Languages spoken in Trinidad & Tobago

Location: Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 5,128-5,130 sq km

Geography - note: outside the usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms; Pitch Lake, on Trinidad''s southwestern coast, is the world''s largest natural reservoir of asphalt

Population: 1.4-1.5 million (2025-2026 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population 73.5 years (World Bank, 2025)

Nationality:
noun/adjective: Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s); "Trinbagonian" used occasionally without specifying island of origin

Ethnic groups: East Indian 35.4%, African descent 34.2%, mixed-other 15.3%, mixed African/East Indian 7.7%, other 1.3%, unspecified 6.2% (2011 est.)

Languages: English (official); Trinidadian and Tobagonian English Creole, Trinidadian Hindustani, Antillean French Creole, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Arabic also spoken

Population distribution: population on Trinidad is concentrated in the western half of the island, on Tobago in the southern half

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
conventional short form: Trinidad and Tobago; Christopher Columbus named the larger island "La Isla de la Trinidad" (The Island of the Trinity) in 1498, possibly for its three mountain peaks

Data code: TD

Government type: parliamentary republic

National capital: Port of Spain

Economy - overview: high-income Caribbean economy; major hydrocarbon exporter, one of the more prosperous nations in the Caribbean thanks largely to petroleum and natural gas production and processing; key tourism and finance sectors; faces high inflation, growing public debt, and long foreign currency access delays, though maintains large foreign reserves and a sovereign wealth fund

GDP (purchasing power parity): $51.68 billion (2025 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.4% (2025)

GDP - per capita: $36,020 PPP (2025 est.)

Inflation rate: 4.5% (June 2022)

Unemployment rate: 3.3% (2025 est.)

Population below poverty line: 4% (2007 est.)

Currency: Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD)

Military branches: Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force (TTDF): Trinidad and Tobago Regiment (Army/Land Forces), Coast Guard, Air Guard, Defense Force Reserves (2026)

Military - note: the TTDF''s primary responsibilities include border and maritime security, assisting civil authorities during crises, search and rescue, port security, and supporting civil law enforcement, particularly countering gang-related crime and narcotics trafficking (2025)