The Turks and Caicos Islands are two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago situated in the Atlantic Ocean, south of the Bahamas island chain and northeast of Cuba, in the northern West Indies. A British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, situated on an underwater plateau marine bank, the Turks and Caicos include eight large cays (keys) and numerous smaller cays, islets, reefs, banks, and rocks.