Coral reefs have been damaged recently by silt and mud runoff during construction of a road along the northeast 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. {{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

== Tobagonians ==
* [[Mighty Shadow|The Mighty Shadow]] (Winston McGarland Bailey), singer
* [[Kelly-Ann Baptiste]], Olympic sprinter 
* [[Edwin Carrington]], politician
* [[Winston Duke]], actor
* [[Lalonde Gordon]], Olympic sprinter
* [[Makan Hislop]], footballer
* [[Dominique Jackson (model)|Dominique Jackson]], model and actress
* [[A. P. T. James]], politician 
* [[Buzz Johnson]], publisher
* [[Renny Quow]], Olympic sprinter
* [[Keith Rowley]], politician
* [[A. N. R. Robinson]], politician
* [[Calypso Rose]] (Linda Sandy-Lewis), singer
* [[Dwight Yorke]], footballer

== References ==
{{footnotes}}
{{noteslist}}
{{reflist}}

{{Portal|Trinidad and Tobago}}

== External links ==
{{commons|Tobago}}
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
*[http://www.tha.gov.tt/ Tobago House of Assembly]
*[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Trinidad.html#Tobago Tobago] at worldstatesmen.org.

{{Islands of Trinidad and Tobago}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1814 establishments in the British Empire]]
[[Category:Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas]]
[[Category:Former colonies of Courland]]
[[Category:Former Dutch colonies]]
[[Category:Former French colonies]]
[[Category:Islands of Trinidad and Tobago]]
[[Category:Tobago| ]]
[[Category:Autonomous regions]]