Turks and Caicos Islands - Geography

Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Turks and Caicos Islands. Landlocked; lies between Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil; population concentrated in eastern and southern part of country. Mother's mean age at first birth is 22.9 years (2008 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-29), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 58 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

Geographical data of Turks and Caicos Islands
Location Central South America, northeast of Argentina, southwest of Brazil
Geographic coordinates 23 00 S, 58 00 W
Map references South America
Tarrain grassy plains and wooded hills east of Rio Paraguay; Gran Chaco region west of Rio Paraguay mostly low, marshy plain near the river, and dry forest and thorny scrub elsewhere
Natural Resources hydropower, timber, iron ore, manganese, limestone
Natural Hazards local flooding in southeast (early September to June); poorly drained plains may become boggy (early October to June)
Irrigated Land 1,362 sq km (2012)
Major rivers (by length in km) Río de la Plata/Paraná (shared with Brazil [s], Argentina, and Uruguay [m]) - 4,880 km; Paraguay river mouth (shared with Brazil [s] and Argentina) - 2,549 km

note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Major aquifers Guarani Aquifer System
Land Boundaries 4,655 km
Border Countries Argentina 2,531 km; Bolivia 753 km; Brazil 1,371 km
Coastline 0 km (landlocked)
Climate subtropical to temperate; substantial rainfall in the eastern portions, becoming semiarid in the far west
Area
Total Area
Land Area 397,302 sq km
Water Area 9,450 sq km
comparative Area about three times the size of New York State; slightly smaller than California
Maritime Claims
Elevations
Highest point Cerro Pero 842 m
Lowest point junction of Río Paraguay and Río Paraná 46 m
Mean elevation 178 m
Land Use
Agricultural land 42% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: arable land arable land: 11.5% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent crops permanent crops: 0.2% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent pasture permanent pasture: 30.3% (2022 est.)
Forest 39.3% (2022 est.)
Other 18.8% (2022 est.)
Population Distribution

Most of the population resides in the eastern half of the country; to the west lies the Gran Chaco (a semi-arid lowland plain), which accounts for 60% of the land territory, but only 2% of the overall population

People and Society

In Turks and Caicos Islands, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Mestizo (mixed Spanish and Indigenous ancestry) 95%, other 5%

Population
Pop growth rate 1.09% (2024 est.)
Birth rate 15.9 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Death rate 4.9 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Health expenditure
Physicians Density
Hospital bed Density 1 beds/1,000 population (2020 est.)
Total fertility rate 1.88 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 0.92 (2024 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Est married women (ages 15-49) 59.4% (2023 est.)
Literacy
Education expenditures
Net Migration rate -0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Nationality Paraguayan | Paraguayan(s)
Languages
Religions Roman Catholic 80.4%, Protestant 7% (Evangelical (non-specific) 6.7%, Evangelical Pentecostal <0.1%, Adventist <0.1%, Protestant (non-specific) <0.1%), Believer (not belonging to the church) 5.7%, other 0.6%, agnostic <0.1%, none 0.2%, unspecified 6.2% (2023 est.)
Age Structure
0-14 years 22.2% (male 850,191/female 821,237)
15-64 years 68.4% (male 2,582,021/female 2,561,962)
65 years and over 9.4% (2024 est.) (male 337,164/female 369,974)
Dependency Ratios
Total dependency ratio 46.2 (2024 est.)
Youth dependency ratio 32.5 (2024 est.)
Elderly dependency ratio 13.7 (2024 est.)
Potential support ratio 7.3 (2024 est.)
Median Age
Total 31.8 years (2024 est.)
Male 31.6 years
Female 32 years
Urbanization
Urban population 63.1% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization 1.64% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas (Pop) 3.511 million ASUNCION (capital) (2023).
Sex Ratio
At birth 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.91 male(s)/female
Total population 1 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant Motality
Total 22 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male 26.1 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 17.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at birth
Total population 78.8 years (2024 est.)
Male 76.2 years
Female 81.6 years
Drinking Water Sources
Improved: urban urban: 99.9% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: rural rural: 99.1% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: total total: 99.6% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: urban urban: 0.1% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: rural rural: 0.9% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: total total: 0.4% of population (2022 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: rural rural: 94.9% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: total total: 98.1% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: urban urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: rural rural: 5.1% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: total total: 1.9% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
Total 5.47 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer 3.27 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine 0.59 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits 1.59 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
Total 9.3% (2025 est.)
Male 15.5% (2025 est.)
Female 3.3% (2025 est.)
Child marriage
Women married by age 15 3.6% (2016)
Women married by age 18 21.6% (2016)
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Turks and Caicos Islands

Want to know more about Turks and Caicos Islands? Check all different factbooks for Turks and Caicos Islands below.

Turks and Caicos Islands is found in Caribbean