Turks and Caicos Islands 2

Turks and Caicos Islands

The islands import food and beverages, tobacco, clothing, manufacture and construction materials, primarily from the United States and the United Kingdom. Imports totaled $581 million in 2007.

Transportation:

 

Turks and Caicos Islands 3
Providenciales Airport

Providenciales International Airport is the main entry point for the Turks and Caicos Islands, with JAGS McCartney International Airport serving the capital Cockburn Town on Grand Turk Island. Altogether, there are seven airports, located on each of the inhabited islands. Five have paved runways (three of which are approximately 2,000 m (6,600 ft) long and one is approximately 1,000 m (3,300 ft) long), and the remaining two have unpaved runways (one of which is approximately 1,000 m (3,300 ft) long and the other is significantly shorter).

The islands have 121 kilometers (75 miles) of highway, 24 km (15 mi) paved and 97 km (60 mi) unpaved. Like the United States Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands drive on the left.

The territory’s main international ports and harbors are on Grand Turk and Providenciales.

The islands have no significant railways. In the early twentieth century East Caicos operated a horse-drawn railway to transport sisal from the plantation to the port. The 14-kilometre (8.7-mile) route was removed after sisal trading ceased.

Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands:

The current flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands was adopted on 7 November 1968, and modified in 1999. Prior to this, the islands had several different flags either proposed or utilized.

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Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands

Nevertheless, the Turks and Caicos Islands did not form a separate colony for the vast majority of this time. Instead, the islands were a dependency of Jamaica until 1959. In 1959, the islands became a separate colony but until 1962 and the independence of Jamaica, the Governor of Jamaica remained the Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Between 1962 and 1965 the Administrator of the Turks and Caicos Islands reported directly to London and then between 1965 and 1973, the administrator was subordinate to the Governor of the Bahamas, who was also Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands. In 1973, when The Bahamas became independent, the position of administrator became governor.

The flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands features a blue ensign with the Union flag in the canton, defaced with the coat of arms of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the center-right. The coat of arms, which was granted on 28 September 1965, takes the shape of a yellow shield which contains a conch shell, lobster, and a Melocactus. The Melocactus, which is visually similar to the traditional Turkish fez, give the islands the first half of their name.

Whether the lobster on the coat of arms should have eight or ten legs has been disputed. It has been suggested that the original version of the flag showed ten legs, as would be accurate due to the decapod nature of lobsters, and that the first pair of smaller legs were hidden under the antennae and were subsequently missed in later drawings. It is thought that the lobster present on the coat of arms is a Caribbean Spiny Lobster (panulirus argus), which does indeed have ten legs.

The current flag was modified in 1999 when a white outline was added to the shield and the badge height was increased to approximately half of the hoist width.

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