Trinidad trend containing the Lizard Springs, Navette, and Mayaro Fields, while the southern trend contains the Beach Field. Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. Though geographically part of the South American continent, from a socio-economic standpoint it is often referred to as the southernmost island in the Caribbean. With an area of , it is also the fifth largest in the West Indies. The original name for the island in the Arawaks'
Principality of Trinidad on the island's discovery in 1502 by Portuguese navigators. To demonstrate sovereignty over the island, the state of Espírito Santo, which took the island, built a landmark on January 24, 1897. Today, Brazil marks its presence with a permanent Brazilian Navy base on the main island. Principality of Trinidad The Principality of Trinidad was a short-lived unrecognized state declared in 1893 when the American James Harden-Hickey claimed the uninhabited Trindade Island in the South Atlantic. He declared himself James I, Prince of Trinidad, and intended for the islands to become a military dictatorship under his leadership. Britain and Brazil later