24th September: Trinidad and Tobago Republic Day

Today is Republic Day in Trinidad and Tobago, a public holiday celebrating their becoming a republic in 1976 and ceasing to be a Commonwealth realm.

1. The country consists of the two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous smaller ones – including Chacachacare, Monos, Huevos, Gaspar Grande (or Gasparee), Little Tobago, and St. Giles Island.
2. Trinidad is the largest and most of the people live there. Tobago only has 6% of the total area and 4% of the total population.
3. Trinidad was named by Christopher Columbus - he called it "La Isla de la Trinidad" ("The Island of the Trinity"). Tobago gets its name because it resembles a tobacco pipe used by local natives. The indigenous name for Trinidad was Iere or "Land of the Humming Bird" and Tobago was Aloubaéra (black conch) and Urupaina (big snail).
4. The capital city is Port of Spain, on Trinidad, which is the only capital city in the world to be named after another country. The largest city is San Fernando, also on Trinidad. The principal town on Tobago is Scarborough, named after the British town.
5. Trinidad and Tobago is the third richest country by GDP (PPP) per capita in the Americas after the USA and Canada.
6. The first two black women to win Miss Universe are from Trinidad and Tobago - Janelle Commissiong in 1977 and Wendy Fitzwilliam in 1998. Also from there is a Miss World titleholder Giselle LaRonde. They have one Nobel Prizewinner - novelist VS Naipaul was born there. They've also done well in sport - at London 2012, Trinidad and Tobago came third in Olympic medals per head of population, beaten only by Grenada and Jamaica.
7. The national sport is cricket, but an unusual popular sport on the islands is Goat racing, which has been taking place since 1925. The "jockeys" run alongside the goats, guiding them with a nine-foot leash and whip. There is an enormous Goat Racing Stadium in Buccoo.
8. The national birds for Trinidad and Tobago are the scarlet ibis and the cocrico. It has a national musical instrument, too, the steelpan, said to be the only new acoustic musical instrument to be invented in the 20th century. Calypso and Soca music originated here.
9. The Trinidad Moruga “Scorpion” Pepper has officially been ranked as the world’s hottest pepper by the Guinness Book of Records.
10. Trinidad is home to the world's largest natural deposit of asphalt, the Pitch Lake. It covers an area of about 100 acres and is 245 feet deep.