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Turks and Caicos

Capital	Grand Turk (Cockburn Town)
Area Sq Km	430
Area Sq Miles	166
Population	16 000
Languages	English
Religions	Protestant
Currency	US Dollar
National Day

Turks and Caicos

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Economy Overview

Since salt mining went into decline from the mid-60s and finally ceaseda few years ago, the Turks & Caicos Islands have relied on tourism andoffshore financial services for most of their income. There is littleagriculture but a substantial fishing industry which is both the solecontributor to the islands' food requirements and a valuable export earner -particularly from the USA which buys much of the catch. The only other notableindustry is construction, which is largely geared towards improving tourisminfrastructure. In the mid-1980s, measures were introduced by the Government toattract an offshore financial services industry and these have met withreasonable success. Unfortunately, it brought several major problems manifestedin the form of laundered money and illicit capital fleeing from elsewhere.Rather than tackle this increasingly awkward issue through a strongerregulatory regime, the Government has refocused on tourism as the key to theislands' future economic well-being. Despite receipts from tourism and thefinancial sector, some aid from the UK (about US$15 million annually) is stillneeded to balance the budget and fund capital projects. The USA issubstantially the largest single trading partner; the remainder of the islands'trade is conducted with the UK and with its Caribbean neighbours.

Government

TheBritish monarch is head of state, represented locally by a Governor who isresponsible for defence and foreign affairs as well as internal security. Theinternal government comprises Legislative and Executive Councils. The formerconsists of a Speaker, three ex-officio members of the Executive Council, threeappointees, and 11 members elected by universal adult suffrage. The ExecutiveCouncil consists of a Chief Minister and four other Ministers drawn from theLegislative Council, plus three appointees to the posts of Chief Secretary,Financial Secretary and Attorney-General.

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