The island lies 11 km (6.8 mi) off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America.

The usage of the term goes back to the 19th century when recruiters from India would call the island Chinidat as a way of luring workers into indentureship.

[8] Caribs and Arawaks lived in Trinidad long before Christopher Columbus encountered the islands on his third voyage on 31 July 1498.

Trinidad and Tobago was granted self-governance in 1958 and independence from the United Kingdom in August 1962,[10] and it became a republic in September 1976.

It is part of the Aripo Massif and is located in the Northern Range on the island, northeast of the town of Arima.

[1] Venezuela has also had a great impact on Trinidad's culture, such as introducing the music style parang to the island.

Sites of cultural or religious significance include Mount Saint Benedict, the Temple in the Sea, and the Karyasiddhi Hanuman murti in Carapichaima.

[26] This Guayana shield supplied fine-grained clastic sediments, which with the subsidence, formed a regional negative gravity anomaly and growth faults.

[27] Oil and gas discoveries from the Pliocene Moruga Group include Teak (1968), Samaan (1971), Poui (1972) and Galeota.

South of this range is the Naparima Plain, a thrust belt of Oligocene and Lower Tertiary beds.

Hydrocarbon bearing anticlines include those associated with Pitch Lake, Forest Reserve, Point Fortin, Penal, Barrackpore, and Balata Fields.