Country history · North America

History of Trinidad and Tobago

8 recorded states lay in what is now Trinidad and Tobago, from Spanish Trinidad (1592 CE) to Trinidad and Tobago. 4 outside powers ruled here.

ProfileState (capital or seat)3 without a known seat not shownOpen in the atlas →

Empires that ruled here

Timeline

16th century

  1. Spanish Trinidad1592 CE – 1797 CE · colony

17th century

  1. Dutch Tobago1628 CE – 1677 CE · colony
  2. Courland Tobago1654 CE – 1689 CE · colony

18th century

  1. Colony of Tobago1763 CE – 1889 CE · colony
  2. Colony of Trinidad1797 CE – 1889 CE · colony

19th century

  1. Colony of Trinidad and Tobago1889 CE – 1962 CE · colony

20th century

  1. West Indies Federation1958 CE – 1962 CE · colony
  2. Trinidad and Tobago1962 CE – present · republic

In the encyclopedia

Shared histories

States that also lay in other present-day countries:

States of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean → States of Scandinavia and the Baltic → All country histories →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). History of Trinidad and Tobago. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/trinidad-and-tobago
MLA
“History of Trinidad and Tobago.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/trinidad-and-tobago. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “History of Trinidad and Tobago.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/trinidad-and-tobago.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘History of Trinidad and Tobago’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/trinidad-and-tobago (Accessed: ).