TobagoHistory
The first European visitors appear to have been English adventurers in 1580 and in 1608; James I claimed Tobago for England. The first European settlers were Dutchmen who formed a short-lived settlement at New Walcheren or modern Plymouth. The island changed hands at least 22 times altogether between the French, Dutch, British and Courlanders (the Duchy of Courland, at that time a fief of Poland was located in what is now modern western Latvia), however Courland's inhabitants and the settlers were primarily peoples of German and Latvian origin, it was also controlled at times by various pirate groups. It was finally ceded to the British in 1814 at the Treaty of Paris. From 1833 to 1889, it was part of the British Windward Islands colony.
Originally a sugar colony, Tobago's economy collapsed after the abolition of slavery. In 1889, Tobago was made a Ward of Trinidad, and remained one until 1 August 1962, when Trinidad and Tobago became an independent Commonwealth country and together became a republic in 1976.
The island of Tobago is also thought to be the island that the story Robinson Crusoe was written about.[citation needed] However, the book is probably based on the experiences of Alexander Selkirk, who was marooned in the Pacific's Juan Fernandez Islands.
This island was also the filming location for the Walt Disney movie The Swiss Family Robinson.
The climate is tropical, and the island lies just south of the Atlantic hurricane belt. Average rainfall varies between 3800 mm on the Main Ridge to less than 1250 mm in the south-west of the island. There are two seasons: a wet season between June and December, and a dry season between January and May.
|
