Grand Turk Island

Infobox Islands
name = Grand Turk


image caption = A view of the southwestern beach at Grand Turk. This is currently the cruise ship dock, all of the other beaches are serene and very unpopulated
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location = Caribbean
coordinates = coord|21|28|20|N|71|08|20|W
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area = convert|18|km2|sqmi
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country = United Kingdom
country admin divisions title = British Overseas Territory
country admin divisions = flag|Turks and Caicos Islands
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population = 3720
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density = 206.67
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Grand Turk Island is an island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is the largest island in the Turks Islands (not the Caicos) with 18 square kilometres. It contains the territory's capital, Cockburn Town and the JAGS McCartney International Airport. The island is the administrative, historic, cultural and financial centre 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 [ [http://www.visitprovidenciales.com/about/history.aspx Turks and Caicos History - VisitProvidenciales ] ] .

The name comes from a species of cactus on the island, the Turk's Cap Cactus ("Melocactus intortus"), which has a distinctive cap, reminiscient of a Turkish fez.

It is said to be possibly the landfall island of Christopher Columbus during his discovery of the New World in 1492.Fact|date=March 2008 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.

References

External links

* [http://www.grandturk.tc/ Grandturk.tc]
* [http://tcimall.tc/grandturkchamber/ Grand Turk Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://www.visitgrandturk.com Visit Grand Turk]