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| *Spain surrendered the island to the '''British''' in 1797. | | *Spain surrendered the island to the '''British''' in 1797. |
| *During the same period, the '''island of Tobago changed hands among Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander (Livonia then, Latvia now) colonists''' more times than any other island in the Caribbean. | | *During the same period, the '''island of Tobago changed hands among Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander (Livonia then, Latvia now) colonists''' more times than any other island in the Caribbean. |
| *Trinidad and Tobago were ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens as separate states and unified in 1889. Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976.<ref>"Trinidad and Tobago", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad_and_Tobago, accessed 25 July 2021.</ref> | | *Trinidad and Tobago were ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens as separate states and unified in 1889. Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976.<ref name="main">"Trinidad and Tobago", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad_and_Tobago, accessed 25 July 2021.</ref> |
| The ethnic composition of Trinidad and Tobago reflects a history of conquest and immigration.[10] While the earliest inhabitants were of Amerindian heritage, since the 20th century the two dominant groups in the country were those of South Asian and of African heritage.
| | ===French Colonization=== |
| | | *In 1777, Spain granted a "Cédula de Población", opening Trinidad for French immigration. It granted free land and tax exemption for 10 years to Roman Catholic foreign settlers who were willing to swear allegiance to the King of Spain. The Spanish also gave many incentives to lure settlers to the island, including exemption from taxes for ten years and land grants. |
| Indians-South Asian
| | *During the French Revolution, '''French planters''' with their '''slaves, free coloureds and mulattos from the neighbouring islands of Martinique, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Guadeloupe and Dominica''' migrated to Trinidad, where they established an agriculture-based economy (sugar and cocoa). |
| Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonians make up the country's largest ethnic group (approximately 37.6 percent). They are primarily descendants from indentured workers from South Asia, brought to replace freed African slaves who refused to continue working on the sugar plantations from other Islands. Through cultural preservation residents of Indian descent continue to maintain traditions from their ancestral homeland.[citation needed]
| | *As a result, Trinidad's population jumped to over 15,000 by the end of 1789, and by 1797 the population of Port of Spain had increased from under 3,000 to 10,422 in just five years, with '''a varied population of mixed race individuals, Spaniards, Africans, French republican soldiers, retired pirates and French nobility.'''<ref name="main"/> |
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| Sub-Saharan African
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| Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians make up the country's second largest ethnic group, with approximately 36.3 percent of the population. Afro-Trinidadians are the descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans brought to the islands by multiple European parties through the trans-Atlantic slave trade. However, a good percentage of the Black population are descendants of people enslaved on other islands of the Caribbean, and later migrated to Trinidad and Tobago for various reasons. Especially Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Vincent and Grenada. Other Afro-Trinidadians trace their ancestry to American slaves recruited to fight for the British in the War of 1812 or from indentured labourers from West Africa..[citation needed]
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| Other origins
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| There are also significant minorities of Douglas (mixed Indian and African ancestry), Mulattoes (mixed African and European ancestry), Europeans, Chinese, Arabs, Venezuelans, Zambos-Maroons (mixed African and indigenous Amerindian ancestry), Cocoa panyols-Pardos (mixed African, European, and indigenous Indian ancestry), Anglo-Indians (mixed Indian and British ancestry), and Jews, residing in Trinidad and Tobago.[citation needed]
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| Emigration
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| Emigration from Trinidad and Tobago, as with other Caribbean nations, has historically been high; most emigrants go to the United States, Canada, and Britain. Emigration has continued, albeit at a lower rate, even as the birth-rate sharply dropped to levels typical of industrialised countries. Largely because of this phenomenon, as of 2011, Trinidad and Tobago has been experiencing a low population growth rate (0.48 per cent).[citation needed]
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| ==Emigration From Trinidad and Tobago== | | ==Emigration From Trinidad and Tobago== |