Cayman Islands
Description
The Cayman Islands (/ˈkeɪmən/ or /keɪˈmæn/) is a British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean Sea. The 264-square-kilometre (102-square-mile) territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman located south of Cuba, northeast of Costa Rica, north of Panama, east of Mexico and northwest of Jamaica. Its population is approximately 60,000, and its capital is George Town.
The Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is often considered a major world offshore financial haven for many wealthy individuals.
History
The Cayman Islands remained largely uninhabited until the 17th century. While there is no archaeological evidence for an indigenous people on the islands, a variety of settlers from various backgrounds made their home on the islands, including pirates, shipwrecked sailors, and deserters from Oliver Cromwell's army in Jamaica.
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.
England took formal control of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, as a result of the Treaty of Madrid of 1670. Following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement, a permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s. With settlement, after the first royal land grant by the Governor of Jamaica in 1734, came the perceived need for slaves. Many were brought to the islands from Africa; this is evident today with the majority of native Caymanians being of African and English descent. The results of the first census taken in the islands in 1802 showed the population on Grand Cayman to be 933 with 545 of those inhabitants being enslaved. Slavery was abolished in the Cayman Islands in 1833. At the time of abolition, there were over 950 Blacks of African ancestry enslaved by 116 white families of English ancestry.
The islands continued to be governed as part of the Colony of Jamaica until 1962, when they became a separate Crown colony while Jamaica became an independent Commonwealth realm.
The Cayman Islands historically have been a tax-exempt destination. On 8 February 1794, the Caymanians rescued the crews of a group of ten merchant ships, including HMS Convert, an incident that has since become known as the Wreck of the Ten Sail. The ships had struck a reef and run aground during rough seas. Legend has it that King George III rewarded the island with a promise never to introduce taxes as compensation for their generosity, as one of the ships carried a member of the King's own family. While this remains a popular legend, the story is not true.
However, whatever the history, in practice the government of the Cayman Islands has always relied on indirect and not direct taxes. The islands have never levied income tax, capital gains tax, or any wealth tax, making them a popular tax haven.
On 11 September 2004 the island of Grand Cayman, which lies largely unprotected at sea level, was hit by Hurricane Ivan, creating an 8-ft storm surge which flooded many areas of Grand Cayman. An estimated 83% of the dwellings on the island were damaged including 4% requiring complete reconstruction. A reported 70% of all dwellings suffered severe damage from flooding or wind. Another 26% sustained minor damage from partial roof removal, low levels of flooding, or impact with floating or wind driven hurricane debris. Power, water and communications were disrupted for months in some areas as Ivan was the worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years. Grand Cayman began a major rebuilding process and within two years its infrastructure was nearly returned to pre-hurricane status. Due to the tropical location of the islands, more hurricane or tropical systems have affected the Cayman Islands than any other region in the Atlantic basin; it has been brushed or directly hit, on average, every 2.23 years.
Geography
The Cayman Islands are in the western Caribbean Sea and are the peaks of a massive underwater ridge, known as the Cayman Ridge (or Cayman Rise). This ridge flanks the Cayman Trough, 6,000 m (20,000 ft) deep which lies 6 km (3.7 mi) to the south. The islands lie in the northwest of the Caribbean Sea, east of Quintana Roo, Mexico and Yucatán State, Mexico, northeast of Costa Rica, north of Panama, south of Cuba and west of Jamaica. They are situated about 700 km (430 mi) south of Miami, 750 km (470 mi) east of Mexico, 366 km (227 mi) south of Cuba, and about 500 km (310 mi) northwest of Jamaica. Grand Cayman is by far the largest, with an area of 197 km2 (76 sq mi). Grand Cayman's two "Sister Islands", Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, are about 120 km (75 mi) east north-east of Grand Cayman and have areas of 38 and 28.5 km2 (14.7 and 11.0 sq mi) respectively.
All three islands were formed by large coral heads covering submerged ice age peaks of western extensions of the Cuban Sierra Maestra range and are mostly flat. One notable exception to this is The Bluff on Cayman Brac's eastern part, which rises to 43 m (141 ft) above sea level, the highest point on the islands.
Terrain is mostly a low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs.
Fauna
Further information: List of mammals of the Cayman Islands Further information: List of birds of the Cayman Islands Further information: List of butterflies of the Cayman IslandsThe mammalian species in the islands include the introduced Central American agouti and eight species of bats. At least three now extinct native rodent species were present up until the discovery of the islands by Europeans. A number of cetaceans are found in offshore waters.
Cayman avian fauna includes two endemic subspecies of Amazona parrots: A. l. hesterna Bangs, 1916 or Cuban amazon, now restricted to the island of Cayman Brac, but formerly also on Little Cayman, and Amazona leucocephala caymanensis or Grand Cayman parrot, which is native to the Cayman Islands, forested areas of Cuba, and the Isla de la Juventud. Little Cayman and Cayman Brac are also home to red-footed and brown boobies. There are five endemic subspecies of butterflies on the islands.
Among other notable fauna is the endangered blue iguana, which is endemic to Grand Cayman.
Health and public safety
Healthcare
There are four hospitals in the Cayman Islands. Grand Cayman is home to the private Health City Cayman Islands as well as the Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial Hospital. The public hospitals include the Cayman Islands Hospital (commonly known as the George Town Hospital); and Faith Hospital on Cayman Brac.
In 2007, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit was installed at the Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial Hospital, replacing the one destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. In 2009, a stand-alone open MRI facility was opened. This centre provides MRI, CT, X-ray and DEXA (bone density) scanning. Also housed in this building is the Heart Health Centre, which provides ultrasound, nuclear medicine, echocardiography and cardiac stress testing.
For divers and others in need of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, there is a two-person recompression chamber at the Cayman Islands Hospital on Grand Cayman, run by Cayman Hyperbaric Services. Hyperbaric Services has also built a hyperbaric unit at Faith Hospital in Cayman Brac.
In 2003, the Cayman Islands became the first country in the world to mandate health insurance for all residents.
Emergency services
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) provides law enforcement for the three islands. Regular off-shore marine and air patrols are conducted by the RCIP using a small fleet of vessels and a helicopter. Grand Cayman is a port of call for Britain's Royal Navy and the United States Coast Guard who often assist with sea rescues when their resources are in the Cayman Islands area. The Cayman Islands Fire Service provides fire prevention, fire fighting and rescue. Its headquarters are in George Town and has substations in Frank Sound, West Bay, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Emergency Medical Services are provided by paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians using ambulances based in George Town, West Bay and North Side in Grand Cayman and in Cayman Brac. EMS is managed by the Government's Health Services Authority.
Access to Emergency Services is available using 9-1-1, the Emergency telephone number, the same number as is used in Canada and the United States. The Cayman Islands Department of Public Safety's Communications Centre processes 9-1-1 and non-emergency law enforcement, EMS, fire, and Search and Rescue calls for all three islands. The Communications Centre dispatches RCIP and EMS units directly however, the Cayman Islands Fire Service maintains their own dispatch room at the airport fire station.
Health City Cayman Islands
Music
The Cayman National Cultural Foundation manages the F.J. Harquail Cultural Centre and the US$4 million Harquail Theatre. The Cayman National Cultural Foundation, established in 1984, helps to preserve and promote Cayman folk music, including the organisation of festivals such as Cayman Islands International Storytelling Festival, the Cayman JazzFest, Seafarers Festival and Cayfest.
Notable Caymanians
- Gladwyn K. Bush, Folk artist.
- McKeeva Bush, Politician.
- Kenneth Dart, Businessman.
- Selita Ebanks, Fashion model.
- Frank E. Flowers, Filmmaker, director and screenwriter.
- Ronald Forbes, Olympic athlete.
- Brett Fraser, Olympic athlete.
- Shaune Fraser, Olympic athlete.
- Grace Gealey, Actress.
- Jason Gilbert, record producer and songwriter.
- Tigerlily Hill, fashion designer and celebrity wardrobe stylist.
- Kemar Hyman, Olympic athlete.
- Edison Mclean, First Caymanian gold medalist in Olympic Skeet, Island Games.
- Cydonie Mothersille, track and field gold-medal athlete and Olympian.
- Bernard K. Passman, jeweller, founded his business on Grand Cayman in 1975.
- Lee Ramoon, footballer.
- Kareem Streete-Thompson, Olympic athlete.
- Tanya Streeter, free-diver.
- Kurt Tibbetts, politician.
- Dow Travers, Olympic athlete.
- Jeffrey Webb, former CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice-President.