Cayman Islands

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Cayman Islands

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Background Notes For Cayman Islands

Official Name: Islands
Term for Citizens: Town
Political Status: crown colony
Form of Government: governor and locally elected assembly
GEOGRAPHY
Size: sq. km.
Topography: limestone and coral islands
Climate: estimated in 1985 growth rate (in percentage) in 1985
POPULATION
Life expectancy at birth in 1984:
Adult literacy rate (in percentage) in 1986:
Ethnic groups: Black (25 percent), white (20 percent), mulatto (55 percent)
Religion: Protestant
ECONOMY
Currency: Cayman Islands dollar (CI$)
Exchange rate: CI$0.84=US$1.00
Gross domestic product (GDP) in 1985 million
Per capita GDP in 1985 of GDP available
NATIONAL SECURITY
Armed forces personnel: personnel
GEOGRAPHY
The Cayman Islands are located in the Caribbean Sea south of Cuba, from which they are separated at the closest point by about 240 kilometers. The three islands are an outcropping of the Cayman Ridge, a submarine mountain range that extends west from the Sierra Maestra mountain range in Cuba. Grand Cayman is the largest of the islands with a total area of 195 square kilometers. Cayman Brac, 142 kilometers northeast of Grand Cayman, is only 20 kilometers long by 2 kilometers wide. Little Cayman, eight kilometers west of Cayman Brac, is sixteen kilometers by two kilometers in size. The total land area of the three islands is 260 square kilometers, or approximately that of Austin, Texas.
All three islands are low lying and are composed of limestone and consolidated coral. A seventeen-meter hill at the northwest tip of Grand Cayman is its highest point. The highest point on Little Cayman is only twelve meters in elevation. Cayman Brac is distinguished by a forty-three-meter limestone cliff that rises from the sea on its eastern tip. Vegetation is largely scrub with mangrove swamps covering about a third of all the islands' area.
The climate is tropical, tempered by the northeasterly trade winds. Temperatures are fairly constant, ranging from summer maximums of 30°C to winter minimums of 20°C. The rainy season extends from mid-May through October; the remaining months are relatively dry. Hurricanes pose a threat from midsummer until November, although no hurricane has struck the islands directly since 1932.

Cayman Islands History
No information in file.

Cayman Islands Government

In the late 1990s, the Cayman Islands were still a British crown colony. It has a British governor and a ministerial form of government consisting of an Executive Council (cabinet) and a Legislative Assembly.

Under the Caymans' Constitution, the British governor is responsible for defense and internal security, external affairs, and public service. On all other matters, the governor must either accept the recommendations of the Executive Council or receive approval for his veto from the British secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs. The Executive Council, which is responsible for the daily administration of the affairs in the Caymans, consists of the financial secretary, the attorney general, the administrative secretary (all appointed by the governor), and four other members elected by the Legislative Assembly from their own number. The governor presides as chairman of the Executive Council. The unicameral Legislative Assembly, consisting of twelve elected members and three ex officio members appointed by the governor, is entrusted with making laws.

Cayman Islands Business Law

No information in file.

Commercial Guide of Cayman Islands
No information in file.

Treaties to which Cayman Islands is a Member
Not Applicable.

Cayman Islands Labor Law
No information in file.

Cayman Islands Environmental Law
No information in file.

Cayman Islands's Banking and Finance System
No information in file.

Cayman Islands Visas and Immigration
No information in file.

Cayman Islands's Foreign Investment Law
No information in file.

Intellectual Property Rights In Cayman Islands
No information in file.

Cayman Islands Taxes
No information in file.

General Economic Information of Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands Socio-Economic Data from the Inter-American Development Bank. This is the source for all the hard economic data you need. The particular country page is slow loading, but well worth the wait for you economic gurus.

Cayman Islands Tourism
No information in file.

Cayman Islands's Legal System
The U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library Laws of other nations Cayman Islands

General Information
Cayman Islands - Consular Info Sheet

Importing and Exporting
TradePort's online tutorial on importing and exporting.
Reducing the Risk of Trade Disputes for Exporters
U.S. Harmonized Tarrif Schedule

Marketing
International Trade Association (U.S. Dept. of Commerce dedicated to helping U.S. businesses compete in the global marketplace.

Backgound Notes Geography History

Government Business Law Commercial Guide

Treaties Labor Law Environmental Law

Banking & Finance Visas & Immigration Foreign Investment

Intellectual Property Taxes General Economic Info

Tourism Legal System General Information

Importing & Exporting Marketing

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Last Update: September 28, 1998.
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