Overview Of Port of Spain Trinidad

Port of Spain, Trinidad, has a population of 49,031, but with a metropolitan population of about 269,923 residents, is the capital and the country's third largest municipality by population, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. Port of Spain, Trinidad is located on the Gulf of Paria, on the northwest coast of the island of Trinidad.

Port of Spain serves primarily as a retail and administrative centre. This city centre also serves as a financial services centre and is home to two of the largest banks in the English-speaking Caribbean. Port of Spain is one of the major shipping hubs of the Caribbean, with exports of agricultural products and asphalt. Bauxite from the Guianas and iron ore from Venezuela are trans-shipped via facilities at Chaguaramas, about five miles west. The tallest building in Port of Spain, Trinidad (and in the entire country) is the Nicholas Tower.

The city was founded near the site of the Amerindian fishing village of Cumucurapo ("place of the silk cotton trees"), located in the area today known as Mucurapo, west of Trinidad centre. The name Conquerabia is also recorded for an Amerindian settlement in this area; this may have been a separate village, another name for Cumucurapo, or the result of miscomprehension by early Spanish settlers, who established a port here: "Puerto de los Hispanioles", later "Puerto de Espana". In 1560, a Spanish garrison was posted near the foot of the Laventille Hills, which today from Trinidad's eastern boundary. The oldest part of Port of Spain is the downtown, Port of Spain area between South Quay, Oxford Street. The heart of downtown, Port of Spain is Woodford Square. On its northern side are City Hall and the Hall of Justice, seat of the Supreme Court; on its western side is the Red House, seat of Parliament; the Anglican Holy Trinity Cathedral is on its south side, and on the block south-west of the square is the National Library. A number of Port of Spain government offices are located in the immediate vicinity, and the blocks north and west of the Red House are home to many Port of Spain lawyer chambers. Transportation in and out of Port of Spain, Trinidad is plagued by heavy traffic delays at rush hour. Traffic enters from the east along the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway ending at Barataria, just east of Port of Spain, Trinidad and becomes the Beetham Highway. Alternately, traffic can turn north at Barataria and enter to the north over the Lady Young Road. The Eastern Main Road runs parallel to the highway and enters at the eastern end of Independence Square. The Priority Bus Route enters at City Gate. Traffic from the west enters Port of Spain, Trinidad through the Western Main Road.

City Gate serves as a transportation hub for public buses and private mini-buses (locally known as maxi-taxis). City Gate is located on South Quay just south of Independence Square. A ferry service links Port of Spain, Trinidad with Scarborough, Tobago. Like the rest of the island of Trinidad, Port of Spain, Trinidad is served by the Piarco International Airport. Electric generation is handled by Powergen, while electrical distribution is handled by T&TEC, the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission. Powergen has one natural gas-fired generation plant located on Wrightson Road in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

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