Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands are a British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica. The Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is a major world offshore financial centre.

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, refugees from the Spanish Inquisition, 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.

The islands print their own currency, the Cayman Islands Dollar (KYD). The government's primary source of income is indirect taxation: there is no income tax, capital gains tax, or corporation tax.

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.

The defence and internal security of the Cayman Islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.

Population and Geography

The Cayman Islands have more registered businesses than people. In mid-2011 the Cayman Islands had an estimated population of about 56,000, representing a mix of more than 100 nationalities. Out of that number, about half are of Caymanian descent. About 60% of the population is of mixed race (mostly mixed African-Caucasian). The vast majority of the population resides on Grand Cayman, followed by Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, respectively.

The capital of the Cayman Islands is George Town, on the southwest coast of Grand Cayman. The population of the Cayman Islands speak English.

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). Grand Cayman is by far the biggest, 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.

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 hot winters (November to April).

A major natural hazard is the tropical cyclones that form during the Atlantic hurricane season from June to November.

One of Grand Cayman's main attractions is Seven Mile Beach, site of a number of the island's hotels and resorts. Named one of the Ultimate Beaches by Caribbean Travel and Life, Seven Mile Beach is on the western shore of Grand Cayman Island. It is a public property and possible to walk the full length of the beach, past all the hotels, resorts, and public beach bars. Historical sites in Grand Cayman, such as Pedro St James Castle in Savannah, also attract visitors. Tourists also visit the Sister Islands, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.

Magical Culture

The Cayman Islands are the fifth-largest Muggle banking centre in the world, and are also a tax haven for the wizarding world of finance. The British Ministry of Magic and Gringotts are both involved with the Cayman Islands as they are overseas British territories.

Travel to the Caymans from Britain is by International Floo, surprising given the distance and the size of the islands perhaps, but purely down to the financial significance of the island.

Native barn owls and short-eared owls carry post to and from the island.

In October 2010, Johann Storm visited the island to recover funds in an account set up by Wolfgang Storm with a false identity.