Language: English
Currency: US dollar (USD)
Calling Code: +1-649
The Turks and Caicos Islands are practically an
extension of the Bahamas; the island group is part of the Caribbean,
but is located in the Atlantic Ocean. The Turks and Caicos Islands
are located 885 km southeast of Miami, Florida, and comprise over 40
islands. However, only nine of these are currently permanently
inhabited. The islands are the tips of two underwater limestone
plateaus that have "grown" over the past 135,000 years, the Caicos
Bank in the west and the Turks Bank in the east. Both plateaus are
separated by a channel about 30 km wide and over 2000 meters deep,
the Turks Island Passage.
All the islands only rise a few
meters out of the sea, no rain clouds form that can rain down on
mountain slopes, which makes it very dry. Drinking water is rare,
agriculture almost impossible.
The islands are a tax haven,
there are over 16,000 shell companies there.
In recent years
the population has grown by a third. On the one hand, small
investors are increasingly being attracted with special conditions,
and on the other hand, various international investment companies
and corporations are constantly building new hotel and residential
complexes.
The archipelago consists of three parts. The Turk Islands lie
slightly to the south-east on the Turk Bank, a shallow water area. In
addition to a few uninhabited small islands such as Big Sand Cay, Cotton
Cay, Long Cay and Gibbs Cay, there are two inhabited islands there.
Grand Turk with the administrative headquarters of the archipelago
Salt Cay
The Caicos Islands in the northwest are separated from the
Turk Islands by the Turks Island Passage, which is around 30 km wide.
The Caicos Islands lie in a quarter circle in the north of the Caicos
Bank, also a shallow water area. The south of the Caicos Bank is made up
of small, uninhabited islands, rocks, reefs and sandbanks. These
uninhabited islands include West Caicos, French Cay, White Cay, South
Rock, Swimmer Rock, Pear Cay, Bush Cay, Little Ambergris Cay, the Fish
Cays, Long Cay and Middleton Cay.
The Caicos Islands consist of
four larger islands, of which only three are inhabited, and a few
smaller islands, of which four are inhabited.
Big Ambergris Cay
is a small island in the southeast
South Cay is also small, located
north of Big Ambergris Cay
Middle Caicos is the largest of all the
islands, between the uninhabited island of East Caicos and North Caicos
North Caicos
Parrot Cay, a small island, off the west coast of North
Caicos
Pine Cay, also a small island, between North Caicos and
Providenciales
Providenciales is the most densely populated and the
tourist center of the island group
West Caicos
Conch Bar Caves on Middle Caicos Island is a splendid underground formation with remains of presence of native Lucayan people
Big Sand Cay
This island belongs to the Turks and is located south
of Salt Cay. In 1850, the English captain Delaney found pirate treasure
on the island. Its value at the time was $130,000. Today, the island is
a breeding ground for seabirds and a place for sea turtles to lay their
eggs.
Dellis Cay
Dellis Cay is located in the small chain of
Leeward Cays, northeast of Providenciales. Sponge diving took place
there until the late 19th century. The island is 235 hectares in size
and is privately owned. An exclusive hotel and a villa complex are
currently being built there under the supervision of the Mandarin
Oriental group.
East Caicos
The island is 15 km wide in the
north, but only 9 km wide in the south. It has a size of around 46 km².
The highest point is in the northeast, the 47 m high Flamingo Hill. In
the sea in front of it is the dangerous Philips Reef.
Visitors find
caves with drawings by the Lucayan Indians near the only former
settlement, Jacksonville. For years, guano, bird droppings from several
centuries, was mined and sold as fertilizer.
There are also ruins of
former plantations. In 1881, the East Caicos Company began developing
land for the cultivation of sisal. Jacksonville Plantation on the west
coast was founded in 1882 and employed 300 to 400 workers. There was
even a railway line around 22 km long, whose wagons were pulled by
mules. In 1912, just 1,200 hectares of the original 20,000 hectares of
land were still being cultivated. Today, a narrow path leads to the
overgrown ruins of several buildings.
Another plantation was the J.
N. Reynolds cattle ranch near Breezy Point. Reynolds, born in Dublin,
came to the island in 1856. After his death in 1890, the East Caicos
Sisal Company took over the plantation. Since its demise, a large herd
of semi-wild cattle has roamed the island. There are hardly any traces
of this cattle farm in the northwest corner. The island is used as a
breeding ground for various seabirds. You can find iguanas and feral
donkeys there.
In 1940, there were renewed attempts to settle the
island. 19 Americans led by a relative of J. E. Reynolds came to East
Caicos from Miami on behalf of the Standard Oil Company. The oil
company's involvement quickly ended. All settlers were brought back
during the war. In 1968, journalist John Houseman tried his hand at
conquering the island. He lived with his family like Robinson Crusoe on
one of the abandoned plantations and was supplied by air. He quickly
gave up due to a lack of transport routes. The last major attempt to
revitalize the island took place in 1970. A solar company from Bermuda
wanted to take over the island and generate electricity on 520 hectares
of land at Breezy Point.
Since 1998 there have been many plans to
develop the land. The Canadian company Pagebrook wanted to build a
deep-water port with a duty-free trade zone, a new city with six hotels
and an 18-hole golf course on a 2,800-hectare site on the southeast
coast. In 2000, construction of a road from South Caicos to East Caicos
was to begin. The government is currently trying to sell the island as a
whole to an investor.
French Cay
This small island is located
about 30 km south of Providenciales and is part of the Caicos Bank. In
the 17th century it served as a hideout for the French pirate Francoise
L'Ollonois, who attacked passing ships. At that time the island was
still called Blondel Cay. Blondel was a marine engineer from Haiti who
was commissioned by the French to investigate the possibility of
building a lighthouse on the island. Today, the uninhabited island is a
nature reserve. Visitors need a permit to access it.
Gibbs Cay
This island east of Grand Turk is a popular destination for diving trips
from Grand Turk. After 1780, the French built a small cannon position
there, Fort Castries. Today it is a nesting place for seabirds. Rays
have become accustomed to feeding in the shallow waters. Tourists now
come there regularly.
Little Water Cay
This uninhabited island
lies off the northeast tip of Providenciales and is separated from it by
a 400m wide waterway. It is part of the Princess Alexandra National
Park, and day trippers regularly come to swim, dive and hike. The North
Shore Trail is 170m long. The South Shore Trail is 220m long. There is a
viewing platform on each of the trails. The trail system is being
expanded. Access is permitted daily between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Park
rangers can be reached at 941-5710. The island is home to over 3,000
protected rock iguanas, a species of giant lizard. It is forbidden to
feed the animals.
It seems that the name of the Turks Islands comes from the English
Turk’s head (the cactus melocactus “Turk’s head” whose red cephalium
resembles the fez, the headgear worn by the Turks at the time of the
Ottoman Empire) and that of the Caicos Islands from the Arawak kayahik
(“necklace of islands”), or that the term Caicos comes from the French
caïques, perhaps influenced by the Spanish cayos, both terms serving to
designate the “cays” or “keys”, these islets and reefs numerous on the
shallow underwater plateau of the archipelago, similar to the Keys of
southern Florida and off the coast of Cuba as well as in the Grenadines,
unless the legend is true that attributes it to a settler from the
Christian community of the Turkish Empire named Bernardo Kaïkos.
As for the island of Providenciales, located in the Caicos Islands, its
name given by the Spaniard Juan Ponce de León literally means
providential.
The full name of the territory is Turks and Caicos
Islands or, in English, Turks and Caicos Islands. It is normal to omit
‘islands’ and simply say ‘Turks and Caicos’ or also ‘TCI’. It is not
simply ‘Turks/Turks’, as some people say.
The original inhabitants were Indians from the Lucayan and Taino
tribes. They reached the archipelago from the Bahamas and via Haiti.
Their largest settlements were on the islands of East Caicos and Middle
Caicos. Their settlement was located in the immediate vicinity of
Armstrong Pond, where they mined salt and traded it. The Indians called
the archipelago "Caya Hico" - islands strung like pearls. Since 1976,
the University of Florida has been conducting archaeological excavations
to research the Indian culture on the Turks and Caicos Islands.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed past the archipelago. There is no
evidence that he landed there. On the other hand, there are historians
who believe that it was the present-day island of Grand Turk that
Columbus called "Guanahani". One of the most important representatives
of this theory is the Spanish historian Fernandez de Navarette from the
19th century. The islanders take this theory so seriously that an
international symposium was held on the island of Grand Turk in December
1989.
However, it is known that Ponce de Leon was on Grand Turk
in 1512. There he met an old Indian, whom he took along as a scout. Some
maps from this period list the island of Grand Turk under the name "Del
Viejo", the island of the old man. Just one year later, there were no
Indians left in the entire archipelago.
In the 16th and 17th
centuries, the islands were a popular hiding place for various pirates.
The first European settlers came from Bermuda in 1678 to extract salt
from the islands of Salt Cay, Grand Turk and South Caicos.
In
1700, the Bahamas tried unsuccessfully to take over the archipelago. In
the decades that followed, the islands were repeatedly occupied by the
Spanish and French. From the 1750s onwards, residents of the Bermuda
Islands lived on the archipelago all year round with their slaves and
employees. Salt was increasingly extracted.
In 1764, Parliament
in London decided to make the island group part of the Bahamas. In 1767,
Governor William Shirley sent a representative to Grand Turk.
In
1776, ships from the Bermuda Islands circumvented the British naval
blockade and sold salt from the Turks and Caicos Islands to the civil
war parties in North America.
In 1783, a French troop contingent
attacked the Turks and Caicos Islands. Commander Horatio Nelson tried in
vain to drive them out with his ship HMS Albemarle. The island was only
returned to the English in the Treaty of Versailles.
In 1789,
around 100,000 loyal Britons who had fought for the continued existence
of English rule during the American War of Independence left North
America. The refugees from North America went to Canada. Those from the
southern states of Carolina and Georgia went to the Bahamas and the
Caicos Islands and planted cotton. Later, they received generous
compensation from King George for their lost land in Georgia on the
islands of North Caicos and Middle Caicos. With the help of slaves,
large plantations were built, of which only a few ruins remain today.
By 1790, there were 80 plantations on the Caicos Islands, with 900
people living there. However, the soil was of poor quality, so that the
cultivation of cotton and sugar cane had to be stopped after 30 years.
The plantation owners mostly went to other islands in the Caribbean,
only a few came to Grand Turk to work in salt production.
In
1792, the Turks Islands were given so much independence that their own
customs station was set up on Grand Turk. This meant that ships and
traders did not have to go to Nassau in the Bahamas to fill out their
customs declarations.
Between 1799 and 1848, the islands were
ruled by the Bahamas. The taxes on salt were so high in those years that
a quarter of the Bahamas' state revenue came from the salt fields of the
Turks and Caicos Islands. Ongoing complaints from the islanders led to
secession from the Bahamas in 1848.
Between 1848 and 1874, the
archipelago had its own president and an independent government. On
September 30, 1866, a severe hurricane swept across the Turks and Caicos
Islands and the Bahamas. The resulting flood destroyed a large part of
the salt fields. 750 houses were destroyed and 63 islanders died. The
economic emergency led to annexation by Jamaica in 1874 and lasted until
Jamaica's independence in 1962. The first sisal plants arrived on the
islands in 1874. Larger plantations were established in East Caicos and
West Caicos in particular from 1890 onwards. The decline in cultivated
areas began as early as 1906. In 1919, the price of sisal fell due to
cheaper offers from the Philippines. Only in the years from 1944 to 1956
did this industry experience another upswing as a result of World War
II.
In 1901, 3,083 people lived on the archipelago, 91 whites and
2,992 slaves.
In 1926, a hurricane destroyed all the islands
between Grand Turk and Florida. To this day, it is one of the worst
hurricanes in history.
In 1960, another severe hurricane swept
across the islands. Hurricane Donna destroyed all of the agricultural
industry. In the years that followed, a group of seven American
millionaires "discovered" the islands. They included the DuPonts and
Teddy Roosevelt III. On the island of Providenciales, they acquired land
from the British colonial government to build an airport and a
deep-water port. The Third Turtle Inn was the first hotel to be built.
In 1976, the Turks and Caicos Islands received a new constitution.
In 1978, Burt Webber discovered the remains of a shipwreck in the
area of the Silver Shoals sandbank, the cargo was worth millions of
dollars. Two years later, American treasure hunters discovered the
remains of a 16th century wreck on the Molasses Reef.
In 1985,
Chief Minister Norman Saunders was arrested for drug offences. The
subsequent investigations led to the dissolution of the Executive
Council.
Revenues from tourism and offshore banking grew so much
by 1989 that further British financial aid was no longer necessary.
A number of low-growing palms can be found on the coasts of the
islands: the rush palm, the silver iguana palm and the silver palm.
These are very slow-growing trees that cannot be transplanted and reach
a maximum height of nine meters. The silver iguana palm is only found on
the southern Bahamas and the Caicos Islands. They have been placed on
the UN Red List of endangered plants. The very rare buccaneer palm, also
a low-growing type, can also be found on the islands. The tallest palms
include the sabal palm, which grows up to 15m tall.
The Turks
Islands may be named after a type of cactus that grows there, the Turk's
Cap.
There are still large numbers of Turks and Caicos rock
iguanas, Cyclura carinata, on Great Sand Cay and Little Water Cay. The
giant lizard was hunted by the islanders because of its tender, tasty
meat.
170 different species of birds have been counted on the
islands, including flamingos, ospreys and pelicans.
The Mouchoir
Bank is located about 35 to 45 km southeast of the Turks and Caicos
Islands. Every year in winter, between the end of December and April,
the entire herd of humpback whales migrates there from the Atlantic
Ocean. The approximately 2,500 whales pass by this archipelago.
The archipelago is a British crown colony. The governor is appointed
by the English Queen. He decides on national security, internal affairs
and some court decisions. From 1993 to 1996 the governor was Martin
Bourke, his annual budget was 35 million US$. He was replaced by John
Kelly, who has Jamaican nationality, and since 2000 this has been Mervyn
Jones.
The Executive Council consists of the governor, six
ministers, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Finance and the
Attorney General. The legislative assembly, the Legislative Council,
consists of 13 members who are elected every four years, plus six
members who are appointed and the Speaker of the House.
In 1988,
the island group received a new constitution and a new electoral law,
since then there have been five electoral districts in which 13 seats
are up for grabs.
Since 2008 there have been black rumors of
corruption in the highest government circles. England set up a
commission to investigate the rumors. As a result of the investigations,
the island government was dissolved in March 2009. For an initial period
of two years, the Turks and Caicos Islands will once again be governed
directly from England by the British Foreign Office. Gordon Wetherell
was appointed as the new governor and given all the necessary powers and
authority.
English is the official language.
Entry requirements: A valid passport and a return or onward ticket
are sufficient for entry. Immigration Department, Grand Turk, Tel.
946-2939, 946-2972. Customs Department, Tel. 946-2801
Exit
requirements: All persons aged 12 and over must pay an airport tax of 15
US dollars upon departure.
Foreign currency regulations: There
are no restrictions on the import or export of foreign currency.
Airports
1 Jags McCartney Airport, Grand Turk (JAGS McCartney
International Airport, IATA: GDT). Tel.: 946-2233 . Runway 11/29, 6,335
× 150 feet (2,095 × 50m), immigration office, aircraft fuel.
2 Salt
Cay Airport (IATA: SLX). Runway 08/26, 2,677 × 80 feet (885 × 27m),
private airfield.
Ambergris Cay Airfield. 5,700 × 100 feet (1,880 ×
33m) runway, private airfield, landing only with permission of the
owners.
3 Middle Caicos Airport (IATA: MDS). Runway 2,894 feet
(955m), runway has no lighting.
4 North Caicos Airport (IATA: NCA).
Runway 08/26, 4,245 × 75 feet (1,400 × 25m), the airfield is currently
being expanded, immigration authorities, customs.
5 Pine Cay (IATA:
PIC). Runway 11/29, 2,500 × 40 feet (825 × 14m), private airfield, no
aviation fuel, landing only with permission.
6 South Caicos
Airport (IATA: XSC). Tel.: 946-3226 . Runway 11/29, 6,000 × 100 feet
(1,980 × 50m), immigration office.
7 Providenciales International
(IATA: PLS). Runway 10/28, 7,600 × 150 feet (2,510 × 50m), asphalt, good
condition, immigration office, aviation fuel.
West Caicos. Runway
08/26, 2,400 × 60 feet (795 × 20m), the runway is classified as
dangerous.
Charter flights
Air Charter Bahamas, Miami Springs.
Tel.: (305) 885-6665, Fax: (305) 885-6664.
Air Turks and Caicos.
Tel.: 946-4999, Fax: 941-5563.
Providenciales. Providenciales is the
headquarters of the national airline Air Turks & Caicos, formerly
Interisland Airways. Connects Providenciales with South Caicos and Grand
Turk. International flights to Nassau (Bahamas), Kingston (Jamaica),
Puerto Plata and Santiago de los Caballeros (Dominican Republic).
Global Airways, airport, Providenciales. Tel.: 941-3222.
Global
Airways, airport, North Caicos. Tel.: 946-7093, Fax: 946-7290.
Airlines
American Airlines. Tel.: 946-4948. Daily from Miami to
Providenciales, Saturday and Sunday from New York to Providenciales.
Bahamasair. Tel.: 800-222-4262. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from Nassau
(Bahamas) to Providenciales.
British Airways. Tel.: (044) 191
490-7901. Sunday from London via Nassau to Providenciales.
Delta Air
Lines. Tel.: 800-241-4141. Saturday, Sunday and Monday from Atlanta
(USA) to Providenciales.
Be careful, drive on the left!
To rent a car, motorcycle or
scooter, you must obtain a national driving permit. The price is 10 US$
for a car and 5 US$ for a scooter. The maximum speed is 20 miles per
hour in towns, i.e. 32 km/h, and 40 miles per hour on other roads, which
corresponds to 65 km/h.
In 1992, the government designated 27 areas that have since been
protected as national parks. These include the islands of French Cay,
Gibb Cay and Round Cay. They cover an area of around 850 km². Of
these, over 500 km² are ecologically particularly important wetlands
that serve to protect species. The rest are breeding grounds for
seabirds and sea turtles and a designated marine park. The Turks and
Caicos National Trust, Tel. 941-5710, and the National Park
Administration, National Parks, Tel. 941-5122, are responsible for all
protected areas.
Columbus Landfall Marine National Park, Grand
Turk
Grand Turk Cays Land & Sea Park, Grand Turk
Long Cay
Sanctuary, Grand Turk
South Creek National Park, Grand Turk
Big
Sand Cay Sanctuary, Salt Cay
H. M. S. Endymion shipwreck, Area of
Historical Interest, Salt Cay
Salt Cay Area of Historical
Interest, Salt Cay
Conch Bar Caves National Park, Middle Caicos
International Ramsar Site, North, Middle & East Caicos Nature Reserve
Middle Caicos Reserve, Middle Caicos
Vine Point & Ocean Hole Nature
Reserve, Middle Caicos
Cottage Pond Nature Reserve, North Caicos
Dick Hill Creek & Bellefield Landing Pond Nature Reserve
East Bay
Island National Park, North Caicos
Fort George Land and Sea National
Park, North Caicos
Pumkin Bluff Pond Nature Reserve, North Caicos
Three Mary Cays National Park, North Caicos
Admiral Cockburn Land &
Sea National Park, South Caicos
Admiral Cockburn Nature Reserve, Long
Cay, Middleton Cay, Six Hill Cays, South Caicos
Belle Sound Nature
Reserve, South Caicos
Boiling Hole Area of Historical Interest,
South Caicos
Chalk Sound National Park, Providenciales
Cheshire
Hall Area of Historical Interest, Providenciales
Leeward Land & Sea
Park, Provedenciales
Northwest Point Marine National Park,
Providenciales, 8km long reef system off the northwest coast.
Northwest Point Pond Nature Reserve, Providenciales
Pigeon Pond &
Frenchman´s Creek Nature Reserve, Providenciales
Princess Alexandra
National Marine Park, Grace Bay, Providenciales
Sapodilla Hill Area
of Historical Interest, Chalk Sound
The Pigeon Pond and Frenchman´s
Creek Nature Preserve, Providenciales
Lake Catherine Nature Reserve,
West Caicos
West Caicos Marine National Park, West Caicos
Princess
Alexandra Nature Reserve, Donna Cay and Mangrove Cay
French Cay, Bush
Cay and Seal Cay, Caicos Banks
Swimming
Fishing
Nature observation
Diving
Hiking
Shopping
Handicrafts made from straw
Wood carvings
Naive
paintings from Haiti
In recent years, restaurants have sprung up like mushrooms,
particularly on the island of Providenciales. The range of dishes
offered by the chefs is just as international as the composition of the
population. But the islands are a paradise for fans of fish dishes. In
addition to the large conch shell and the Caribbean lobster, grouper,
mahi mahi or dolphin, red snapper, tuna and wahoo are particularly
caught and offered.
On the island of Providenciales, Caicos Light
Beer is brewed, and Heineken beer is also widely available.
Sugar
cane is no longer grown on the islands, but there is a national rum
called Premium Lucayan Rum.
Due to the lack of secure income and the sparse population, some islands are popular drug trafficking centers. In Cockburn Harbor on the island of South Caicos, there are even signs indicating that drug possession is a criminal offense. It is severely punished and can result in several years in prison.
Crime is virtually unknown on all islands. Nevertheless, valuables should not be left lying around in the car or on the beach. Hotel rooms and apartments should always be locked and valuables should be stored in the hotel safe.
The police headquarters and training center are on the island of Grand Turk. The police force is just over 100 men. Police stations are located on the islands of Grand Turk, Middle Caicos, North Caicos, Providenciales and South Caicos.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are composed of the Turks and Caicos
Islands, two archipelagos forming the southeastern end of the Lucayan
Islands, a larger group of islands whose other lands form the Bahamas
and are generally attached to the Caribbean, although they are not
located in the Caribbean Sea, but bathed by the Atlantic Ocean. These
islands are not part of the Greater Antilles despite their proximity to
the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola.
The two groups of islands are
separated by the Turks Island Passage, a channel 45 km long and more
than 2,000 meters deep.
Composed of eight main islands, about
twenty-two smaller islands and numerous islets and reefs, the
archipelago has a total land area of 616.3 km2 (at high tide) and 948
km2 (at low tide). The highest peaks in the islands are Blue Hills on
Providenciales and Flamingo Hill on East Caicos, both with a modest
elevation of 49 m.
West Caicos Island lies 47 km east-northeast
of Little Inagua Island in the Bahamas, while Grand Turk is 166 km north
of the northern coast of the Dominican Republic.
The vegetation
of the Turks and Caicos Islands consists of extensive marshes and
mangroves that have developed on calcareous soil. These islands are
subject to strong sunlight and are victims of marked aridity. They also
suffer from hurricanes, which are frequent in the region.
Main
Caicos Islands:
West Caicos (or Western Caicos)
Providenciales
North Caicos
Middle Caicos
East Caicos
South Caicos
Little
Ambergris Cay
Great Ambergris Cay
Pine Cay
Parrot Cay
The Turks and Caicos Islands have a hot and dry climate of tropical
savannah type. The islands generally receive between 500 and 600 mm of
water per year. Rainy days are also few, with 46 days of rain per year.
The islands therefore suffer from aridity. The wet season is not very
pronounced and short, from October to December. During this period,
precipitation is at its maximum with, for each of these months, six days
of rain. On the other hand, the dry season, which runs from January to
October, has minimums of two days of rain as in March.
The
climate is very hot, the average temperature being 29 °C. Temperatures
are highest between April and October.
Summer temperatures rarely
exceed 33 °C (91 °F) and winter night temperatures rarely fall below 18
°C (64 °F).
The islands are not an independent state but an overseas territory of
the United Kingdom with King Charles III as their sovereign. The monarch
is represented by a governor whom he appoints on the advice of the
Foreign Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office having
responsibility for the territory within the British government. Since
July 15, 2019, diplomat Nigel Dakin has held this position. However, on
December 15, 2022, the Foreign Office published a press release
announcing that the governor will leave his post in June 2023. He will
then be replaced by Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, the current governor of
the island of Anguilla, another British overseas territory in the
Caribbean.
The Prime Minister is the head of the executive. This
position is currently held by Washington Misick of the National
Progressive Party (PNP), since the legislative elections of February 20,
2021. The latter previously held this position during a first term from
1991 to 1995.
The territory experienced political instability
during the first decade of the 21st century. The government of the time
was led by Michael Misick of the PNP, and younger brother of the current
incumbent, since the elections of August 7, 2003. The latter resigned in
March 2009 following serious suspicions of corruption. He was then
replaced by Galmo Williams, also a member of the PNP. But in August
2009, the British government suspended parliament and the autonomous
government and entrusted the latter to the governor for a period of two
years.
Legislative power is vested in the unicameral parliament,
the Turks and Caicos Islands House of Assembly, which comprises 21
members, 15 of whom are elected by universal suffrage for a four-year
term and four of whom are appointed by the Governor. The territory is
divided into fifteen constituencies: four in the Turks and Caicos
Islands and eleven in the Caicos Islands.
The British government,
in the person of the Governor, remains responsible for defence, foreign
affairs, internal security and offshore finance.
Politics in the
islands are dominated by two parties:
the Progressive National Party
(PNP) of current Prime Minister Washington Misick;
the People's
Democratic Movement (PDM)
The territory's legal system is based
on English common law, with a small number of laws adopted from Jamaica
and the Bahamas. Suffrage is universal for persons over 18 years of age.
English is the official language. Grand Turk is the administrative and
political capital of the islands and Cockburn Town has been the seat of
government since 1766.
The islands participate in the Caribbean
Development Bank. They are associated with CARICOM and are members of
the Universal Postal Union. They also have a sub-office within Interpol.
The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization included the
territory on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
August 30, 1976 is a significant date in the recent history of the territory. On that day a new constitution was adopted and the first Chief Minister was elected, James Alexander George Smith McCartney. August 30 has since been observed as the national holiday, Constitution Day.
When Jamaica gained independence on 6 August 1962, the Turks and Caicos Islands, formerly under Jamaican administration, became a Crown colony in its own right. To this end, an Order in Council was issued granting the islands their own constitution appropriate to their status. This was done under the provisions of the West Indies Act 1962. The first Constitution of the Turks and Caicos Islands was thus adopted. The constitution was subsequently amended twice in 1967 and once in 1968 and 1969. However, a new constitution was adopted on 30 August 1976. In 1986, this constitution was suspended in response to allegations of misconduct and corruption among the government and opposition. A new Basic Law was enacted on 5 March 1988, and was amended in 1993 and further amended in 2002. A new constitution came into force in 2006, but was criticised for giving too much discretionary power to Cabinet ministers. The constitution was suspended again in August 2009 when the United Kingdom decided to reassert direct rule over the territory in response to allegations of government corruption. A new constitution was drafted and enacted in 2011. Various amendments to the 2006 constitution were made, including the granting of the Attorney General's powers over criminal prosecutions to a new Director of Public Prosecutions. It came into force on 15 October 2012.
The judicial branch of government is headed by a Supreme Court;
appeals are heard by the Court of Appeal and final appeals by the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. There are
three Supreme Court justices, a Chief Justice and two others. The Court
of Appeal consists of a President and at least two Justices of Appeal.
The Courts of First Instance are the lower courts and appeals from
these courts are referred to the Supreme Court.
Since April 2020,
the office of Chief Justice has been held by Mabel Agyemang.
Policing is primarily the responsibility of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force. Customs and border enforcement is the responsibility of the Border Force, which may sometimes be supported by the Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment.
Homeland defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. The
Royal Navy has one ship on permanent station in the Caribbean, HMS
Medway, and also sends another Royal Navy or Royal Fleet auxiliary ship
as part of the Atlantic Patrol (NORTH). The primary mission of these
ships in the Caribbean is to maintain British sovereignty in the
Overseas Territories, provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief, such
as hurricanes, which are common in the region, and conduct
counter-narcotics operations. In autumn 2022, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
ship RFA Tideforce, with an embarked Wildcat helicopter, is deployed to
the islands to provide support to the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands
Police Force, which is facing increasing gang violence in the territory.
Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment
Governor Nigel Dakin announced in
early December 2019 that the Turks and Caicos Islands would be
establishing its own defence regiment, the Turks and Caicos Islands
Regiment, with the assistance of the British Ministry of Defence and
that it would be similar to those of two other British Overseas
Territories, the Royal Bermuda Regiment and the Cayman Islands Regiment,
the latter also announced at the same time. The regiment, like those in
Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, would work to strengthen the country's
security and would receive training in engineering and communications to
deal with natural disasters. In mid-December 2019, a team from the
British Ministry of Defence arrived in the islands to initiate the
establishment of the regiment.
In spring 2020, a UK Ministry of
Defence Security and Assistance Team arrived in the territory to assist
with the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season and to
assist with the development of the regiment. In early June 2020,
Lieutenant Colonel Ennis Grant was appointed Commanding Officer of the
newly formed Turks and Caicos Regiment.
Tourism, particularly on the island of Providenciales, fishing and
offshore financial services are the main economic activities of the
archipelago. The main natural economic resources are lobster and conch.
Historically, it was the salt industry, as well as small exports of
sponges and hemp, that maintained the economy of the islands. However,
population growth was low and the economy stagnated. The economic sector
developed in the 1960s, when American investors arrived in
Providenciales, financed the construction of an airstrip and built the
first hotel in the archipelago, "The Third Turtle". A small number of
tourists began to stay on the island, thus supplementing the income from
salt extraction. Shortly afterwards, Club Med built a hotel complex at
Grace Bay, in Providenciales and then financed the modernization of the
airstrip in the 1980s to allow the landing of large aircraft. Since
then, tourism has gradually increased, notably with the construction of
many luxury hotels and resorts. In 2021, the number of tourists, mainly
North American and British, amounted to 431,237 people, including 26,573
cruise passengers.
In 2021, the GDP amounted to 943.2 million US
dollars and the GDP per capita was 23,628 dollars. The amount of exports
was 11.3 million dollars and that of imports was 474.7 million dollars.
The archipelago has a limited amount of groundwater. As a result,
residents are in the habit of installing cisterns to collect rainwater
for irrigating plants.
In 2022, the territory is considered a tax
haven, in particular due to a zero corporate tax rate. The European
Union has included it on its regularly updated list of non-cooperative
countries and territories for tax purposes.
Providenciales International Airport is the main entry point to the
archipelago. Also known as "Provo Airport", it is operated by the Turks
and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA). JAGS McCartney
International Airport serves the capital, Cockburn Town, on the island
of Grand Turk. It was named in honour of the territory's first Chief
Minister and a significant figure in the islands' recent history. In
total, there are seven airports, located on each of the inhabited
islands. Five have paved runways and the other two have unpaved runways.
There are 121 kilometres of road, of which 24 km are paved,
particularly on Grand Turk and Providenciales, and 97 km are dirt. As in
the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands, driving is on the
left in the islands.
The territory’s main international ports are
at Grand Turk and Providenciales.
The islands do not have
railways. However, early in the last century, a mule-drawn railway
operated in East Caicos to transport sisal from the plantation to the
port of Jacksonville. Steam locomotives were later used. It was still in
operation in 1912. After sisal production ceased, the town and railway
were abandoned and the island became uninhabited. It is possible to
visit the ruins of the village today as they are still clearly visible
and the railway line can be clearly traced through the area.
Both archipelagos are hotspots for biodiversity. The islands have
many endemic species and others of international importance, due to the
conditions created by the oldest salt marsh development in the
Caribbean. The variety of species includes a number of endemic species
of lizards, snakes, insects and plants, and marine organisms; as well as
being an important breeding ground for seabirds.
The UK and
Territory governments have joint responsibility for conservation and
preservation in order to meet obligations under international
environmental conventions.
Because of this importance, the
islands are on the UK’s tentative list for future UNESCO World Heritage
Sites.
The population of the territory, of which twenty-two out of thirty
islands are inhabited, is estimated at 46,131 inhabitants in 2021. This
is a constant growth since the islands had, in fact, 19,986 inhabitants
in 2001, 36,605 in 2008, 32,199 in 2012, 36,689 in 2015 and 41,369 in
2018. Most recent immigrants, legal and illegal, come from neighboring
countries: Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. However, there is
also a movement of population from Canada and South Africa. The most
populated islands are Grand Turk and Providenciales. They alone account
for two-thirds of the inhabitants.
The vast majority of the
population is composed of black people of African origin or
Afro-Caribbean mestizos (representing 95% of the population), and a
thousand whites. These are mainly British (0.9%) and Americans (3.4%).
The latter live near a base for observing remote-controlled craft,
installed on Grand Turk since 1952, following an agreement between the
United Kingdom and the United States government.
The vast majority of Afro-Caribbeans, more than 80% of the
population, speak Turks and Caicos Creole. It is related in particular
to that of the Bahamas and to a lesser extent to those of Jamaica and
Tobago. This creole is called Turks and Caicos Creole English in
English. Although spoken by the majority of the population, this
language has no official status. Like all creoles of the Antilles, it is
based on African grammar, while massively using vocabulary from English.
The other languages spoken in the islands, in addition to standard
English, are Spanish and Haitian Creole due to the presence of people
from Haiti and Spanish-speaking countries. These populations participate
in the evolution of the vocabulary of Turks and Caicos Creole.
As
for schools, standard English is the only language of instruction.
Moreover, the system is modeled on the British system, including
textbooks. In addition, some young immigrants benefit from English
lessons before their admission to public schools.
Furthermore,
most of the inhabitants also speak English but use it as a second
language. The local government perpetuates the practice in force since
the beginning of the colony in that English is the only language
admitted in the Legislative Assembly, in the administration, the courts
and in education. In reality, even if the territory is governed by
English laws, the inhabitants continue to speak the local Creole,
whether in the courts or the administration, with the consent of the
members of these institutions.
The majority of the population of the islands is Christian. Represented are: Protestants (72.8%), Baptists (35.8%), Evangelicals (11.7%), Roman Catholics (11.4%), Anglicans (10%), Methodists (9.3%), Seventh-day Adventists (6%), Jehovah's Witnesses (1.8%) and other denominations (14%), including Hindus, Jews, Muslims.
Primary education covers the first eight years of a child's school
life. The secondary program covers the last five years of compulsory
school life. There are fourteen public schools in the islands. Ten are
primary schools and four are secondary schools.
The Turks and
Caicos Islands Community College is a community college with two
campuses, one on Grand Turk and one on Providenciales. It offers higher
education to students who have successfully completed secondary school.
The community college also oversees an adult literacy program.
Cricket is the most popular sport in the Turks and Caicos Islands and is considered the national sport. Unlike most other former British overseas territories in the West Indies, the Turks and Caicos Islands do not field players for the West Indies Cricket Team and instead have their own national team.