Cairiani

Cairiani is associated with Trinidad, a large island close to the South American mainland. Its northern mountains, central plains and southern wetlands enclose a varied landscape of rivers and forests. Indigenous peoples had lived on the island for thousands of years before Spanish settlement, maintaining connections across the narrow waters to the nearby mainland.

In 1592 the Spanish founded San José de Oruña as their principal settlement. Indigenous communities were drawn into colonial systems of labor and mission life, while the island remained sparsely settled by Europeans for much of the period. During the late eighteenth century new European settlers and enslaved workers arrived as plantation agriculture expanded. A British naval expedition captured Trinidad in 1797, and Spain formally ceded it in 1802.

The later city of Port of Spain lies here.