© 1996-2003

The Islands were originally inhabited in 750 AD by the Tainos people, later renamed the Lucayans. Middle Caicos had the largest and most elaborate Lucayan settlement in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands (6,000 persons). Thousands of artifacts have been found on the Island.

Columbus' first land fall was Grand Turk in 1492. There he encountered people who farmed, fished and owned no weapons of war. By the year 1540 there was not a single Lucayan person left. These peoples, known as The Peaceful Ones, were annihilated by battles with the cannibalistic Caribs from the north, slaves taken to work in mines in Hispanola and disease brought by the Spanish.

Over the next 100 years there were no settlers, but pirates used the Islands as hideaways and resting stops. 1630 saw Bermudans and Europeans traveling to the islands. Claimed by the Spanish, the French and finally the English, the Islands are today a British Protectorate.

British Empire Loyalists started coming from the American Colonies in 1784. Using land grants, they established slave run plantations harvesting sugar cane, cotton and sisal. Blockades by the Americans in 1812 forced these land owners to seek refuge on other British islands. Homes and slaves were abandoned. Many families now living in the Caicos can trace their ancestry back to these times.

The people in the settlement of Bambarra on Middle Caicos are believed to be direct descendants from the Village of Bombarra located on the Slave Trail in West Africa. A Spanish slaver shipwrecked off the Middle Caicos coast in 1842. The survivors established a village named after their home in Africa.

Today, Providenciales (Provo) is the main island of development. The 15,000 West Indian people living there make up more than half the population of Turks and Caicos. Middle Caicos at present has less than 300 persons living on the Island. Cockburn, Grand Turk is the Capital and the seat of Government.

The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British protectorate. They are governed by an appointed Governor and a Chief Minister who heads an elected Legislative Council. The council is comprised of thirteen representatives elected every four years, three appointed members, and a speaker. Tourism, land development, as well as offshore banking and financial services are the basis of today's economy.