East Caicos is the fourth largest island in the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

. To the west, it is separated from

Middle Caicos Middle Caicos is the largest island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. To the west, it is separated from North Caicos by Juniper Hole, and to the east, from East Caicos by Lorimer Creek, both narrow passages that can accommodate only small boats. T ...

by Lorimer Creek, a narrow passage that can accommodate only small boats. To the south is South Caicos. East Caicos has no inhabitants.

Geography

East Caicos belongs to the South Caicos and East Caicos District. has an area of within the

high water mark A high water mark is a point that represents the maximum rise of a body of water over land. Such a mark is often the result of a flood, but high water marks may reflect an all-time high, an annual high (highest level to which water rose that ...

, and of within the shoreline. The difference between the two values is not accounted for as land area. The island is covered by ponds, lakes, swamps and mangroves inhabited by flamingos, wild ducks and pigeons. The highest point in the Turks and Caicos Archipelago is East Caicos’ Flamingo Hill with an elevation of . Savannas stretch across the island’s north side. The northwest of the island hosts a cave system that was once used to mine bat guano. Petroglyphs found there are evidence of the island's earliest settlers.

History

The island was populated by the

Lucayan people The Lucayan people ( ) were the original residents of the Bahamas before the European conquest of the Americas. They were a branch of the Taínos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first indigenous Ame ...

and the Taino Indians 500 years ago, who called it ''Wana'', or 'Small Country'. The island was once the home of a 19th-century sisal plantation and a thriving cattle industry, East Caicos Island is currently uninhabited. The cave petroglyphs, the ruins of the town of Jacksonville and abandoned railway are the only remnants of its former inhabitants. In 2004 a marine archaeology expedition found the wreckage of a ship off the island. Both the ''Esperanza'' and '' Trouvadore'', illegal Spanish slavers, had gone down in this area, in 1837 and 1841, respectively. One hundred-ninety-two captive Africans survived the ''Trouvadore'' sinking and were helped by British colonists to resettle as free persons, mostly on

Grand Turk Island 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 territory) with . Grand Turk contains the territory's capital, Cockburn T ...

, with 24 taken to Nassau.Nigel Sadler, "The Sinking of the Slave Ship ''Trouvadore:'' Linking the Past to the Present"
''Underwater and Maritime Archaeology in Latin America and the Caribbean'', edited by Margaret E Leshikar-Denton, Pilar Luna Erreguerena, Left Coast Press, 2008, pp. 210-212

References

{{Reflist

External links

Turks and Caicos Islands Directory - East Caicos Caicos Islands Uninhabited islands of the Turks and Caicos Islands Ramsar sites in British Overseas Territories