The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British overseas territory dependent on the United Kingdom. Until the year of 1962 they were administered by Jamaica, but when obtaining this their independence, they happened to depend on the Governor General of the islands Bahamas. When the Bahamas achieved its independence in 1973, it became a separate territory. Although in the year 1982 the United Kingdom granted them independence, the islands backed down and preferred to continue governed as a territory dependent on the British crown. It is one of the seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories under the supervision of the United Nations Decolonization Committee, in order to eliminate colonialism.
The name "Turks Islands" is due to the natural abundance, in the archipelago, of a certain species of cactus whose shape resembles a Turkish fez."Caicos" are "Low or large reefs that sometimes come to form islets". They are located north of the island of Hispaniola, where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a common mistake to locate the Bahamas and these islands in the Caribbean Sea, which is actually south of Cuba and La Española. The Turks and Caicos Islands are southeast of Mayaguana in the Bahamas and north of Española Island. Cockburn Town, the capital, is about 1,042 kilometers east-southeast of Miami in the US The islands, with 948 km2 of total area, are geographically contiguous to the Bahamas, but are politically a separate entity.
Since October 17,2016 the Governor of the islands is John Freeman, who acts as head of state and oversees the work of a Legislative Council composed of 17 members in the city of Cockburn Town, the capital of the territory. The head of government is the elected Chief Minister, currently Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson. His party, the National Progressive Party won 13 of 15 seats in the last elections. The economy of the islands depends on tourism, the issuing of postage stamps, fishing and non-taxable foreign investments. The legal currency is the US dollar and since July 2,1991 the Turks and Caicos Islands are an associate member of the Caribbean Community.