The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the West Indies, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, known for tourism and as an offshore financial centre. The Turks and Caicos Islands are situated about 600 miles (970 km) southeast of Miami in the United States, and 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Mayaguana in the Bahamas, and have a total land area of 166 square miles (430 km2). The islands are geographically contiguous to the Bahamas, but are politically a separate entity. Cockburn Town, the capital, is situated on Grand Turk Island.

The weather is usually sunny and relatively dry, but suffers frequent hurricanes. The islands have limited natural fresh water resources; private cisterns collect rainwater for drinking. The primary natural resources are spiny lobster, conch and other shellfish. The primary agricultural 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 shells exported in 2000, primarily to the United States and the United Kingdom.

In recent years, however, the catch has been declining. The territory used to be an important trans-shipment point for South American narcotics destined for the United States, but due to the ongoing pressure of a combined American, Bahamian and Turks and Caicos effort this trade been greatly reduced. The islands import food and beverages, tobacco, clothing, manufacture and construction materials, primarily from the United States and the United Kingdom. The islands produce and consume about 5 GWh of electricity, per year, all of which comes from fossil fuels.