The Turks and Caicos Islands are two groups of islands in the Caribbean Sea, near the Bahamas. The islands lie southeast of Mayaguana in the Bahamas island chain and north of the island of Hispaniola. Cockburn Town, the capital since 1766, is in the Grand Turk Island about  east-southeast of Miami, United States.

The islands have a total land area of . and they are on a tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Government
The government of Great Britain is also the ruler of the Turks and Caicos, but that ruler always acts through a governor.  There are local elections for premier (similar to a president). Government offices are in the Grand Turk Island.

Geography

The two island groups are in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of the Bahamas, north of Hispaniola, at . The Caicos Islands are separated by the Caicos Passage from the closest Bahamian islands, Mayaguana and Great Inagua.

The eight main islands and more than 299 smaller islands have a total land area of , consisting primarily of low, flat limestone with extensive marshes and mangrove swamps and  of beach front. The weather is usually sunny and relatively dry, but hurricanes are frequent during summer. The islands have limited natural fresh water resources; private cisterns collect rainwater for drinking. The primary natural resources are spiny lobster, conch and other shellfish.

Turks Islands
The Turks Islands are separated from the Caicos Islands by Turks Island Passage, which is more than  deep, The islands form a chain that goes from north to south.

There are only two inhabited islands, and these are:

 Grand Turk. Here is the capital city, Cockburn Town, of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and all government offices are here. There is an international airport.
 Salt Cay. It is the second largest of the Turks Islands. The main income used to be salt, but now it is tourism.

Caicos Islands
The inhabited islands of the group are:

 North Caicos is the largest island in the country.
 Middle Caicos is the second largest island in the country. 
 South Caicos, or The Big South, is the fishing capital of the country. 
 Providenciales, or more commonly known as "Provo". In this island is the "Providenciales International Airport" and there are many holiday resorts. A large coral reef is situated to the north of the island. 
 Ambergris Cay
 Pine Cay
 Parrot Cay

Climate
Turks and Caicos Islands features a relatively dry and sunny marine tropical climate with relatively consistent temperatures throughout the course of the year. The temperature during summer rarely is over  and during winter rarely is below .

Population

Demographics
Eight of the thirty islands in the territory are inhabited, with a total population in 2012 of 31,458: 16,037 males and 15,421 females. The population density is 214 persons per square mile.

Total population by island 2001-2012

Language
The official language of the islands is English and the population also speaks Turks and Caicos Islands Creole which is similar to Bahamian Creole. Due to its close proximity to Cuba and Hispaniola, large Haitian Creole and Spanish-speaking communities have developed in the territory due to immigration from Creole-speaking Haiti and from Spanish-speaking Cuba and Dominican Republic.

Religion
The people of Turks and Caicos was 72.8% Protestant (35.8% Baptists, 11.7% Church of God, 10% Anglicans, 9.3% Methodists, 6% Seventh-Day Adventists), 11.4% Catholics, 1.8% Jehovah's Witnesses, and 14% other.

Cities 
This is a list of cities in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Blue Hills 
Bottle Creek 
Conch Bar 
Cockburn Harbour 
Cockburn Town 
Grace Bay Garden Loop, Turks and caicos island
Balfour Town, Turks and Caicos Islands 
Whitby, Turks and Caicos Islands
Kew, Turks and Caicos Islands
Sandy Point, Turks and Caicos Islands
Lorimers 
Bambarra, Turks and Caicos Islands

Notes

References

Other websites

 Turks and Caicos Islands website 

 
Caribbean Community