Downtown Port of Spain is the location of a number of shops selling cloth, mostly owned by members of Trinidad's Syrian-Lebanese community. Another block over, Charlotte Street at its lower end is Port of Spain's Chinatown in all but name, home to dozens of general emporia known for bargain shopping. Downtown Port of Spain Downtown Port of Spain is the central business district of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The largest of the city's 7 commercial districts. The Downtown district of Port of Spain is also the oldest district of the city, between South Quay (to the south), Oxford Street (to the north),
History of the Caribbean two-thirds of Hispaniola were conquered by Haitian forces in 1821. In 1844, the newly formed Dominican Republic declared its independence from Haiti. The nations bordering the Caribbean in Central America gained independence with the 1821 establishment of the First Mexican Empire—which at that time included the modern states of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The nations bordering the Caribbean in South America also gained independence from Spain in 1821 with the establishment of Gran Colombia—which comprised the modern states of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. Cuba and Puerto Rico remained as Spanish colonies until the Spanish–American