fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 759,978 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 56,532 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$90 million (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
3.4% (FY99)

Transnational Issues Turkmenistan

Disputes - international:
cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates
water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; bilateral
talks continue with Azerbaijan on dividing the seabed and contested
oilfields in the middle of the Caspian; demarcation of land boundary
with Kazakhstan has started but Caspian seabed delimitation remains
stalled

Illicit drugs:
transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western
European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound
for Afghanistan

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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@Turks and Caicos Islands

Introduction Turks and Caicos Islands

Background:
The islands were part of the UK's Jamaican colony until 1962, when
they assumed the status of a separate crown colony upon Jamaica's
independence. The governor of The Bahamas oversaw affairs from 1965
to 1973. With Bahamian independence, the islands received a separate
governor in 1973. Although independence was agreed upon for 1982,
the policy was reversed and the islands remain a British overseas
territory.

Geography Turks and Caicos Islands

Location:
Caribbean, two island groups in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast
of The Bahamas, north of Haiti

Geographic coordinates:
21 45 N, 71 35 W

Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 430 sq km
land: 430 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:
2.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
389 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm

Climate:
tropical; marine; moderated by trade winds; sunny and relatively dry

Terrain:
low, flat limestone; extensive marshes and mangrove swamps

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Blue Hills 49 m

Natural resources:
spiny lobster, conch

Land use:
arable land: 2.33%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 97.67% (2001)

Irrigated land:
NA sq km

Natural hazards:
frequent hurri