Country Quest: Trinidad & Tobago #184

Source: here

Today, I arrived in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad & Tobago. Trinidad & Tobago is my 184th country & territory (out of 266) as well as my 153th UN-recognised nation (out of 195). This visit to Trinidad & Tobago also ‘completes’ North America for me, meaning I have been to every sovereign nation in North America.

Recall that just a few days ago, I ‘completed’ South America by visiting Guyana, which was the last missing sovereign nation for me in South America. 

Source: here

Hence, the two back-to-back countries also gave me back-to-back continents! I have now been to all UN-recognised nations in four continents, namely North America, South America, Europe, and Antarctica!

I am three territories away from completing the ‘countries & territories’ list for North America. The three remaining territories in North America are Montserrat and Cayman Islands, both of which are British overseas territories, and St. Pierre & Miquelon, which is a self-governing territory of France located just south of Newfoundland. As of now, I have no idea when these three tiny places will be crossed off my list, but I am sure it will happen one day! 

An anecdote to end this post: Back in my bond-trading days, I used to invest in sovereign Dollar-denominated bonds issued by the Government of Trinidad & Tobago. Trinidad was always referred to in bond-trading circles as ‘TNT’, which obviously stands for Trinidad & Tobago, but also happens to be the abbreviation for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, a widely used explosive.

I can hear you thinking, “Ah! Trinidad bonds are a risky emerging market investment prone to blow-ups, so the ambiguous TNT nickname is eminently suitable!”. However, you would be wrong and you would be revealing your prejudice, because Trinidad & Tobago has never defaulted on its sovereign debt. 

The End