Live cameras: Trinidad And Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago is a small island nation in the Caribbean. It has about the same number of inhabitants as Cologne, and was discovered by Christopher Columbus during his third voyage. Columbus gave the main island the Spanish name Trinidad, which means Trinity, because three high mountains on the main island stood out to him. The name of the island of Tobago is associated with the word tobacco.

In the 17th century, the French, English, Dutch and German princes quarreled with the islands. Only the island of Tobago changed hands 31 times, and in 1797 the British occupied the island of Trinidad. Soon they captured the island of Tobago. There was a lot of slavery in Trinidad and Tobago. That's why today many residents still have English names as surnames. Examples of this are football players Stern John and Calvin Jack. The people consist mainly of descendants of African slaves and Indian contractors.

Since 1962, the country has become independent. 

During World War II, Trinidad was the largest military base in the Caribbean. It was then that the foundations of modern industry appeared. Trinidad today has the most industry from all the islands of the Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago has one of the highest incomes in America.

The national tool is a steel frying pan. The instrument was invented in Trinidad in the 1930s. The British colonialists banned the locals from drumming on African percussion instruments. That's why ordinary people were looking for new tools. Since oil production was so important, the idea of creating musical instruments from discarded oil barrels arose. These instruments became known internationally when in 1951 the band was invited to England to demonstrate this musical instrument. Some musicians from this group stayed in England and made the steel pan famous in Europe. They are called the steel drum.

The national sport of Trinidad and Tobago is cricket. The national football team qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. She represented the smallest country ever to participate in the FIFA World Cup.