How Many Times Did Tobago Change Hands?

The island of Tobago changed colonial possession 31 times between 1600 and 1814—more than any other Caribbean island.

Contending Powers

• British
• French
• Dutch
• Courlanders (Duchy of Courland, vassal of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) – early 1600s
• Swedish – brief 1650s

Final Transfer

Treaty of Paris (1814) ceded Tobago definitively to Britain. United with Trinidad in 1889; independent Trinidad & Tobago 1962.

Strategic location, sugar wealth, and lack of defensible harbors fueled the constant tug-of-war.