_#_Climate: tropical; marine; moderated by trade winds; sunny and
relatively dry
_#_Terrain: low, flat limestone; extensive marshes and mangrove swamps
_#_Natural resources: spiny lobster, conch
_#_Land use: arable land 2%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures;
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 98%
_#_Environment: 30 islands (eight inhabited); subject to frequent
hurricanes
_#_Note: located 190 km north of the Dominican Republic in the North
Atlantic Ocean
_*_People
_#_Population: 9,983 (July 1991), growth rate 2.2% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 25 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 14 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 78 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 3.8 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: no noun or adjectival forms
_#_Ethnic divisions: majority of African descent
_#_Religion: Baptist 41.2%, Methodist 18.9%, Anglican 18.3%,
Seventh-Day Adventist 1.7%, other 19.9% (1980)
_#_Language: English (official)
_#_Literacy: 98% (male 99%, female 98%) age 15 and over having ever
attended school (1970)
_#_Labor force: NA; majority engaged in fishing and tourist
industries; some subsistence agriculture
_#_Organized labor: Saint George's Industrial Trade Union
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: none
_#_Type: dependent territory of the UK
_#_Capital: Grand Turk (Cockburn Town)
_#_Administrative divisions: none (dependent territory of the UK)
_#_Independence: none (dependent territory of the UK)
_#_Constitution: introduced 30 August 1976, suspended in 1986, and a
Constitutional Commission is currently reviewing its contents
_#_Legal system: based on laws of England and Wales with a small
number adopted from Jamaica and The Bahamas
_#_National holiday: Constitution Day, 30 August (1976)
_#_Executive branch: British monarch, governor, Executive Council
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1953),
represented by Governor Michael J. BRADLEY (since 1987);
Head of Government--Chief Minister Oswald O. SKIPPINGS (since
3 March 1988)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
People's Democratic Movement (PDM), Oswald SKIPPINGS;
Progressive National Party (PNP), Dan MALCOLM and Norman SAUNDERS;
National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Ariel MISSICK
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
Legislative Council--last held on 3 March 1988
(next to be held NA);
results--PDM 60%, PNP 30%, other 10%;
seats--(20 total, 13 elected) PDM 11, PNP 2
_#_Communists: none
_#_Member of: CDB
_#_Diplomatic representation: as a dependent territory of the UK, the
interests of the Turks and Caicos Islands are represented in the US by
the UK;