Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is a twin island country that is the southernmost nation of the West Indies in the Caribbean. It is situated south of Grenada off the northern edge of the South American mainland, off the coast of northeastern Venezuela. It shares maritime boundaries with Barbados to the northeast, Grenada to the northwest, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west. The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 until Spanish governor Don José María Chacón
Endemic flora of Trinidad and Tobago rate of endemism, probably as a result of its geological history. The islands of Trinidad and Tobago lie on the South American continental shelf, and were both connected to the mainland during the Pleistocene. Tobago was separated from the mainland about 13,000 years ago; Trinidad was connected until more recently, and may only have become separated about 1,500 years ago. The flora of Trinidad and Tobago has been estimated to include about 2,500 vascular plant species. Although historically as many as 222 species were thought to be endemic, a study by Veerle Van den Eynden and colleagues at the University