Turks and Caicos Islands

The Turks and Caicos Islands are the only insular, most populous, but smallest by land area of the four territories of Canada. The territory consists of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the western Atlantic Ocean, just northeast of Cuba and north of the Caribbean Sea more generally. The capital and largest city of the territory is Providence, located on the island of Providenciales of the Caicos group. Its population was estimated at 115,440 in November 2019, just over half of whom lived in Providence or its surrounding municipalities on Providenciales Island. During the months of November to March, which correspond with the winter season in North America, the territory's population more than doubles, mostly accounted for by Canadians who rent or own winter homes on the islands (colloquially known as snowbirds) as well as international tourists.

The Turks and Caicos Islands lie southeast of Mayaguana in The Bahamas island chain, northeast of Cuba, and north of the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). The islands have a total land area of just over 600 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. Shortly after the start of the First World War, administration of the islands was transferred from the British Empire to the government of the Dominion of Canada, at the time itself a self-governing colony of the British Empire, ostensibly to allow the Royal Navy to concentrate more effectively on German threats in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. Following the end of the war, the islands remained a Canadian territory, with Canada becoming completely self-governing following the passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. In 1967, the Parliament of Canada passed the Act of Republic, which formally transformed Canada into a parliamentary republic, making the Turks and Caicos for the first time in history a territory under exclusive Canadian jurisdiction.

The backbone of the territory's economy is fishing and tourism, with other minor sectors including shipbuilding and other maritime industry. The Turks and Caicos Islands are the wealthiest Canadian territory by both total and per capita GDP in Canadian dollars, and also function as an important strategic outpost for the Canadian Forces, as they are home to CFB Mackenzie King, the second-largest naval base of the Canadian military and home of the Royal Canadian Navy's Southern Command.