Anglo-German Declarations about the Western Pacific Ocean whole area. Disputed claims to land prior to the declaration of sovereignty or protectorate, should be settled by a mixed commission, unless the plaintiff did not request the settlement by the local authority alone. Great Britain and Germany should treat each other as most-favoured nation, equal law for citizens of each nation in the area of the other one should be applicated. Religious freedom should be granted. No convicts should be brought in the area and no penal colonies should be founded. After the declaration, Great Britain colonised the Gilbert and Ellice Islands and the British Solomon Islands, Germany took
Turks and Caicos Islands the Dominican Republic) and the other Antilles archipelago islands. Cockburn Town, the capital since 1766, is situated on Grand Turk Island about east-southeast of Miami, United States. The islands have a total land area of . The first recorded European sighting of the islands now known as the Turks and Caicos occurred in 1512. In the subsequent centuries, the islands were claimed by several European powers with the British Empire eventually gaining control. For many years the islands were governed indirectly through Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the islands received their own governor,