Author: PeriscopeFilm
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Made by the obscure Tucker Picture Productions, a company that produced a series of travelogues in the West Indies in the 1930s, this portrait of Trinidad and Tobago contains wonderful historic footage of this British colony. The film begins aboard the ocean liner RMS Empress of Australia and moves through the "Dragon's Mouth" to Port of Spain where various local sights are seen. Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is a twin island country off the northern edge of South America, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. Usually considered part of the Caribbean, it shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Grenada to the northwest, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west. The country covers an area of 5,128 square kilometres (1,980 sq mi) and consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, with numerous smaller landforms. The two main islands are divided into nine regions, and one ward. Sangre Grande is the largest of the country's nine regions, comprising about 18% of the total area and 10% of the total population of the country. The nation lies outside of the hurricane belt. The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 to the capitulation of the Spanish Governor, Don José Maria Chacón, on the arrival of a British fleet of 18 warships on 18 February 1797. During the same period, the island of Tobago changed hands among Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonizers. Trinidad and Tobago (remaining separate until 1889) were ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. The country Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976. Trinidad and Tobago is the third richest country by GDP (PPP) per capita in the Americas after United States and Canada. Furthermore it is recognized as a high income economy by the World Bank. Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean, the country's economy is primarily industrial,[10] with an emphasis on petroleum and petrochemicals. The country's wealth is mainly attributable to its large reserves and exploitation of oil and natural gas. Trinidad and Tobago is known for its Carnival and is the birthplace of steelpan, limbo, and the music styles of calypso, soca and chutney. Trinidad and Tobago is one of the most biodiverse nations in the Caribbean and has a wide variety of flora and fauna. Many believe the original name for the island in the Arawaks' language was "Iëre" which meant "Land of the Humming Bird". Some believe that "Iere" was actually a mispronunciation or corruption by early colonists of the Arawak word "Kairi" which simply means "Island". Christopher Columbus renamed it "La Isla de la Trinidad" ("The Island of the Trinity"), fulfilling a vow he had made before setting out on his third voyage of exploration. RMS Empress of Australia was an ocean liner built in 1913-1919 by Vulcan AG shipyard in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland) for the Hamburg America Line. She was refitted for Canadian Pacific Steamships; and the ship -- the third of three CP vessels to be named Empress of China -- was renamed yet again in 1922 as the Empress of Australia. In trans-Pacific service, the ship garnered fame for her part in rescue efforts at Tokyo following the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923. In trans-Atlantic service, she earned distinction in 1927 by bringing the Prince of Wales from England to the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Canada. She was honoured to serve as Royal Yacht during the Royal tour of Canada in 1939. During WWII, The Empress of Australia was sent to Southampton, where she was to be converted into a troopship; painted in grey, fitted with a three-inch (76 mm) gun and with a carrying capacity of 5,000. After World War II the Empress of Australia worked world wide as a troop ship in every theatre of war, including carrying military personnel to Pusan during the Korean War. She was finally scrapped in 1952. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference." This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com