A view of the southwestern beach at Grand Turk, next to the cruise ship dock |
|
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Caribbean |
| Archipelago | Turks Islands |
| Area | 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi) |
| Country | |
|
United Kingdom
|
|
| British Overseas Territory | Turks and Caicos Islands |
| Largest city | Cockburn Town (pop. 3,700) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 3720 |
| Density | 206.67 /km2 (535.27 /sq mi) |
Grand Turk Island is an island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is the largest island in the Turks Islands (the smaller of the two archipelagos that make up the island nation) with 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi). It contains the territory's capital, Cockburn Town and the JAGS McCartney International Airport. The island is the administrative, historic, cultural and financial center of the territory, and has the second largest population of the islands at approximately 3,720 people.
Grand Turk gained international attention in 1962 when John Glenn's Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft landed in the vicinity of Grand Turk Island off the southeast shoreline. A replica of the Friendship 7 is on display in Grand Turk at the entrance to the Grand Turk Island airport.[1]
The name comes from a species of cactus on the island, the Turk's Cap Cactus (Melocactus) intortus, which has a distinctive cap, reminiscent of a Turkish fez.
It is possibly the landfall island of Christopher Columbus during his discovery of the New World in 1492.[2][3] San Salvador Island or Samana Cay in the Bahamas is traditionally considered the site of Columbus' first landfall, but some believe that studies of Columbus' journals show that his descriptions of Guanahani much more closely fit Grand Turk than they do other candidates.
In 1966 at least five sounding rockets were launched from Grand Turk Island [1]