A charming Caribbean Island with a beautiful vibe has astonishingly changed hands more than 30 times and has even been ‘owned’ by the UK, Spain and France.
Tobago, the smaller of the two Caribbean islands comprising the nation of Trinidad and Tobago, is renowned for its picture postcard beaches and vast tropical rain forests.
The pretty island has a fascinating history with it changing hands more than 33 times during the colonial era, more than any other Caribbean island.
Over the years, the Dutch, English, Spanish and French transformed Tobago into a battle zone and the island changed hands time after time.
Christopher Columbus named Tobago after a local type of tobacco pipe when he visited the island in 1498.
In 1532 – Spain colonised Trinidad, appointing a governor to rule it, 60 years later in 1597 Spain renamed the original settlement to “Puerto de Espana”.
In 1781 the French captured Tobago from the Spanish, transforming it into a sugar-producing colony.
Tobago was eventually ceded to the UK by France in 1814 under the terms of the 1814 Treaty of Paris.
In 1834 slavery abolished and indentured workers were brought in from India to work on sugar plantations. Just over 50 years later in 1889 Trinidad and Tobago were administratively combined as a single British colony.
Trinidad and Tobago obtained its independence from the British Empire in 1962 and became a republic in 1976. However, the late Elizabeth II remained head of state, represented locally by Governor-General Solomon Hochoy, until the passage of the 1976 Republican Constitution.
Tobago key events timeline:
1532-1534: Spain
1569-1570: Spain
1592: Spanish permanent settlement
1628-1637: Netherlands settlement
1658: French colony
1672: English captured Tobago
1674: The Netherlands regained control by treaty
1677: France captured Tobago
1705: Tobago became a no-mans-land
1715: Claimed by Great Britain
1748: France and Great Britain declared Tobago neutral
1762: Great Britain captured Tobago
1763: France left control to Great Britain
1781: France re-invaded
1793: Great Britain recaptured Tobago
1802: Returned to France
1803: The British recaptured Tobago
1814: The Treaty of Paris ceded Tobago to the British
