Arima, officiallyThe Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs ofTrinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent toSangre Grande andArouca at the south central foothills of theNorthern Range. To the south is theCaroni–Arena Dam. Coterminous withTown of Arima since 1888, the borough of Arima is the fourth-largest municipality in population in the country (afterPort of Spain,Chaguanas andSan Fernando). The census estimated it had 33,606 residents in 2011.^[3]

Arima
Borough
The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima
The Dial in the Central Business District
Flag
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Coordinates:10°38′N61°17′W / 10.633°N 61.283°W /10.633; -61.283
Country	Trinidad and Tobago
Jurisdiction	The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima
Settled	1757
Borough	1 August 1888
Named after	TheArawak word for "water".
Government
• Body	Arima Borough Corporation
• Mayor	Cagney Casimire,PNM
• Deputy Mayor	Vacant
Borough Corporation seats	7 electoral districts
House seats	1/41
Area
• Borough	12 km2 (5 sq mi)
Elevation [1]	68 m (223 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Borough	33,606
• Rank	4th
• Density	2,801/km2 (7,250/sq mi)
• Urban	65,623
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
Postal Code	30xxxx, 36xxxx[2]
Area code	868
ISO 3166 code	TT-ARI
Telephone Exchange	664, 667
HDI The HDI for Trinidad and Tobago is 0.814, which gives the country a rank of 19th out of 177 countries with data (2007/2008) –high

In 1887, the town petitionedQueen Victoria for municipal status as part of the celebration for theGolden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. This was granted in the following year, and Arima became a Royal Borough on 1 August 1888. Historically the third-largest town of Trinidad and Tobago, Arima is fourth sinceChaguanas became the largest town in the country.

Contrary to the belief that the city is named after theArawak word for "water", rooted in theArima River, it was actually named after a plant and its roots that was used for fishing by the First Peoples.^[4]

The borough has atropical rainforest climate (KöppenAf), bordering on atropical monsoon climate, characterised with little seasonal variations due to its close proximity to theNorthern Range. Temperatures typically range from 20 to 31 degrees Celsius, and annual rainfall averages around 2000 millimeters. The wet season lasts from June to November, and although there is no true dry season, there is a noticeably drier stretch from January to April.^[5] Hail has occurred in the town but is rare.

Arima hosts an annual Borough Day anniversary celebration in August. The celebration incorporates Carnival-style street parades and usually coincides with the staging of the Santa Rosa Carib Community annual festival. The annual Arima Carnival includes street parades of masqueraders on Carnival Tuesday, J'ouvert bands on Carnival Monday, as well as a local calypso competition.

The borough contains may communities and population center, often names after the plantations on which existed where they once situated including:

• O’Meara
• Santa Rosa Heights
• The Crossings
• Malabar
• Tumpna Road
• Calvary Hill
• Torrecilla Gardens
• La Florissant
• Christina Gardens
• Gopaul Lands

The major land transportation arteries are theChurchill–Roosevelt Highway,Eastern Main Road and thePriority Bus Route which all link Arima with major towns and cities along theEast–West Corridor metropolitan area. Among other important routes are the Arima Bypass, Cocorite Street, Tumpuna Road and O'Meara Road which links neighbourhoods around the town to the Town Center.

Arima plays an important role for north-eastern Trinidad as a multi-modal transportation hub for many of the towns and neighbourhoods on the eastern side of the island. A bus terminal provides service by thePTSC Bus network toSangre Grande, Mundo Nuevo,Blanchisseuse, Carapo,Malabar, Morne La Croix,La Horquetta,Wallerfield Brasso Seco and to the capitalPort of Spain.

Maxi taxis (private, owner-operated minibuses) operate throughoutTrinidad and Tobago as a kind of semi-public transport. They operate along fixed routes, have fixed fares and meeting points, but do not operate under a fixed schedule. Thesemaxi taxis provide services from the town center toPort of Spain via thePriority Bus Route andChurchill-Roosevelt Highway, making stops along theEast–West Corridor. They also provide transport toSangre Grande.

The major national super-league team, FC Santa Rosa and Arima Football League, which is based at theArima Velodrome.

Abilene Wildcats Athletic Club, Trinity College East Athletics Club, Silver Bullets Athletic Club, D'Abadie Progressive Athletic Club, and Spartans High Speed Performance Athletic Club are also based in Arima.

Most suburbs, communities and neighbourhoods around the Borough have their own sporting complexes and community swimming pools.

The three major sporting arenas in Arima are:

• The Larry Gomes Stadium
• Arima Velodrome
• Santa Rosa Race Track
• Sunil Narine andLarry Gomes are West Indies cricket players born in Arima.

• Asa Wright Nature Centre, located in Arima Valley, it has a nature walk and swimming at a natural stream pool.
• Santa Rosa Carib Centre, located on Paul Mitchell Road, off De Gannes Street in Arima, it contains items from Arima's native Carib history and is the headquarters of theCarib Queen. It also has displays about Carib descendants in Arima. Native items are also available for purchase.
• Cleaver Woods, it has nature walks andAmerindian exhibits.
• Princess Royal Park (Arima Savannah) is a wide, open, savannah, surrounded by Pro Queen Street to the east, Robinson Street to the south, Queen Mary Avenue to the west and the Arima Velodrome to the north.

Electric generation is handled byPowergen, while electrical distribution is handled by theTrinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC). Powergen has natural gas fired generation plants at Point Lisas, Penal, and Wrightson Road in Port of Spain. Additional power can be supplied from power generation facilities controlled by Inncogen at Point Lisas.

Telecommunications are regulated by the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT). It has been working to break up the monopoly, granting several new licences in 2005 to new companies in the market. Fixed-line telephone service is a monopoly controlled by Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT). Licenses have been granted for competition in this area, but start-up is a while away. Wireless telephony is controlled by TSTT and bmobile, as well asDigicel, which came later. Licenses have been granted for a private company, Laqtel, to offer wireless service in competition with TSTT and Digicel. However, Laqtel had its licence revoked, and is undergoing severe financial difficulties.

Digital cable television is provided by Flow. High-speed internet service of up to 100 Mbit/s and digital landline telephone service are all available in Arima.

Water and sewerage are under the purview of the Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (WASA).

There are 17 primary (private and public) and 4 secondary educational institutions in Arima, and some post-secondary level technical training institutes. St. Joseph's Convent in Arima was closed many years ago and the building now houses a retreat centre called Emmaus Centre.

•  
  Bus terminal
•  
  Arima Velodrome
•  
  Arima Velodrome

• Neveal Hackshaw - football player
• Sunil Narine - cricketer
• Andre Rampersad - football player
• Jeremy Solozano- cricketer
• Deon Lendore, Sprinter

• Anthony, Michael (2001).Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago. Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Md., and London.ISBN 0-8108-3173-2.

• Arima Borough Corporation