OFFICIAL NAME:
Cayman Islands

Geography
Area:
259 sq. km. (100 sq. mi.) on three islands: Grand Cayman (76 sq. mi.),
Cayman Brac (14 sq. mi.), and Little Cayman (10 sq. mi.).
Capital: George Town (pop. 15,000).
Terrain: Flat.
Climate: Tropical.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Caymanian(s).
Population (2004 est.): 43,103
Annual growth rate: 2.71%.
Ethnic groups: Afro-European 40%, African 20%, European 20%, other 20%.
Religious Affiliations: United Church, Anglican, other Protestant, Roman Catholic.
Language: English.
Education: Years compulsory--to age 16. Literacy (age 15 and over)--98%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--8.41/1,000. Life expectancy—79.8 yrs.
Work force: 20,000.

Government
Type: British Overseas Territory.
Constitution: 1972; called the Cayman Islands Order.
Branches: Executive--Governor and President of the Executive Council (representing British monarch), Executive Council. Legislative--unicameral Legislative Assembly (15 elected, three appointed members). Judicial--Summary Court, Grand Court, Cayman Islands Court of Appeal, Her Majesty's Privy Council. Subdivisions: Eight districts.
Political parties: No formal political parties.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.

Economy
GDP (2002 est., purchasing power parity): $1.27 billion.
Growth rate: 1.74%.
Per capita income (2002 est., purchasing power parity): $35,000.
Natural resources: Scenic beaches and underwater attractions, favorable climate.
Agriculture: Products--Minor production of vegetables and livestock, turtle farming.
Industry: Types--tourism, banking, insurance and finance, construction.
Trade: Exports(1999)--$1.2 million: turtle products, manufactured consumer goods. Major market--United States. Imports(1999)--$457.4 million: machinery, manufactures, food, fuels, chemicals. Major suppliers--U.S., Trinidad and Tobago, U.K., Netherlands Antilles, Japan.
Official exchange rate (Nov. 2003): CI $0.82=U.S.$1.

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS
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 Caymans, along with Jamaica, under the Treaty of Madrid
in 1670. Following several unsuccessful attempts, permanent settlement
of the islands began in the 1730s. The Cayman Islands historically have
been popular as a tax haven. Legend has it that Caymanians in 1788
rescued the crews of a Jamaican merchant ship convoy which had struck a
reef at Gun Bay and that the Caymanians were rewarded with King George
III's promise to never again impose any tax.

The Cayman Islands,
initially administered as a dependency of Jamaica, became an
independent colony in 1959; they now are a self-governing British
Overseas Territory.

ECONOMY
Although
Caymanians enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world,
about 90% of the islands' food and consumer goods must be imported.

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.

The advent of modern
transportation and telecommunications in the 1950s led to the emergence
of what are now considered the Cayman Islands' "twin pillars" of
economic development: international finance and tourism. In 2002, there
were more than 40,000 companies registered in the Cayman Islands,
including 600 banks and trust companies. Forty-three of the world’s
largest banks are present in the Cayman Islands.

Tourism represents about
70% of gross domestic product and 75% of total export earnings.
Unspoiled beaches, duty-free shopping, scuba diving, and deep-sea
fishing draw almost a million visitors to the islands each year.

Education is compulsory to
the age of 16 and is free to all Caymanian children. Schools follow the
British educational system. Ten primary, one special education, and
three high schools are operated by the government. In addition, there
is a technical school, a law school, and a community college.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
The
Cayman Islands' physical isolation under early British colonial rule
allowed the development of an indigenous set of administrative and
legal traditions which were codified into a Constitution in 1959.
Although still a British Crown Colony, the islands today are
self-governed in nearly all respects. The Constitution, or Cayman
Islands Order, that now governs the islands came into effect in 1972
and was amended in 1984.

The Cayman Islands'
political system is very stable, bolstered by a tradition of restrained
civil governance, sustained economic prosperity, and its relative
isolation from foreign policy concerns by virtue of its colonial
relationship with the United Kingdom. Public discussion revolves around
public sector expenditure and social services, the pace of additional
economic development, and the status of the large foreign national
community on the islands.

Government Structure
Cayman
Islands form a British Overseas Territory with a large measure of
self-government. The present constitution, which came into effect in
1972, provides for a system of government headed by a Governor, a
Legislative Assembly, and an Executive Council, which administers the
islands. The Governor is recruited from the U.K. Government Service,
serves as the British government administrator, and retains
responsibility for the civil service, defense, external affairs, and
internal security. The Governor also chairs the Executive Council and
appoints to the Council the Chief Secretary, the Attorney General, and
the Financial Secretary, while the Legislative Assembly elects the
Council’s other five members. Unlike other Caribbean Overseas
Territories there is no Chief Minister but a Leader of Government
Business. The Leader of Government Business is an elected politician,
while the Chief Secretary is the most senior civil servant. Currently,
the Leader of Government Business is also the Minister for Tourism,
Environment, Development, and Commerce.

Responsibility for defense
and external affairs resides with the United Kingdom; however, the
Chief Secretary has the portfolio for external affairs, and the Cayman
Government may negotiate certain bilateral matters directly with
foreign governments. The elected members of the Executive Council
divide the remaining administrative portfolios.

The 18-seat unicameral
Legislative Assembly is presided over by an independent speaker.
Elections are held at the discretion of the governor at least every 4
years. Members of the assembly may introduce bills, which, if passed,
are then approved, returned, or disallowed by the Governor. The U.K.
Government also reserves the right to disallow bills approved by the
Governor.

The four-tiered judicial
system is based on English common law and colonial and local statutes.
The Cayman Islands Court of Appeal is the highest court on the islands,
but Her Majesty’s Privy Council sitting in London may hear a final
appeal.

Political Coalitions
Political
parties have operated infrequently in the past, and public
officeholders tend to be independents. Since the 1970s, groups of
candidates have organized themselves into ad hoc coalitions called
teams and run on platforms of shared concerns. In November 2000
elections, voters ousted the leader of the government and two other
ministers because of legislation enacted to weaken bank secrecy. Seven
new members were elected to the Legislative Assembly.

Principal Government Officials
Head of State--Queen Elizabeth II
Governor--Bruce Dinwiddy, since May 2002
Leader of Government Business--The Honorable McKeeva Bush, since December 2001

The Cayman Islands are represented in the United States by the United Kingdom Embassy at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington DC 20008; tel: 202-462-1340; fax: 202-898-4255.

The Cayman Islands Department
of Tourism, with offices in Miami, New York, Houston, and Chicago, also
may provide travel information.

U.S.-CAYMANIAN RELATIONS
Although the United Kingdom
is responsible for the Cayman Islands' defense and external affairs,
important bilateral issues are often resolved by negotiations between
the Cayman Government and foreign governments, including the United
States. Despite close historic and political links to the U.K. and
Jamaica, geography and the rise of tourism and international finance in
the Cayman Islands' economy has made the United States its most
important foreign economic partner. Following a dip in tourists from
the United States after 9/11, about 500,000 U.S. citizens traveled to
the Cayman Islands in 2002; some 10,000 Americans are resident there.

For U.S. and other foreign
investors and businesses, the Cayman Islands' main appeal as a
financial center is the absence of all major direct taxes, free capital
movement, a minimum of government regulations, and a well-developed
financial infrastructure. The Cayman Islands is the world's
fifth-largest financial center.

With the rise in
international narcotics trafficking, the Cayman 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 its
facilities for money laundering operations. In June 2000, The Cayman
Islands was listed by multilateral organizations as a tax haven and a
non-cooperative territory in fighting money laundering. The country's
swift response in enacting laws limiting banking secrecy, introducing
requirements for customer identification and record keeping, and for
banks to cooperate with foreign investigators led to its removal from
the list of non-cooperative territories in June 2001.

U.S. Representation
The
United States does not maintain diplomatic offices in the Cayman
Islands. Diplomatic relations are conducted through the U.S. Embassy in
London and the British Embassy in Washington, DC.

The Cayman Islands are, however, part of the consular district administered by the U.S. Embassy

in Kingston, Jamaica. Inquiries regarding visas to the U.S. or other
consular matters should be directed to the consular section of the U.S.
Embassy, 2 Oxford Road, Kingston 5, Jamaica; tel: 876-929-4850; fax:
876-935-6019. There also is a U.S. consular agent, Gail Duquesnay, in
the Cayman Islands to assist in providing services for American
citizens--tel: 345-945-1511; cell: 345-916-7326.

TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION
The
U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program provides
Consular Information Sheets, Travel Warnings, and Public Announcements.
Consular Information Sheets exist for all countries and include
information on entry requirements, currency regulations, health
conditions, areas of instability, crime and security, political
disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. posts in the country. Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Public Announcements
are issued as a means to disseminate information quickly about
terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas
that pose significant risks to the security of American travelers. Free
copies of this information are available by calling the Bureau of
Consular Affairs at 202-647-5225 or via the fax-on-demand system:
202-647-3000. Consular Information Sheets and Travel Warnings also are
available on the Consular Affairs Internet home page: http://travel.state.gov.
Consular Affairs Tips for Travelers publication series, which contain
information on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are
on the Internet and hard copies can be purchased from the
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
telephone: 202-512-1800; fax 202-512-2250.

Emergency information concerning
Americans traveling abroad may be obtained from the Office of Overseas
Citizens Services at (202) 647-5225. For after-hours emergencies,
Sundays and holidays, call 202-647-4000.

The National Passport Information Center
(NPIC) is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public
contact center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT
(1-877-487-2778). Customer service representatives and operators for
TDD/TTY are available Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern
Time, excluding federal holidays.

Travelers can check the latest health
information with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web
site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm
give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or
requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions
and countries. A booklet entitled Health Information for International
Travel (HHS publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800.

Information on travel conditions, visa
requirements, currency and customs regulations, legal holidays, and
other items of interest to travelers also may be obtained before your
departure from a country's embassy and/or consulates in the U.S. (for
this country, see "Principal Government Officials" listing in this
publication).

U.S. citizens who are long-term visitors or traveling in dangerous areas are encouraged to register their travel via the State Department’s travel registration web site at https://travelregistration.state.gov
or at the Consular section of the U.S. embassy upon arrival in a
country by filling out a short form and sending in a copy of their
passports. This may help family members contact you in case of an
emergency.


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