The Cayman Islands were colonized from
Jamaica by the British during the 18th and 19th centuries, and were
governed from Jamaica after 1863. In 1959, the islands became a
territory within the Federation of the West Indies, but when the
Federation dissolved in 1962, the Cayman Islands chose to remain a
British dependency. The Cayman Islands is a three island group south
of Cuba and Northwest of Jamaica. The islands that make up the
Cayman Islands are Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman.
In total land the islands are about 1.5
times the size of Washington, DC. The weather is tropical and
warm. Rainy season is from May to October, winters on these
low-lying limestone islands are relatively dry. The Cayman Islands
have no natural fresh water resources; drinking water supplies come
from rainwater catchments.
The population of the Cayman Islands is
46,600, with most of the population living on the island of Grand
Cayman. 40% of the population is mixed race, 20% is white, and 20%
is black, the final 20% is made up of expatriates of various ethnic
groups.
The Cayman Islands is an overseas territory
of the United Kingdom, the government type is a British Crown
Colony. Queen Elizabeth II is chief of state represented by a
Governor. The head of government is Kurt Tibbetts.
There is no direct taxation on the Cayman
Islands making them a thriving offshore financial center. More than
68,000 companies were registered in the Cayman Islands as of 2003,
including almost 500 banks, 800 insurers, and 5,000 mutual funds. A
stock exchange was opened in 1997. Tourism is also a mainstay,
accounting for about 70% of GDP and 75% of foreign currency
earnings. The tourist industry is aimed at the luxury market and
caters mainly to visitors from North America. Total tourist arrivals
exceeded 2.1 million in 2003, with about half from the US. About 90%
of the islands' food and consumer goods must be imported. The
Caymanians enjoy one of the highest outputs per capita and one of
the highest standards of living in the world.
The Gross Domestic Product in the Cayman
Islands is $1.9 billion dollars. The budget is $423 million. The
Cayman Islands exports $3 million in turtle products, and
manufactured consumer goods mostly to the United States. They
import $867 million in food, and manufactured goods from the United
States, the Netherland Antilles, and Japan.
The currency is the Caymanian dollar worth.
The exchange rate is .8 Caymanian dollars for every 1 U.S. dollar.
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