Turks and Caicos Islands

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

Civil air

Air Turks and Caicos (passenger service) and Turks Air Ltd. (cargo service)

Highways

121 km, including 24 km tarmac

Ports

Grand Turk, Salt Cay, Providenciales, Cockburn Harbour

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

Note

defense is the responsibility of the UK

Agriculture

subsistence farming prevails, based on corn and beans; fishing more important than farming; not self-sufficient in food

Budget

revenues $12.4 million; expenditures $15.8 million, including capital expenditures of $2.6 million (FY87)

Currency

US currency is used

Economic aid

Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $100 million

Electricity

9,050 kW capacity; 11.1 million kWh produced, 1,140 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

US currency is used

Exports

$2.9 million (f.o.b., FY84); commodities--lobster, dried and fresh conch, conch shells; partners--US, UK

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$44.9 million, per capita $5,000; real growth rate NA% (1986)

Imports

$26.3 million (c.i.f., FY84); commodities--foodstuffs, drink, tobacco, clothing; partners--US, UK

Industrial production

growth rate NA%

Industries

fishing, tourism, offshore financial services

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

NA%

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.

Unemployment rate

12% (1989)

Climate

tropical; marine; moderated by trade winds; sunny and relatively dry

Coastline

389 km Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Comparative area

slightly less than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Environment

30 islands (eight inhabited); subject to frequent hurricanes

Land boundaries

none

Land use

arable land 2%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures; 0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 98%

Natural resources

spiny lobster, conch

Note

located 190 km north of the Dominican Republic in the North Atlantic Ocean

Terrain

low, flat limestone; extensive marshes and mangrove swamps

Total area

430 km2; land area: 430 km2

Administrative divisions

none (dependent territory of the UK)

Capital

Grand Turk (Cockburn Town)

Communists

none

Constitution

introduced 30 August 1976, suspended in 1986, and a Constitutional Commission is currently reviewing its contents

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

Executive branch

British monarch, governor, Executive Council

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

Independence

none (dependent territory of the UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court 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) People's Democratic Movement (PDM), Oswald SKIPPINGS; Progressive National Party (PNP), Dan MALCOLM and Norman SAUNDERS; National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Ariel MISSICK

Legal system

based on laws of England and Wales with a small number adopted from Jamaica and The Bahamas

Legislative branch

unicameral Legislative Council

Long-form name

none

Member of

CDB

National holiday

Constitution Day, 30 August (1976)

Suffrage

universal at age 18 Legislative Council--last held on 3 March 1988 (next to be held NA); results--PDM 60%, PNP 30%, other 10%; seats--(20 total, 13 elected) PDM 11, PNP 2

Type

dependent territory of the UK

Birth rate

25 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

majority of African descent

Infant mortality rate

14 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

NA; majority engaged in fishing and tourist industries; some subsistence agriculture

Language

English (official)

Life expectancy at birth

72 years male, 78 years female (1991)

Literacy

98% (male 99%, female 98%) age 15 and over having ever attended school (1970)

Nationality

no noun or adjectival forms

Net migration rate

2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

Saint George's Industrial Trade Union

Population

9,983 (July 1991), growth rate 2.2% (1991)

Religion

Baptist 41.2%, Methodist 18.9%, Anglican 18.3%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.7%, other 19.9% (1980)

Total fertility rate

3.8 children born/woman (1991)