Country:  Turks and Caicos Islands
(dependent territory of the UK)
- Geography
Total area: 430 km2; land area: 430 km2
 
Comparative area: slightly less than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
 
Land boundaries: none
 
Coastline: 389 km
 
Maritime claims:
 
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
 
Territorial sea: 12 nm
 
Climate: tropical; marine; moderated by trade winds; sunny and
relatively dry
 
Terrain: low, flat limestone; extensive marshes and mangrove swamps
 
Natural resources: spiny lobster, conch
 
Land use: 2% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0%
forest and woodland; 98% other
 
Environment: 30 islands (eight inhabited); subject to frequent hurricanes
 
Note: located 190 km north of the Dominican Republic in the North
Atlantic Ocean
 
- People
Population: 9,761 (July 1990), growth rate 2.3% (1990)
 
Birth rate: 25 births/1,000 population (1990)
 
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
 
Net migration rate: 4 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
 
Infant mortality rate: 14 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
 
Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 78 years female (1990)
 
Total fertility rate: 3.8 children born/woman (1990)
 
Nationality: no noun or adjectival forms
 
Ethnic divisions: majority of African descent
 
Religion: Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Church of God,
Seventh-Day Adventist
 
Language: English (official)
 
Literacy: 99% (est.)
 
Labor force: NA; majority engaged in fishing and tourist industries;
some subsistence agriculture
 
Organized labor: St. George's Industrial Trade Union
 
- Government
Long-form name: none
 
Type: dependent territory of the UK
 
Capital: Grand Turk (Cockburn Town)
 
Administrative divisions: none (dependent territory of the UK)
 
Independence: none (dependent territory of the UK)
 
Constitution: introduced 30 August 1976, suspended in 1986, and a
Constitutional Commission is currently reviewing its contents
 
Legal system: based on laws of England and Wales with a small number
adopted from Jamaica and The Bahamas
 
National holiday: Constitution Day, 30 August (1976)
 
Executive branch: British monarch, governor, Executive Council
 
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council
 
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
 
Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1953), represented
by Governor Michael J. BRADLEY (since 1987);
 
Head of Government--Chief Minister Oswald O. SKIPPINGS (since 3 March
1988)
 
Political parties and leaders: People's Democratic Movement (PDM),
Oswald Skippings; Progressive National Party (PNP), Dan Malcolm and
Norman Saunders; National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Ariel Missick
 
Suffrage: universal at age 18
 
Elections:
Legislative Council--last held on 3 March 1988
(next to be held NA);
results--PDM 60%, PNP 30%, others 10%;
seats--(20 total, 13 elected) PDM 11, PNP 2
 
Communists: none
 
Diplomatic representation: as a dependent territory of the UK, the
interests of the Turks and Caicos Islands are represented in the US by
the UK;
US--none
 
Flag: blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and
the colonial shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield
is yellow and contains a conch shell, lobster, and cactus
 
- Economy
Overview: The economy is based on fishing, tourism, and offshore
banking. Subsistence farming--corn and beans--exists only on the Caicos
Islands, so that most foods, as well as nonfood products, must be
imported.
 
GDP: $44.9 million, per capita $5,000; real growth rate NA% (1986)
 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
 
Unemployment rate: 12% (1989)
 
Budget: revenues $12.4 million; expenditures $15.8 million,
including capital expenditures of $2.6 million (FY87)
 
Exports: $2.9 million (f.o.b., FY84); commodities--lobster, dried
and fresh conch, conch shells; partners--US, UK
 
Imports: $26.3 million (c.i.f., FY84); commodities--foodstuffs,
drink, tobacco, clothing; partners--US, UK
 
External debt: $NA
 
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
 
Electricity: 9,050 kW capacity; 11 million kWh produced,
1,160 kWh per capita (1989)
 
Industries: fishing, tourism, offshore financial services
 
Agriculture: subsistence farming prevails, based on corn and beans;
fishing more important than farming; not self-sufficient in food
 
Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-87), $92.8 million
 
Currency: US currency is used
 
Exchange rates: US currency is used
 
Fiscal year: calendar year
 
- Communications
Highways: 121 km, including 24 km tarmac
 
Ports: Grand Turk, Salt Cay, Providenciales, Cockburn Harbour
 
Civil air: Air Turks and Caicos (passenger service) and Turks Air Ltd.
(cargo service)
 
Airports: 7 total, 7 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 2,439 m; 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
 
Telecommunications: fair cable and radio services; 1,446 telephones;
stations--3 AM, no FM, several TV; 2 submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
earth station
 
- Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK