Compare Turks and Caicos Islands (2008) - European Union (2004)

Compare Turks and Caicos Islands (2008) z European Union (2004)

	Turks and Caicos Islands (2008)	European Union (2004)

Administrative divisions	none (overseas territory of the UK)	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 31.3% (male 3,466/female 3,345) 15-64 years: 64.8% (male 7,398/female 6,690) 65 years and over: 3.9% (male 394/female 453) (2007 est.)	0-14 years: 16.3% 15-64 years: 67.2% 65 years and over: 16.6% (July 2004 est.)
Agriculture - products	corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), citrus fruits; fish	wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes, dairy products, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, fish
Airports	8 (2007)	total: 3,130 with paved runways: 1,834 with unpaved runways: 1,296 (2003)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2007)	-
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2007)	-
Area	total: 430 sq km land: 430 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 3,976,372 sq km
Area - comparative	2.5 times the size of Washington, DC	less than one-half the size of the US
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.	Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all of Europe, the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris. The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other parts of the countries' economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and they have been held every five years since. In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined to the EU, raising the membership total to 15. A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it became the unit of exchange for all of the EU states except Great Britain, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area countries began using euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - bringing the current membership to 25. In order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded membership, the 2003 Treaty of Nice set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An EU Constitutional Treaty, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004, gives member states two years to ratify the document before it is scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006. Despite the expansion of membership and functions, "Eurosceptics" in various countries have raised questions about the erosion of national cultures and the imposition of a flood of regulations from the EU capital in Brussels. Failure by member states to ratify the constitution or the inability of newcomer countries to meet euro currency standards might force a loosening of some EU agreements and perhaps lead to several levels of EU participation. These "tiers" might eventually range from an "inner" core of politically integrated countries to a looser "outer" economic association of members.
Birth rate	21.48 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	10.2 births/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)
Budget	revenues: $47 million expenditures: $33.6 million (1997-98 est.)	-
Capital	name: Grand Turk (Cockburn Town) geographic coordinates: 21 28 N, 71 08 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in April; ends last Sunday in October	Brussels, Belgium
Climate	tropical; marine; moderated by trade winds; sunny and relatively dry	cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the south
Coastline	389 km	65,413.9 km
Constitution	Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution Order 2006 (effective 9 August 2006)	based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome, which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in 1986; the Treaty on European Union (Maastrict) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997; and the Treaty of Nice in 2001; note - a new draft Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29 October 2004 in Rome, gives member states two years for ratification either by parliamentary vote or national referendum before it is scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Turks and Caicos Islands abbreviation: TCI	-
Currency	-	euro; pound (Cyprus), koruna (Czech Republic), krone (Denmark), kroon (Estonia), forint (Hungary), lat (Latvia), litas (Lithuania), lira (Malta), zloty (Poland), koruna (Slovakia), tolar (Slovenia), krona (Sweden), pound (UK)
Death rate	4.23 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	10 deaths/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)
Debt - external	$NA	$NA
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	chief of mission: Ambassador Rockwell SCHNABEL embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat (Rue Zinner), B-1000 Brussels mailing address: same as above telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222 FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500 FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766
Disputes - international	have received Haitians fleeing economic and civil disorder	-
Economic aid - donor	-	$NA
Economic aid - recipient	$4.1 million (1997)	-
Economy - overview	The Turks and Caicos economy is based on tourism, offshore financial services, and fishing. Most capital goods and food for domestic consumption are imported. The US is the leading source of tourists, accounting for more than three-quarters of the 175,000 visitors that arrived in 2004. Major sources of government revenue also include fees from offshore financial activities and customs receipts.	Domestically, the European Union attempts to lower trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income (from $10,000 to $28,000) and historic national animosities, the European Community faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, both Germany and France since 2003 have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004, the EU admitted 10 central and eastern European countries that are, in general, less advanced technologically and economically than the existing 15. The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), an associated organization, introduced the euro as the common currency on 1 January 1999. The UK, Sweden, and Denmark do not now participate; the 10 new countries may choose to join the EMU when they meet its fiscal and monetary criteria and the member states so agree.
Electricity - consumption	10.76 million kWh (2005)	2.635 trillion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)	234.8 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2005)	245.7 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	11.57 million kWh (2005)	2.822 trillion kWh (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Blue Hills 49 m	lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m highest point: Mount Blanc, France/Italy 4,807 m
Environment - current issues	limited natural fresh water resources, private cisterns collect rainwater	NA
Environment - international agreements	-	Hazardous Wastes, Biodiversity, Air Pollution, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94, Ozone Layer Protection, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Law of the Sea, Desertification, Climate Change; has signed, but not yet ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants
Ethnic groups	black 90%, mixed, European, or North American 10%	-
Exchange rates	the US dollar is used	euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001)
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor Richard TAUWHARE (since 11 July 2005) head of government: Premier Michael Eugene MISICK (since 15 August 2003); note - the office of premier was created in the 2006 constitution cabinet: Cabinet consists of the governor, the premier, six ministers appointed by the governor from among the members of the House of Assembly, and the attorney general elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is appointed premier by the governor	chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose DURAO BARROSO (since 22 November 2004) cabinet: European Commission (composed of 25 members, one from each member country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy areas) elections: the president of the European Commission is designated by member governments; the president-designate then chooses the other Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term; election last held 18 November 2004 (next to be held 2009) election results: European Parliament approved the European Commission by an approval vote of 449-149 with 82 abstentions note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government and the president of the European Commission and meets at least twice a year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues relating to European integration and to issue general policy guidelines
Exports	0 bbl/day (2004)	6.429 million bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities	lobster, dried and fresh conch, conch shells	machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.
Exports - partners	US, UK (2006)	NA
Fiscal year	calendar year	NA
Flag description	blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the colonial shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield is yellow and contains a conch shell, lobster, and cactus	on a blue field, 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle, representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed
GDP	-	purchasing power parity - $11.05 trillion (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%	agriculture: 2.3% industry: 28.3% services: 69.4% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $25,700 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	4.9% (2000 est.)	1% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	21 45 N, 71 35 W	-
Geography - note	about 40 islands (eight inhabited)	-
Heliports	-	94 (2003)
Highways	-	total: 4,634,810 km (including 56,704 km of expressways) paved: 4,161,318 km unpaved: 473,492 km (1999-2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: 2.9% highest 10%: 25.2% (1995 est.)
Illicit drugs	transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe	-
Imports	83.55 bbl/day (2004)	16.97 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities	food and beverages, tobacco, clothing, manufactures, construction materials	machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Imports - partners	US, UK (2006)	NA
Independence	none (overseas territory of the UK)	7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	0.8% (2004 est.)
Industries	tourism, offshore financial services	among the world's largest and most technologically advanced industries, including iron and steel, aluminum, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, aircraft, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools, electronics, telecommunications equipment, fishing, food processing, furniture, paper, textiles and clothing, tourism
Infant mortality rate	total: 14.7 deaths/1,000 live births male: 17 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	total: 5.3 deaths/1,000 live births (July 2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	4% (1995)	2% (2004 est.)
International organization participation	Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), UPU	European Union: ASEAN (dialogue member), ARF (dialogue member), EBRD, IDA, OAS (observer), OECD, WTO European Commission: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, G-10, NSG (observer), UN (observer) European Central Bank: BIS European Investment Bank: WADB (nonregional member)
Irrigated land	NA	115,807 sq km
Judicial branch	Supreme Court; Court of Appeal	European Court of Justice (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied correctly) - 25 Justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 11 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 25 justices appointed for a six-year term
Labor force	4,848 (1990 est.)	211.1 million
Labor force - by occupation	note: about 33% in government and 20% in agriculture and fishing; significant numbers in tourism, financial, and other services	agriculture 4.3%, industry 29%, services 66.8% (2000)
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 11,214.8 km border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, Macedonia 246 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Romania 443 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia and Montenegro 151 km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 206 km, Ukraine 726 km note: data for European Continent only
Land use	arable land: 2.33% permanent crops: 0% other: 97.67% (2005)	arable land: NA permanent crops: NA
Languages	English (official)	Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish; note - only official languages are listed
Legal system	based on laws of England and Wales, with a few adopted from Jamaica and The Bahamas	-
Legislative branch	unicameral House of Assembly (21 seats of which 15 are popularly elected; members serve four-year terms) elections: last held 9 February 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - PNP 60%, PDM 40%; seats by party - PNP 13, PDM 2	Council of the European Union (25 member-state ministers having 321 votes; the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states' population); note - the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU; European Parliament (732 seats; seats allocated among member states by proportion to population); members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party - EPP-ED 268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN 27, independents 28
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 74.95 years male: 72.69 years female: 77.32 years (2007 est.)	total population: 78.1 years male: 74.9 years female: 81.4 years (July 2004 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 98% male: 99% female: 98% (1970 est.)	-
Location	Caribbean, two island groups in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of The Bahamas, north of Haiti	Europe between Eastern Europe and the North Atlantic Ocean
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Europe
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm	NA
Merchant marine	registered in other countries: 1 (Panama 1) (2007)	-
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK	In October 2004, the European Union heads of government signed a "constitutional treaty" that offers possibilities - with some limits - for increased defense and security cooperation. If ratified, in a process that may take some two years, this treaty will in effect make operational the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) approved in the 2000 Nice Treaty. Despite limits of cooperation for some EU members, development of a European military planning unit is likely to continue. So is creation of a rapid-reaction military force and a humanitarian aid system, which the planning unit will support. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy continue to press for wider coordination. The five-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has already deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo and assumed command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in August 2004. Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade and the Multinational Command Support Brigade and will command EUFOR, which will take over from SFOR in Bosnia in December 2004. Other troop contributions are under national command - committments to provide 67,100 troops were made at the Helsinki EU session in 2000. Some 56,000 EU troops were actually deployed in 2003. In August 2004, the new European Defense Agency, tasked with promoting cooperative European defense capabilities, began operations. As of November 2004, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France had proposed creation of three 1,500-man rapid-reaction "battle groups."
National holiday	Constitution Day, 30 August (1976)	Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert Schuman proposed the creation of an organized Europe
Nationality	noun: none adjective: none	-
Natural hazards	frequent hurricanes	flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Natural resources	spiny lobster, conch	iron ore, arable land, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, hydropower, uranium, potash, fish
Net migration rate	9.98 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)
People - note	destination and transit point for illegal Haitian immigrants bound for the Turks and Caicos Islands, The Bahamas, and the US	-
Political parties and leaders	People's Democratic Movement or PDM [Floyd SEYMOUR]; Progressive National Party or PNP [Michael Eugene MISICK]	Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM [Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel FARAGE]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and Daniel Marc COHN-BENDIT]; Socialist Group in the European Parliament or PES [Martin SCHULZ]; Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or EUL/NGL [Francis WURTZ]; European People's Party-European Democrats or EPP-ED [Hans-Gert POETTERING]; Union for Europe of the Nations Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana MUSCARDINI]
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	-
Population	21,746 (July 2007 est.)	456,285,839 (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	NA
Population growth rate	2.722% (2007 est.)	0.17% (July 2004 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Bremen (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Naples (Italy), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Riga (Latvia), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden), Talinn (Estonia)
Radio broadcast stations	AM 2, FM 7, shortwave 0 (2003)	AM 866, FM 13,396, shortwave 73 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)
Railways	-	total: 222,293 km broad gauge: 28,438 km standard gauge: 186,405 km narrow gauge: 7,427 km other: 23 km (2003)
Religions	Baptist 40%, Anglican 18%, Methodist 16%, Church of God 12%, other 14% (1990)	Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.036 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.106 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 1.073 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	at birth: NA under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and older: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (July 2004 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: fully digital system with international direct dialing domestic: full range of services available; GSM wireless service available international: country code - 1-649; the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber optic telecommunications submarine cable provides connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and US; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)	note - see individual country entries of member states
Telephones - main lines in use	5,700 (2002)	238,763,162 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	1,700 (1999)	314,644,700 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	0 (broadcasts received from The Bahamas; 2 cable television networks) (2003)	2,791 (1995); note - does not include repeaters; sum of indiviual country television broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)
Terrain	low, flat limestone; extensive marshes and mangrove swamps	fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central and southern areas
Total fertility rate	3.02 children born/woman (2007 est.)	1.48 children born/woman (July 2004 est.)
Unemployment rate	10% (1997 est.)	9.1% (2004 est.)
Waterways	-	53,512 km

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