1985 Edition

Agriculture

main products — cotton, tobacco, cereals, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, and livestock products; self-sufficient in food in average years

corn, beans

Airfields

117 total, 97 usable; 61 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways over 3,660 m, 26 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 25 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

1 total, 7 usable; 4 with permanentsurface runways; 4 with runways 1,2202,439 m

Branches

Land Forces, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie

executive, bicameral legislature (Executive Council, 14-member Legislative Council), judicial (Supreme Court)

police Nanumea 1 35 km .Mufao Nanumanga ,Nui tVat1upu FUNAFUTI»-*-(* Funafuti South Pacific Ocean See regional mtp X Nurakita Land

Budget

(FY83) revenues, $9.6 billion; expenditures, $11.2 billion; deficit, $1.7 billion

revenues, $5.9 million; expenditures, $7.2 million (1981/82)

Capital

Cockburn Town on Grand Turk Island

Civil air

30 major transport aircraft

Air Turks and Caicos (passenger service) and Turks Air Ltd. (cargo service)

Coastline

about 24 km People

Communist

none known Economy

Communists

strength and support negligible

Crude steel

1.76 million tons produced (1982)

Elections

last 1984 for 11 Legislative Council seats Political parties and leaders: People's Democratic Movement (PMD), Oswald Skippings; Progressive National Party (PNP), Norman Saunders

Electric power

7,291,000 kW capacity (1984); 31.932 billion kWh produced (1984), 640 kWh per capita

Ethnic division

majority of African descent

Ethnic divisions

96% Polynesian

Exports

$5,728 million (f.o.b., 1983); cotton, tobacco, fruits, nuts, metals, livestock products, textiles and clothing

$2.5 million (1982); crawfish, dried and fresh conch, conch shells

Fiscal year

calendar year

probably calendar Communications

Fishing

catch 395.76 metric tons (1981)

GNP

$51.0 billion (1983), $1,079 per capita; 3.4% real growth 1983, 4.2% average annual real growth 1973-83

$15 million (1980)

Government leader

Nathaniel FRANCIS, Chief Minister (since March 1985); Christopher J. TURNER, Governor (since 1982)

Highways

60,954 km total; 38,298 km bituminous; 16,169 km gravel or crushed stone; 4,180 km improved earth; 2,155 km unimproved earth

121 km, including 24 km tarmac

Imports

$9,235 million (c.i.f., 1983); crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, metals, mineral fuels, fertilizers, chemicals

$20.9 million (1982); foodstuffs, drink, tobacco, clothing

Inland waterways

approx. 1,200 km

Labor force

some subsistence agriculture; majority engaged in fishing and tourist industries

Language

English (official)

Legal system

probably based on English common law

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (economic, including fishing, 200 nm)

Literacy

about 99%

Major industries

textiles, food processing, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron minerals), steel, petroleum

fishing, tourism; formerly produced salt by solar evaporation

Major trade partners

(\9f&) exports— 19.0% Iran, 14.6% FRG, 7.4% Italy, 6.4% Saudi Arabia, 5.6% Iraq; imports— 13.2% Iraq, 11.4% FRG, 10.3% Iraq, 8.6% Libya, 7.5% US

US (lobster, conch, tourism) and UK

Member of

ASSIMER, Council of Europe, EC (associate member), ECOSOC, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB — Islamic Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, ITC, ITU, NATO, OECD, QIC, Regional Cooperation for Development, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO Economy

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1984, $2.5 billion; 21.4% of central government budget North At/antic Caicos Oce'n Islands CockburrL-J GRAND TURK Harbour-W ICockburnfl Town) 0 Turks . Islands p North Atlantic Ocean See regional mip III Land 430 km2; about two-thirds the size of New York City; more than 30 islands, including 8 inhabited; largest is Grand Caicos People

Military manpower

males 15-49, 12,548,000; 7,426,000 fit for military service; about 527,000 reach military age (20) annually

Monetary conversion rate

415.62 Turkish liras=US$l (October 1984) Communications

uses the US dollar

National holiday

Commonwealth Day, 31 May

Nationality

noun — Tuvaluans(s); adjective— Tuvaluan

NOTE

On 1 October 1975, by Constitutional Order, the Ellice Islands were formally separated from the British colony of Gilbert and Ellice Islands, thus forming the colony of Tuvalu. The remaining islands in the former Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony are now named Kiribati. Tuvalu includes the islands of Nanumanga, Nanumea, Nui, Niutao, Vaitupu, and the four islands of the Tuvalu group formerly claimed by the United States — Funafuti, Nukufetau, Nukulailai (Nukulaelae), and Nurakita (Niulakita) Land 26 km2; less than one-half the size of Manhattan Water

Official name

Turks and Caicos Islands

Organized labor

St. George's Industrial Trade Union (Cockburn Harbor), 250 members Government

Pipelines

1,288 km crude oil; 2,145 km refined products

Political subdivisions

3 districts Turks and Caicos Islands (continued) Tuvalu (formerly Ellice Islands)

Population

7,436 (1980)

8,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 1.7%

Ports

4 major, 8 secondary, 16 minor

4 major (Grand Turk, Salt Cay, Providenciales, Cockburn Harbor)

Railroads

8,156 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 204 km double track; 204 km electrified •

none

Religion

Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Church of God, Seventh-day Adventist

Christian, predominantly Protestant

Suffrage

universal adult at age 18

Telecommunications

fair domestic and international systems; trunk radio-relay network; 2.39 million telephones (5.3 per 100 popl.); 20 AM, 27 FM, 181 TV stations; 2 satellite ground stations, 1 submarine telephone cable Defense Forces

cable and wireless services (932 telephones, 1981); 1 AM station (21,500 radio receivers, 1982) Defense Forces Defense is responsibility of UK

Type

British dependent territory; constitution introduced in 1976

Voting strength

PDM, 3 seats, PNP, 8 seats