Place:Turks and Caicos Islands


NameTurks and Caicos Islands
Alt namesColony of the Turks and Caicos Islandssource: Encyclopædia Britannica (1988) XII, 62-63
TypeDependent state
Coordinates21.75°N 71.583°W
Contained Places
Inhabited place
Grand Turk
Cockburn Town
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia


The Turks and Caicos Islands lie southeast of Mayaguana in the Bahamas island chain and north of the island of Hispaniola. Cockburn Town, the capital since 1766, is situated on Grand Turk Island about east-southeast of Miami, United States. The islands have a total land area of .

The first recorded European sighting of the islands now known as the Turks and Caicos occurred in 1512. In the subsequent centuries, the islands were claimed by several European powers with the British Empire eventually gaining control. For many years the islands were governed indirectly through Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the islands received their own governor and have remained a separate autonomous British Overseas Territory since. In August 2009, the United Kingdom suspended the Turks and Caicos Islands' self-government after allegations of ministerial corruption. Home rule was restored in the islands after the November 2012 elections.


How places in Turks and Caicos Islands are organized

All places in Turks and Caicos Islands

Further information on historical place organization in Turks and Caicos Islands

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