<P> The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 until the capitulation of the Spanish Governor , Don José María Chacón , with 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 , more times than any other island in the Caribbean . 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 . </P>
<P> The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 until the capitulation of the Spanish Governor , Don José María Chacón , with 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 , more times than any other island in the Caribbean . 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 . </P>
when did trinidad and tobago become an independent nation
when did trinidad and tobago become an independent nation
1962
1962