Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago stamps, available worldwide at Io Collezionista. Trinidad and Tobago are two islands of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1498. The natives called the island of Trinidad Cairi, which can be rendered as land of the hummingbird. The name Columbus chose pointed instead to the Holy Trinity, while that of Tobago drew on the particular shape of the island, which recalls a cigar. The Spanish therefore used cabaco or tovaco, while the natives drew on the animal world with Aloubaera and Urupaina, black shell and great snail respectively. The area was under Spanish and French control until the beginning of the 19th century, when both had to cede their holdings to the British Empire, by the treaties of Amiens and of Paris respectively.