| The Cayman Islands |
The Cayman Islands are a British overseas territory located in the western Caribbean Sea, comprising the islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. It is a global offshore financial services centre and one of the leading tourist scuba diving destinations in the world.
Mid-December to mid-April (winter) is the peak tourist season, when hotel rates are substantially higher and beaches and lodgings more crowded. As such, summer is a great time to come. The weather's warm, accommodation cheaper (down by as much as 40%) and the crowds thinner. There is more rain in summer, but it tends to come in downpours that clear as quickly as they arrive. Nervous Nellies will rightly tell you that this is hurricane season, but the chances that you'll get swept up in the big one are slim. Even so, it's best to keep an eye on the weather reports in the days before your arrival.
There are three islands in this British Overseas Territory: Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
The latter two are the smaller of the Cayman islands and were discovered by Columbus in 1503. Sir Francis Drake explored the area in 1586, but it was 1670 before the islands came under full British rule. |
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| Grand Cayman was settled from Jamaica by 1672; Little Cayman and Cayman Brac were settled some time later and maintained a separate administration until 1877. The governor of Jamaica held administrative responsibility for the islands until 1962, when Jamaica itself became independent. Since then the islands have had their own governor appointed by the British Crown. |
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| Flag Description |
Blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Caymanians coat of arms on a white disk centered on the outer half of the flag. The Cayman Islands coat of arms consists of a shield, a crested helm and the motto.
Three green stars representing the Islands are set in the lower two-thirds of the shield. The stars rest on blue and white wavy bands representing the sea.
In the top third of the shield, against a red background, is a gold lion "passant guardant" (walking with the further forepaw raised and the body seen from the side), representing Britain.
The Islands' motto: He hath founded it upon the seas, is printed at the bottom of the shield. This verse from Psalms 24 acknowledges Cayman's Christian heritage.
The proposal for a coat of arms was approved by the Legislative Assembly in 1957, and public input was sought on its design. The Royal Warrant assigning "Armorial Ensigns for the Cayman Islands" was approved by Her Majesty's command on 14 May 1958. |
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| Geography |
The Cayman Islands are a British dependency and island nation. It is a three-island archipelago in the Caribbean Sea, consisting of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. The Cayman Islands are 130 nautical miles (241 km; 150 mi) south of Cuba and 145 nautical miles (269 km; 167 mi) northwest of Jamaica, and are between Cuba and Central America. Its geographic coordinates are 19°30 north, 80°30 west.
The Cayman Islands have a land area of 101.2 square miles (262 km2), about 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C. and 1.2 square miles (3.1 km2) larger than Saint Kitts and Nevis. The Caymans have a coastline of 99 miles (159 km). The Cayman Islands make a maritime claim of a 200-nautical-mile (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) exclusive fishing zone and a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles (22.2 km; 13.8 mi).
The Cayman Islands' lowest elevation is the Caribbean Sea at sea level. The highest point is The Bluff, a limestone outcrop 155 feet (47 m) in height on the eastern end of eastern Cayman Brac, which itself was named for The Bluff—"brac" is Gaelic for "bluff." |
| Climate |
The Cayman Islands have a tropical marine climate, with a wet season of warm, rainy summers (May to October) and a dry season of relatively cool winters (November to April). Terrain is mostly a low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs.
A major natural hazard is the tropical cyclones that form during the Atlantic hurricane season from July to November. |
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| History of the Cayman Islands |
| The Cayman Islands were sighted by Christopher Columbus, on 10 May 1503 on his fourth and final voyage to the New World. He named the islands Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there. The first recorded English visitor to the islands was Sir Francis Drake, who landed there in 1586 and named them the Cayman Islands after caiman, the Neo-Taino nations' term for alligator. |
| The first recorded permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1661. He was the grandson of the original settler named Bodden who was probably one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in 1655. |
The Cayman Islands remained largely uninhabited until the 17th century. A variety of people settled on the islands, including pirates, refugees from the Spanish Inquisition, shipwrecked sailors, deserters from Oliver Cromwell's army in Jamaica, and slaves. The majority of Caymanians are of African and British descent, with considerable interracial mixing.
Great Britain took formal control of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, under the Treaty of Madrid in 1670. Following several unsuccessful attempts, permanent settlement of the islands began in the 1730s. The islands, along with nearby Jamaica, were captured from the Spanish Empire, then ceded England under the Treaty of Madrid (1670). They were governed as a single colony with Jamaica until 1962 when they became a separate British Overseas Territory and Jamaica became an independent Commonwealth realm.
The island of Grand Cayman, which lies largely unprotected at sea level, was hit by Hurricane Ivan on 11 and 12 September 2004, which destroyed many buildings and damaged 90% of them. Power, water and communications were all disrupted in some areas for months as Ivan was the worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years. |
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| However, Grand Cayman began a major rebuilding process and within two years its infrastructure was nearly returned to pre-hurricane levels. The Cayman Islands have the dubious honour of having experienced the most hurricane strikes in history. Due to the proximity of the islands, more hurricane and tropical systems have affected the Cayman Islands than any other region in the Atlantic basin, being brushed or directly hit, on average, every 2.23 years. |
| The Cayman Islands historically have been a tax-exempt destination. On February 8th, 1794, the Caymanians rescued the crews of a group of 10 merchant ships, including the HMS Convert. The ships had struck a reef and run aground during rough seas. King George III rewarded the island with a promise never to introduce taxes as compensation for their generosity. A well known urban legend introduces the idea that the true reason the Cayman Islands have never been taxed is because these merchant ships actually carried with them a member of the King's own family, his son Prince William, however this is not true. |
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| Economy |
The economy of the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory located in the western Caribbean Sea, is mainly fueled by the tourism sector and by the financial services sector, together representing 70-80 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The Cayman Island Investment Bureau, a government agency, has been established with the mandate of promoting investment and economic development in the territory.
The emergence of what are now considered the Cayman Islands' "twin pillars of economic development" (tourism and international finance) started in the 1950s with the introduction of modern transportation and telecommunications. |
| History |
From the earliest settlement of the Cayman Islands, economic activity was hindered by isolation and a limited natural resource base. The harvesting of sea turtles to resupply passing sailing ships was the first major economic activity on the islands, but local stocks were depleted by the 1790s. Agriculture, while sufficient to support the small early settler population, has always been limited by the scarcity of available land. Fishing, shipbuilding, and cotton production boosted the economy during the early days of settlement. In addition, settlers scavenged shipwreck remains from the surrounding coral reefs.
The boom in the Cayman Islands' international finance industry can also be at least partly attributed to the British overseas territory having no direct taxation. A popular legend attributes the tax-free status to the heroic acts of the inhabitants during a maritime tragedy in 1794, often referred to as "Wreck of the Ten Sails". The wreck involved nine British merchant vessels and their naval escort, the frigate HMS Convert, that ran aground on the reefs off Grand Cayman.
Due to the rescue efforts by the Caymanians using canoes, the loss of life was limited to eight.
However, records from the colonial era indicate that Cayman Islands, then a dependency of Jamaica, was not tax-exempt during the period that followed. In 1803, the inhabitants signed a petition addressed to the Jamaican governor asking him to grant them a tax exemption from the "Transient Tax on Wreck Goods". |
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| International Finance & Tourism |
The Cayman Islands' tax-free status has attracted numerous banks and other companies to its shores. More than 40,000 companies were registered in the Cayman Islands as of 2000, including almost 600 banks and trust companies, with banking assets exceeding $500 billion. Large corporations based in the Cayman Islands include Seagate Technology, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), Garmin Ltd. and Transocean Inc. The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange was opened in 1997.
Tourism is also a mainstay, accounting for about 70% of GDP and 75% of foreign currency earnings.[citation needed] The tourist industry is aimed at the luxury market and caters mainly to visitors from North America. Unspoiled beaches, duty-free shopping, scuba diving, and deep-sea fishing draw almost a million visitors to the islands each year. Due to the well-developed tourist industry, many citizens work in service jobs in that sector. |
| Standard of Living |
Because the islands cannot produce enough goods to support the population, about 90% of their food and consumer goods must be imported. In addition, the islands have few natural fresh water resources. Desalination of sea water is used to solve this. Despite those challenges, the Caymanians enjoy one of the highest outputs per capita and one of the highest standards of living in the world. The Cayman Islands produces gourmet sea salt.
Education is compulsory to the age of 16 and is free to all Caymanian children. Most schools follow the British educational system. Ten primary, one special education, a high school and a middle school ('junior high school') are operated by the government, along with three private high schools. In addition, there is a law school, a university-college and a medical school. |
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| Demographics of the Cayman Islands |
The population of the Cayman Islands reflects its status as a British overseas territory, its history as a former dependency of Jamaica, and its present financial partnerships with the United States and other countries. The vast majority of its 45,436 residents live on the island of Grand Cayman. According to the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, in 1999 an estimated 1,300 people lived on Cayman Brac, while only 115 resided on Little Cayman.
The official language of the Cayman Islands is English. |
Although many Caribbean islands were initially populated by Amerindian groups such as the Arawaks, Tainos, and Caribs, no evidence of this has been found in the Cayman Islands. Therefore, native Caymanians do not have any Amerindian heritage from their own islands; however, a significant number of Jamaicans have settled in the Cayman Islands over the years, so they and their descendants may have some Amerindian blood via Jamaica. Slavery was less common on the Cayman Islands than in many other parts of the Caribbean, resulting in a more even division of African and European ancestry. Those of mixed race make up 40% of the population, with blacks and whites following at 20% each. The remaining 20% belong to various immigrant ethnic groups.
With its success in the tourism and financial service industries, the Cayman Islands have attracted many international businesses and citizens to relocate. The largest numbers of expatriates living in the Cayman Islands (as of the government's 1999 Census Report) hail from Jamaica (8,320), the United Kingdom (2,392), the United States (2,040), Canada (1,562), and Honduras (873).
Approximately 3,300 more residents are citizens of various other countries. While the government doesn't restrict foreign land ownership, it does strongly enforce its immigration laws. |
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Businesses are required to grant access to job openings to Caymanian citizens first; if none of them are suitable, the business may then seek employees from other countries. In order to work in the Cayman Islands, foreigners must have a job offer before immigrating.
To encourage literacy, the Cayman Islands government requires all legal resident children between the ages of four and 16 years old to attend school. Education for Caymanians is free, with both public and private schools available. Based on the English school system, primary schools teach children from four to 11 years, while high schools handle 11 to 16 year-olds. The government also provides facilities for special education, training for the disabled, and an education center for juvenile offenders. In addition, higher education may be pursued at The University College and The Law School. Consequently, literacy rates are high, estimated at 98% in 1995 by UNESCO and 90% by the Cayman Islands government.
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| The predominant religion on the Cayman Islands is Christianity. Denominations practiced include United Church, Church of God, Anglican Church, Baptist Church, Roman Catholic Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Pentecostal Church. Many citizens are deeply religious, regularly going to church. Ports are closed on Sundays and Christian holidays. There are also places of worship in George Town for Jehovah's Witnesses and followers of Bahá'í Faith. |
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| Government |
| The Cayman Islands are a British overseas territory, listed by the UN Special Committee of Twenty-Four as one of the last non-self governing territories. A fifteen-seat Legislative Assembly is elected by the people every four years to handle domestic affairs. Of the elected Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), five are chosen to serve as government ministers in a Cabinet headed by the Governor. The head of government is the Premier. |
A Governor is appointed by the British Government to represent the monarch. Governors can exercise complete executive authority if they wish through blanket powers reserved to them in the constitution. They must give Royal Assent to all legislation, which allows them the power to strike down any law the legislature may see fit for the country. In modern times, the Governor usually allows the country to be run by the Cabinet, and the civil service to be run by the Deputy Governor, who is the Acting Governor when the Governor is not able to discharge his usual duties for one reason or another. The current Governor of the Cayman Islands is Duncan Taylor and the current Deputy Governor is The Honourable Donovan Ebanks.
The Cabinet is composed of two official members and five elected members, called ministers; one of whom is designated Premier. The official members are the Deputy Governor and the Attorney General. They are appointed by the governor in accordance with Her Majesty's instructions, and although they have seats in the Legislative Assembly, under the 2009 Constitution, they do not vote.
The five ministers are voted into office by the 15 elected members of the Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands. One of the ministers, the leader of the majority political party, is appointed premier by the governor.After consulting the premier, the governor allocates a portfolio of responsibilities to each Cabinet member. Under the principle of collective responsibility, all ministers are obliged to support in the Assembly any measures approved by Cabinet. |
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Government House (Photo by Jim Millard) |
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Almost 80 departments, sections and units carry out the business of government, joined by a number of statutory boards and authorities set up for specific purposes, such as the Port Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Immigration Board, the Water Authority, the University College Board of Governors, the National Pensions Board, and the Health Insurance Commission.
The defence of the Cayman Islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service provides police services in the country. The Cayman Islands Cadet Corps was formed in March 2001.
Since 2000, there have been two official major political parties: United Democratic Party (UDP) and the People's Progressive Movement (PPM). While there has been a shift to political parties, many contending for an office still run as independents.
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| Taxation |
| There is no direct taxation imposed on residents and Cayman Islands companies. The government receives the majority of its income from indirect taxation. Duty at is levied against most imported goods, which is typically in the range of 22% to 25%. Some items are exempted like baby formula, books, cameras and certain items at a reduced rate of 5%. Duty on automobiles depends the age and value and can be up to 40% for expensive models. Financial institutions that operate in the islands are charged a flat licensing fees by the government, in addition to work permit fees on foreign labour. A 10% government tax is placed on all tourist accommodations in addition to a small fee[quantify] each tourist pays upon entering on the island. |
| Foreign Relations |
Foreign policy is controlled by the United Kingdom, as the islands remain an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Although in its early days, the Cayman Islands' most important relationships were with Britain and Jamaica, in recent years, as a result of economic dependence, a relationship with the United States has developed.
Though the Cayman Islands are involved in no major international disputes, they have come under some criticism due to the use of their territory for narcotics trafficking and money laundering. In an attempt to address this, the government entered into the Narcotics Agreement of 1984 and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty of 1986 with the United States, in order to reduce the use of their facilities associated with these activities. In more recent years, they have stepped up the fight against money laundering, by limiting banking secrecy, introducing requirements for customer identification and record keeping, and requiring banks to cooperate with foreign investigators.
Due to their status as an overseas territory of the UK, the Cayman Islands have no representation either in the United Nations or in most other international organizations. However, the Cayman Islands still participates in some international organizations, being an associate member of Caricom and UNESCO, and a member of a sub-bureau of Interpol.
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| The defence and internal security of the Cayman Islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. |
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| Education |
| Primary & Secondary Schools |
| The Cayman Islands Education Department operates state schools. Caymanian children are entitled to free primary and secondary education. Various churches and private foundations operate several private schools that offer American and British based studies starting from nursery up to A Levels. |
| Colleges & Universities |
The University College of the Cayman Islands is located on Grand Cayman and is the only government run university on the island. The University College is located in George Town on Grand Cayman. The International College of the Cayman Islands is a private college and is located in Newlands, Grand Cayman about seven miles (11 km) east of George Town. The college was established in 1970 and offers Associate's, Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes. Grand Cayman is also home to St. Matthew's University, which includes a medical school and a school of veterinary medicine.
The Cayman Islands Law School, a branch of the University of Liverpool in the UK, is also based on Grand Cayman. Situated in George Town, the law school has been in operation since 1982. |
| The Cayman Islands Civil Service College, a unit of Cayman Islands government organised under the Portfolio of the Civil Service, is also located in Grand Cayman. Co-situated with University College of the Cayman Islands in a building on the south side of the campus, the intent of the CICSC is offer both degree programs and continuing education units of various sorts. Further, the college is planned to develop as a government research centre. It opened in autumn 2007. |
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