when did trinidad and tobago become an independent nation
Trinidad and Tobago The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 until the capitulation of the Spanish Governor, Don José María Chacón, with the arrival of a British fleet of 18 warships on 18 February 1797.[13] During the same period, the island of Tobago changed hands among Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonizers, more times than any other island in the Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago (remaining separate until 1889) were ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens.[14] The country Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976.