The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) are a British OverseasTerritory consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the West Indies, thelarger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands known for tourism and as anoffshore financial centre. They are located southeast of the Bahamas, north ofHispaniola, and 914 kilometers (494 nautical miles) from Miami in the UnitedStates. The islands are geographically contiguous to the Bahamas, but arepolitically a separate entity, an autonomous part of the British Empire. Theislands have a total population of about 30,000, of whom approximately 22,500live on Providenciales in the Caicos Islands. Cockburn Town, the capital, issituated on Grand Turk Island. One-third of the population is under 15 yearsold, and only 4% are 65 or older. The vast majority of inhabitants of the Turksand Caicos Islands are black and Protestant Christian.  The official language of the islands isEnglish and the population also speaks Turks and Caicos Islands Creole which issimilar to Bahamian Creole.

The eight main islands and more than 20 smaller islands havea total land area of 616.3 square kilometers (238.0 sq mi),primarily of low, flat limestone with extensive marshes and mangrove swamps and370 kilometers (230 mi) of beach front. The weather is usually sunnyand relatively dry, but suffers frequent hurricanes. The islands have limitednatural fresh water resources; private cisterns collect rainwater for drinking.The primary natural resources are spiny lobster, conch and other shellfish.

Because the Turks and Caicos is a British Overseas Territoryand not an independent country, she cannot confer citizenship. Instead, peoplewith close ties to Britain's Overseas Territories, all hold the samenationality: British Overseas Territories Citizen (BOTC) as defined by theBritish Nationality Act 1981 and subsequent amendments. BOTC, however, does notconfer any right to live in any British Overseas Territory, including theterritory from which it is derived. Instead, the rights normally associatedwith citizenship derive from what is called Belonger status and persons who arenative to the islands or are descended from natives are said to beBelongers".

The Turks and Caicos economy is based on tourism, offshorefinancial services, and fishing. Most capital goods and food for domesticconsumption are imported. The US is the leading source of tourists, accountingfor more than three-quarters of the 175,000 visitors that arrived in 2004. Theterritory's currency is the United States dollar, with a few government fines(such as airport infractions) being payable in British Pounds. The primaryagricultural products include limited amounts of maize, beans, cassava(tapioca) and citrus fruits. Fish and conch are the only significant export,with some $169.2 million of lobster, dried and fresh conch, and conch shellsexported in 2000, primarily to the United States and the United Kingdom. Inrecent years, however, the catch has been declining. Property prices have alsorisen dramatically in the Turks and Caicos between 2001 and 2007, propelled byan enormous increase in visitors.