Geography of Trinidad and Tobago

Enter article sub-title here, or delete this line

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

Geographic coordinates: 11 00 N, 61 00 W

Area: total: 5,128 sq km; land: 5,128 sq km; water: 0 sq km

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 362 km

Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the outer edge of the continental margin

Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to December)

Terrain: mostly plains with some hills and low mountains

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: El Cerro del Aripo 940 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, asphalt

Land use: arable land: 14.62%; permanent crops: 9.16%; other: 76.22% (2005)

Irrigated land: 40 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 3.8 cu km (2000)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): total: 0.31 cu km/yr (68%/26%/6%)
per capita: 237 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards: outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms

Environment - current issues: water pollution from agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; oil pollution of beaches; deforestation; soil erosion

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: Pitch Lake, on Trinidad's southwestern coast, is the world's largest natural reservoir of asphalt.