Central America and the Caribbean > Trinidad and Tobago > Government

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Administrative divisions 9 regional corporations, 2 city corporations, 3 borough corporations, 1 ward regional corporations: Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo, Diego Martin, Mayaro/Rio Claro, Penal/Debe, Princes Town, Sangre Grande, San Juan/Laventille, Siparia, Tunapuna/Piarco city corporations: Port-of-Spain, San Fernando borough corporations: Arima, Chaguanas, Point Fortin ward: Tobago
Capital city > Geographic coordinates	10 39 N, 61 31 W
Constitution	1 August 1976
Corruption	3.8		[59th of 160]
Diplomatic representation from the US > Mailing address P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain
Executive branch > Cabinet Cabinet appointed from among the members of Parliament
Executive branch > Chief of state President George Maxwell RICHARDS (since 17 March 2003)
Flag description red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper hoist side to the lower fly side
Government type	parliamentary democracy
Independence	31 August 1962 (from UK)
Judicial branch Supreme Court of Judicature (comprised of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeals; the chief justice is appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; other justices are appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission); High Court of Justice; Caribbean Court of Appeals member; Court of Appeals; the highest court of appeal is the Privy Council in London
Legal system based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (31 seats; 16 members appointed by the ruling party, nine by the President, six by the opposition party to serve a maximum term of five years) and the House of Representatives (41 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Parliamentary seats > Female	11%		[59th of 143]
Political parties and leaders Congress of the People [Winston DOOKERAN]; Democratic Action Congress or DAC [Hochoy CHARLES] (only active in Tobago); Democratic National Alliance or DNA [Gerald YETMING] (coalition of NAR, DDPT, MND); Movement for National Development or MND [Garvin NICHOLAS]; National Alliance for Reconstruction or NAR [Dr. Carson CHARLES]; People's National Movement or PNM [Patrick MANNING]; United National Congress or UNC [Basdeo PANDAY]
Status democracy
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal
Time required to start a business > days	43 days		[66th of 171]
Trademarks, residents	340		[50th of 98]
Transnational Issues > Disputes > International in April 2006, the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a decision that delimited a maritime boundary with Trinidad and Tobago and compelled Barbados to enter a fishing agreement that limited Barbadian fishermen's catches of flying fish in Trinidad and Tobago's exclusive economic zone; in 2005, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory international arbitration under UNCLOS challenging whether the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's and Venezuela's maritime boundary extends into Barbadian waters; Guyana has also expressed its intention to include itself in the arbitration as the Trinidad and Tobago-Venezuela maritime boundary may extend into its waters as well

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