Tunapuna–Piarco is one of the 9 regions of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

. It is the most populous region in the country by total population and the fifth-largest by total land area. Geographically located in Northern Trinidad, Tunapuna–Piarco shares its borders with the regions of San Juan–Laventille to the west, Couva–Tabaquite–Talparo to the south, the Borough of Chaguanas to the south-west, Sangre Grande to the east and the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

to the north. The region also completely surrounds the Royal Chartered Borough of Arima, which is located in the south-eastern corner of the region. Tunapuna–Piarco is one of the most geographically diverse regions in

. It features the country's two highest mountain peaks, El Cerro del Aripo at 3,084 feet and El Tucuche standing at a soaring 3,070 feet, which both tower the north of the region and the Northern Coast of Trinidad forming the a part of the Northern Range.

Geography

Tunapuna–Piarco is the fifth largest region in Trinidad and Tobago accounting for an area of . The region has approximately 30 km (19 miles) of rugged coastline with the

to the north. The Northern Range which covers 25% of the land area of Trinidad stretches the entire Northern Coast of Trinidad from the regions of Diego Martin and San Juan–Laventille in the west and through Tunapuna–Piarco to Sangre Grande in the east, is located to the north of the region and is the largest mountain range in the country. It is home to the nation's two tallest mountain peaks, El Cerro del Aripo and El Tucuche which both exceeds 3,070 feet and is considered to be a continuation of the Andes Mountain Range on the mainland

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

n continent which is only 6.8 miles away from

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Biodiversity

The densely forested peaks of the north are home to over 100 species of mammals and 430 species of birds as well as the Red Howler Monkeys, Capuchin Monkeys, Neotropical River Otters, Collared Peckaries, Ocelots and Red Brocket Deers to name a few. The nation's largest cave system, the Aripo Caves which are inhabited by oil birds as well as the country's highest waterfall, Maracas Waterfall at 300 feet high are also located in the region. The terrain consist mainly of sedimentary rocks-schists and limestones as well as volcanic rocks in the east.

Climate

Tunapuna–Piarco is mainly

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

for the most, but changes to being mildly

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

in the highest elevations to the north in the mountains where the elevation is about 2,500 feet at a moderately high elevation outside of the astronomical

zone where it is considered temperate land.

Cloud Forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud ...

and heavy fog covers the mountains to the north while the rest of the region experiences cloudy skies and heavy rainfall with moderately cool daytime temperatures during the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * '' ...

and dry spells and abundant sunshine in the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...

. The region as well as the rest of the country does not fully observe winter, spring and autumn but experiences similar characteristics of the seasonal changes.

Demographics

Population

The population of the Tunapuna–Piarco region was reported to be 212,825 by the Trinidad and Tobago Central Statistical Office on January 9, 2011.

Ancestry

Urban Centers and Towns

Areas

Other areas within the Tunapuna–Piarco Region include * Auzonville/

Tunapuna Tunapuna is a town in the East–West Corridor of the island of Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago. Town Tunapuna is located between St. Augustine, Tacarigua and Trincity. Tunapuna is the largest town between San Juan and Arima. It is an impo ...

* Bon Air/ Arouca/Cane Farm * Curepe/Pasea * Caura/Paradise/ Tacarigua * Cleaver/ D'Abadie * Wallerfield/ La Horquetta * Five Rivers * La Florissante/ Lopinot * Blanchisseuse/Santa Rosa * Carapo * Macoya/ Trincity * Maracas/Santa Margarita * Mausica/Maloney * Valsayn/ St. Joseph * St Augustine South/ Piarco/St. Helena *

Kelly Village Kelly Village is a village in the Tunapuna–Piarco region of Trinidad and Tobago. The village is bordered by the Caroni River to the north, Caroni Village to the northwest, Frederick Settlement to the west, Warren to the southwest, Piarco to th ...

/Warrenville

Government

Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago The Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (AATT) is a government airport management agency of Trinidad and Tobago headquartered in the Airports Administration Centre in the South Terminal of Piarco International Airport in Piarco, Tunapuna–P ...

has its head office at

Piarco International Airport Piarco International Airport is an international airport serving the island of Trinidad and is one of two international airports in Trinidad and Tobago. The airport is located east of Downtown Port of Spain, located in the adjacent town of P ...

, Piarco.

Businesses in Tunapuna–Piarco Regional Corporation area

Caribbean Airlines had its headquarters in Iere House, Piarco. Prior to the establishment of Caribbean Airlines, BWIA West Indies Airways was headquartered at

in Piarco."World Airline Directory." ''Flight International''. March 23, 1999
66
Retrieved on September 30, 2009. * CLICO * Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards

References

Local Government Corporations
from Nalis, the National Library and Information Service of Trinidad and Tobago.

External links

Airports Authority Trinidad & Tobago
AATT official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Tunapuna-Piarco Regions of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad (island)