The Turks and Caicos Islands, are a British Overseas Territory consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the West Indies. Eight of the thirty islands in the territory are inhabited, with a total population of about 32,000. The official language of the islands is English and the population also speaks Turks and Caicos Islands dialect however due to its close proximity to Cuba and Hispaniola, large Haitian Creole and Spanish-speaking communities have developed in the territory as well.