Turks and Caicos Islands

Turks and Caicos Islands, British dependency in the West Indies, southeast of the Bahamas. The islands form two groups. The Turks Islands comprise six uninhabited cays, two inhabited islands (Grand Turk and Salt Cay), and a large number of small rocky islands. The Caicos Islands comprise six principal islands, including Grand Caicos (24.3 sq km/9.4 sq mi), the largest in the dependency, and a number of islets. The mean annual temperature is 29.4° C (85° F). Despite frequent hurricanes, the rainfall averages only 711 mm (28 in) annually. Total area, 430 sq km (166 sq mi). Consisting almost entirely of persons of black African or mixed descent, the population (1990) was 11,696, with an overall density of about 27 persons per sq km (about 70 per sq mi). The production of salt, formerly the leading industry of the islands, ceased by the early 1980s. The chief exports are crayfish, fish meat, and conch. Exports in the mid-1980s earned about $3.5 million annually and imports cost $29.1 million. The unit of currency is the United States dollar. The islands are governed under a constitution introduced in 1976. Executive power is vested in a governor, who presides over a seven-member executive council. The legislative council has 20 members, 13 of whom are popularly elected. The islands were visited in 1512 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. They were uninhabited until 1678, when Bermudians began to develop the salt industry. In 1799 the Turks and Caicos Islands were given representation in the assembly of the Bahamas. On petition of the inhabitants, they were formally annexed to Jamaica in 1873. The U.S. government established a guided missile tracking station on Grand Turk in 1952, under an agreement with Great Britain. From 1965 to 1973, the governor of the Bahamas also served as governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands. When the Bahamas became independent in July 1973, this arrangement was ended.