page_title: Turks and Caicos Islands
section_title: Politics
hierarchical_section_title: Turks and Caicos Islands / Politics
caption_attribution_description: English: Cockburn Town taken by Sean Jackson
context_page_description: The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and northern West Indies. They are known primarily for tourism and as an offshore financial centre. The resident population was 31,458 as of 2012 of whom 23,769 live on Providenciales in the Caicos Islands; July 2020 estimates put the population at 55,926. It is the third largest of the British overseas territories by population.
  The Turks and Caicos Islands lie southeast of Mayaguana in The Bahamas island chain, northeast of Cuba, and north of the island of Hispaniola. Cockburn Town, the capital since 1766, is situated on Grand Turk Island about 1,042 kilometres east-southeast of Miami, United States. The islands have a total land area of 430 square kilometres.
  The Turks and Caicos Islands were inhabited for centuries by native Amerindian peoples. The first recorded European sighting of the islands occurred in 1512. In the subsequent centuries, the islands were claimed by several European powers, with the British Empire eventually gaining control.
context_section_description: The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory. As a British territory, its sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, represented by a governor appointed by the monarch, on the advice of the Foreign Office. With the election of the territory's first Chief Minister, J. A. G. S. McCartney, the islands first adopted a constitution on 30 August 1976. The national holiday, Constitution Day, is celebrated annually on 30 August.
  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 those over 18 years of age. English is the official language. Grand Turk is the administrative and political capital of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Cockburn Town has been the seat of government since 1766.
  The Turks and Caicos Islands participate in the Caribbean Development Bank, is an associate in CARICOM, member of the Universal Postal Union and maintains an Interpol sub-bureau. The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization includes the territory on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
  Under the new Constitution that came into effect in October 2012, legislative power is held by a unicameral House of Assembly, consisting of 19 seats, 15 elected and four appointed by the governor; of elected members, five are elected at large and 10 from single-member districts for four-year terms.
  In the 2016 elections the People's Democratic Movement prevailed and Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson became Premier.
caption: A street in Cockburn Town, the capital of the Turks and Caicos Islands
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