Cayman Islands (kā'mən) , British dependency (2005 est. pop. 44,300), 100 sq mi (259 sq km), comprising three islands in the West Indies. George Town, the capital and chief port, is on Grand Cayman; the other islands are Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. There are eight administrative districts. The largely Christian, English-speaking population is about 40% of mixed European and African ancestry, 20% white, and 20% black. Finance and tourism are the economic mainstays of the Cayman Islands. The islands have prospered as an international offshore banking center, rivaling even Switzerland, and since the 1970s, the luxury tourist industry has also become an economic mainstay. Almost all goods are imported, primarily from the United States. The islands were sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1503, but were colonized by the British beginning in the 1800s. Administered from Jamaica after 1863, they became a separate British crown colony when Jamaica became independent in 1962. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan brought widespread destruction to the islands.
Economy
The economy of the Cayman Islands used to be built around turtling. However, this industry began to disappear in the 20th century and tourism and financial services began to become the economic mainstays during the 1970s. The United States is the Cayman Islands' largest trading partner.
With an average income of around $35,000, Caymanians enjoy the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. The islands print their own currency, the Cayman Islands Dollar (KYD), which is pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate of 1 KYD = 1.227 USD. Thus, the C.I. Dollar's rate of exchange with all other world countries is directly tied to the U.S. Dollar's rate of exchange with those same countries.
The government's primary source of income is indirect taxation. An import duty of 20% is levied against goods imported into the islands. Few goods are exempt; notable examples include books, cameras & baby formula. Duty on automobiles is charged on a sliding scale with the duty reaching 40% for expensive models. The government charges a flat licensing fee to financial institutions that operate in the islands. A small fee is also charged to each tourist that arrives on the islands.
Government
The Cayman Islands are currently a British Overseas territory, listed by the U.N Special Committee of 24 as one of the last non self governing territories. A 15-seat Legislative Assembly is elected by the people every 4 years to handle domestic affairs. Of the elected Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs, 5 are chosen to serve as government ministers in a cabinet headed by the governor. The head of government is the Leader of Government Business, which is currently The Honourable Kurt Tibbetts.
A Governor is appointed by the British government to represent the monarch. The governor can exercise complete executive authority if he wishes through blanket powers reserved to him in the constitution. He must give royal assent to all legislation, which allows him 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 Chief Secretary, 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 Stuart Jack and the current Chief Secretary is Hon. George McCarthy, OBE, JP.
Constitutional Modernisation has come to the forefront of politics recently with the collapse of the now defunct Euro Bank Corporation in 2003. The prosecution in the trial was forced to reveal that the British Government had planted moles (and used wire taps) throughout the banking industry using MI6, at the consent of the governor. This caused the trial's collapse, and subsequent release of those charged with wrongdoing. Along with this, the only mole that was known at the time was allowed to leave the country, never to answer for what he (or the United Kingdom) was doing. This infuriated the elected members of the legislative assembly as they maintained that the governor and the United Kingdom had put into question Cayman's reputation as a tightly regulated offshore jurisdiction. Some saw this as the United Kingdom meddling in the territory's affairs to benefit itself (and the EU), at the expense of the islands' economy.
Constitutional talks however went on hold following Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Subsequently in May of 2005 the ruling UDP was ousted by the PPM, which have slowed the constitutional modernisation process to a standstill. Among the points of contention is whether or not the new constitution should include a bill-of-rights.
History
The Cayman Islands - often referred to as The Caymans, or (more correctly) just Cayman - were first sighted by Christopher Columbus on May 10, 1503 during his disastrous fourth and final voyage to the New World. The first recorded English visitor to the islands was Sir Francis Drake, who landed there in 1586 and named them the Cayman Islands after the Neo-Taíno nations term (caiman) for crocodile (Zayas, 1914).
The first recorded permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1700. He was the grandson of the original settler named Bodden who was likely one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in 1655.
The islands, along with nearby Jamaica, were ceded to England in 1670 under the Treaty of Madrid. 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 was severely damaged by the Category Five Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, which destroyed many buildings and damaged 70% of them. Power, water and communications were all disrupted. Ivan was the worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years. As of June 27, 2006 Grand Cayman has fully recovered since Ivan, with most of the infrastructure now restored, as evidenced by the booming tourism and banking industries.
