where did the name trinidad and tobago come from
Trinidad and Tobago Historian E. L. Joseph claimed that Trinidad's Amerindian name was Cairi or "Land of the Humming Bird", derived from the Arawak name for hummingbird, ierèttê or yerettê. However, Boomert claims that neither cairi nor caeri means hummingbird and tukusi or tucuchi does.[clarification needed][18] Others have reported that kairi and iere simply mean island.[citation needed] Christopher Columbus renamed it "La Isla de la Trinidad" ("The Island of the Trinity"), fulfilling a vow made before setting out on his third voyage of exploration.[19] Tobago's cigar-like shape may have given it its Spanish name (cabaco, tavaco, tobacco) and possibly its Amerindian names of Aloubaéra (black conch) and Urupaina (big snail),[18] although the English pronunciation is /təˈbeɪɡoʊ/, rhyming with lumbago, sago, and "may go".[citation needed]
List of heads of state of Trinidad and Tobago From 1962 to 1976 the head of state under the Trinidad and Tobago Independence Act 1962 was the Queen of Trinidad and Tobago, Elizabeth II, who was also the Monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen was represented in Trinidad and Tobago by a Governor-General. Trinidad and Tobago became a republic under the Constitution of 1976 and the Monarch and Governor-General were replaced by a ceremonial President.