Published on March 17, 2010

Country Report

Cayman Islands

Introduction

Background: The Cayman Islands were colonized from Jamaica by the British during the 18th and 19th centuries and were administered by Jamaica after 1863. In 1959, the islands became a territory within the Federation of the West Indies. When the Federation dissolved in 1962, the Cayman Islands chose to remain a British dependency.

Geography

Location: Caribbean, three-island group (Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman) in Caribbean Sea, 240 km south of Cuba and 268 km northwest of Jamaica

Geographic coordinates: 19 30 N, 80 30 W

Area:
total: 264 sq km
land: 264 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 160 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm

Climate: tropical marine; warm, rainy summers (May to October) and cool, relatively dry winters (November to April)

Terrain: low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: The Bluff (Cayman Brac) 43 m

Natural resources: fish, climate and beaches that foster tourism

Land use:
arable land: 3.85%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 96.15% (2005)

Irrigated land: NA

Natural hazards: hurricanes (July to November)

Environment - current issues: no natural fresh water resources; drinking water supplies must be met by rainwater catchments

Geography - note: important location between Cuba and Central America

People

Population:
49,035
note: most of the population lives on Grand Cayman (July 2009 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 19.6% (male 4,824/female 4,783)
15-64 years: 71.1% (male 16,994/female 17,884)
65 years and over: 9.3% (male 2,139/female 2,411) (2009 est.)

Median age:
total: 38.1 years
male: 37.7 years
female: 38.6 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.394% (2009 est.)

Birth rate: 12.36 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate: 4.89 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate:
16.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: major destination for Cubans trying to migrate to the US (2009 est.)

Urbanization:
urban population: 100% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 1.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 6.94 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.96 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 80.44 years
male: 77.8 years
female: 83.14 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.88 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Nationality:
noun: Caymanian(s)
adjective: Caymanian

Ethnic groups: mixed 40%, white 20%, black 20%, expatriates of various ethnic groups 20%

Religions: Church of God 26%, United Church 11.8% (Presbyterian and Congregational), Roman Catholic 11%, Baptist 8.7%, Seventh Day Adventist 8.2%, Anglican 5.7%, Pentecostal 5.3%, other Christian 2.7%, non-denominational 5.8%, other 3.8%, none 9.8%, unspecified 1.1% (1999 census)

Languages: English 95%, Spanish 3.2%, other 1.8% (1999 census)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 98%
male: 98%
female: 98% (1970 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 13 years
male: 12 years
female: 13 years (2001)

Education expenditures: 2.8% of GDP (2005)

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Cayman Islands

Dependency status: overseas territory of the UK

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital:
name: George Town (on Grand Cayman)
geographic coordinates: 19 18 N, 81 23 W
time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions: 8 districts; Creek, Eastern, Midland, South Town, Spot Bay, Stake Bay, West End, Western

Independence: none (overseas territory of the UK)

National holiday: Constitution Day, first Monday in July

Constitution: The Cayman Islands Constitution Order 2009, 6 November 2009

Legal system: British common law and local statutes

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor Duncan TAYLOR (since 15 January 2010)
head of government: Premier McKeeva BUSH (since 6 November 2009)
cabinet: The Cabinet (six members appointed by the governor on the advice of the premier, selected from among the elected members of the Legislative Assembly)
elections: the monarch is hereditary; the governor is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or coalition is appointed by the governor as premier

Legislative branch:
unicameral Legislative Assembly (20 seats; 18 elected by popular vote and 2 ex officio members from The Cabinet; to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 May 2009 (next to be held not later than May 2013)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UDP 9, PPM 5, independent 1

Judicial branch: Grand Court; Cayman Islands Court of Appeal; Summary Court

Political parties and leaders: United Democratic Party or UDP [McKeeva BUSH]; People's Progressive Movement or PPM [Kurt TIBBETTS]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
National Trust
other: environmentalists

International organization participation: Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WFTU

Diplomatic representation in the US: none (overseas territory of the UK)

Diplomatic representation from the US: none (overseas territory of the UK)

Flag description: a blue field, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Caymanian coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms includes a crest with a pineapple, representing the connection with Jamaica, and a turtle, representing Cayman's seafaring tradition, above a shield bearing a golden lion, symbolizing Great Britain, below which are three green stars (representing the three islands) surmounting white and blue wavy lines representing the sea and a scroll at the bottom bearing the motto HE HATH FOUNDED IT UPON THE SEAS

Economy

Economy - overview: With no direct taxation, the islands are a thriving offshore financial center. More than 93,000 companies were registered in the Cayman Islands as of 2008, including almost 300 banks, 800 insurers, and 10,000 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 1.9 million in 2008, 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.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $1.939 billion (2004 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate): $2.25 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 0.9% (2004 est.); 0.9% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $43,800 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 3.2%
services: 95.4% (1994 est.)

Labor force:
39,000
note: nearly 55% are non-nationals (2007)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 1.9%
industry: 19.1%
services: 79% (2008 est.)

Unemployment rate: 4.4% (2004); 4.4% (2004)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $423.8 million
expenditures: $392.6 million (2004)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.4% (2004)

Stock of money: $334.3 million (31 December 2008)

Stock of quasi money: $5.23 billion (31 December 2008)

Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA (31 December 2008)

Agriculture - products: vegetables, fruit; livestock; turtle farming

Industries: tourism, banking, insurance and finance, construction, construction materials, furniture

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 546 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption: 507.8 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

Oil - consumption: 3,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)

Oil - exports: 0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - imports: 3,294 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

Exports: $2.52 million (2004)

Exports - commodities: turtle products, manufactured consumer goods

Imports: $866.9 million (2004)

Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, manufactured goods, fuels

Debt - external: $70 million (1996)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: $NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: $NA

Exchange rates: Caymanian dollars (KYD) per US dollar - NA (2007), 0.8496 (2006)

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 38,000 (2008)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 33,800 (2004)

Telephone system:
general assessment: reasonably good system
domestic: liberalization of telecom market in 2003; introduction of competition in the mobile-cellular market in 2004
international: country code - 1-345; landing point for the MAYA-1 submarine telephone cable network that provides links to the US and parts of Central and South America; submarine cable provides connectivity to Jamaica; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2007)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (2004)

Television broadcast stations: 4 with cable system (2004)

Internet country code: .ky

Internet hosts: 21,428 (2009)

Internet users: 23,000 (2008)

Transportation

Airports: 3 (2009)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2009)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2009)

Roadways:
total: 785 km
paved: 785 km (2007)

Merchant marine:
total: 109
by type: bulk carrier 30, cargo 2, chemical tanker 42, petroleum tanker 15, refrigerated cargo 10, roll on/roll off 3, vehicle carrier 7
foreign-owned: 107 (Denmark 3, Germany 15, Greece 16, Italy 4, Japan 13, Norway 1, Singapore 10, UK 3, US 42) (2008)

Ports and terminals: Cayman Brac, George Town

Military

Military branches: no regular military forces; Royal Cayman Islands Police Force (2008)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 11,790 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 9,735
females age 16-49: 10,145 (2009 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 334
female: 345 (2009 est.)

Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the UK

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: none

Illicit drugs: major offshore financial center; vulnerable to drug transshipment to the US and Europe (2008)