ok, this one is definitely for those who don’t live here. every time i meet someone off island and i tell them we live in turks and caicos, we get the usual questions – how big is the island? how many people live there? where does the name turks and caicos come from? is it british or american?

i thought i would sum up the answers to these and some questions for those who are curious about these beautiful islands that so many people haven’t heard of –

• the turks and caicos islands (TCI) are named after the turk’s-cap cactus, and the term caya hico, meaning string of islands, in the language of the lucayan
• the first inhabitants of the islands were the tainos, also called luvayans – who inhabited the island until shortly after chritopher columbus arrived
• turks and caicos consists of 40 islands and cays, 8 of which are inhabited
• our capital is cockburn town, in grand turk island
• the most populated and developed island is providenciales (where we live)
• providenciales (or provo as we call it) has an area of 122 square kilometres (47 sq mi)
• the total population of the islands is around 49000, including expats
• we are part of the british overseas territory – we have a governor appointed by the queen, and a locally elected premier. the legal system is based on english common law.
• our currency is in US$
• we have 1 highway (with 7 roundabouts) and there are no traffic lights on island

• we drive on the left lane but use mostly left-hand drive cars, imported from florida
• there is no mail delivery to our homes, we need to have a PO Box
• the turks and caicos islands have the third largest barrier reef system in the world
• grand turk was the first land reached by astronaut john glenn after the mercury space mission in 1962
• there are no lakes or rivers – we depend upon rainfall or desalinated water produced by reverse osmosis for the supply of fresh water
• the economy of the TCI relies on the tourism industry, real estate development and some exportation of seafood
• the official turks and caicos dish is conch, cooked in so many different ways, and of course rice and peas (there’s a great article on true turks and caicos cuisine by david bowen)
• supermarkets don’t sell alcohol on sundays
• there is no public transportation, only independently owned taxis and illegal ‘jitneys”
• blue mountain, only 47m high, is the highest point

any other questions, shoot them over and i’ll add them to the post :)

ps – things to do in turks and caicos