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Concept
Cayman Islands
Summary
The Cayman (ˈkeɪmən) Islands is a self-governing British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the south of Cuba and northeast of Honduras, between Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The capital city is George Town on Grand Cayman, which is the most populous of the three islands.
The Cayman Islands is 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 for international businesses and wealthy individuals, largely as a result of the state not charging taxes on any income earned or stored.
With a GDP per capita of $91,392, the Cayman Islands has the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. Immigrants from over 130 countries and territories reside in the Cayman Islands.
History of the Cayman IslandsColony of Jamaica and West Indies Federation
It is likely that the Cayman Islands were first visited by the Amerindians, the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. The Cayman Islands got their name from the indigenous Arawak-Taíno population's word for crocodile (caiman). It is believed that they were discovered by Christopher Columbus on 10 May 1503 during his final voyage to the Americas. He named them 'Las Tortugas' after the large number of turtles found there (which were soon hunted to near-extinction); however, in the succeeding decades the islands began to be referred to as Caimanas or Caymanes, after the caimans present there. No immediate colonisation followed Columbus's discovery, but a variety of settlers from various backgrounds eventually came, including pirates, shipwrecked sailors, and deserters from Oliver Cromwell's army in Jamaica. Sir Francis Drake briefly visited the islands in 1586.
The first recorded permanent inhabitant, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1661. He was the grandson of an original settler named Bodden, probably one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in 1655.
Official source
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