Major Islands And Archipelagos Codexery

Cayman Islands

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Because it imposes no taxes on income earned or funds stored, the territory functions as a major offshore financial centre.[1]

Geography and history

The islands are the peaks of an undersea mountain range called the Cayman Ridge, flanking the Cayman Trough 6 km to the south.[2] Christopher Columbus sighted the islands on 10 May 1503, naming them "Las Tortugas" after the abundant turtles.[3][4] The first recorded permanent inhabitant, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1661.[5] England took formal control under the Treaty of Madrid of 1670, and a permanent English-speaking population dates from the 1730s.[6]

The islands were administered as a dependency of Jamaica until 1962, when they became a separate Crown colony.[7] In the 1950s tourism flourished after the opening of Owen Roberts International Airport and several hotels.[8] Researchers have uncovered no proof that anyone inhabited the islands prior to European contact.[3] According to the initial census conducted in 1802, Grand Cayman's population was 933, of whom 545 were enslaved.[9]

The British Parliament's Slavery Abolition Act led to the end of slavery in the Cayman Islands in 1833.[9]

What the cited sources add

The Explore Cayman history account notes that Christopher Columbus was the first explorer to record seeing the islands in 1503.[4] It states that the islands remained uninhabited until the 1660s, populated only by turtles, alligators and lizards.[4] The same source reports that the first settlers came from Jamaica after the islands were decreed a dependency of Jamaica in the Treaty of Madrid.[4] According to the Explore Cayman account, the 1802 census recorded roughly half the population as of British descent and half as slaves of African descent.[4]

It describes how the remoteness of the islands and social integration after emancipation in 1835 resulted in a socially homogeneous society.[4] The source explains that in the nineteenth century many locals left for jobs on neighbouring islands and later on oil tankers.[4] It notes that the Cayman Islands went from a subsistence economy in the 1950s to enjoying the highest standard of living in the Caribbean today.[4]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Cayman Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rogoff, Natasha Lance, "Tax me if you can. Haven or Havoc?", Pbs.org, 19 February 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Cayman Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Publications"; Bush, Phillippe G. Grand Cayman, British West Indies . UNESCO Coastal region and small island papers 3. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Cayman Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Keegan, "The Caribbean before Columbus", Oxford University Press, 2017, p. 6; "World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Cayman Islands", www.refworld.org; "History of Cayman Islands", Cayman Islands Government; "Cayman Islands"; "History of Cayman Islands", Cayman Islands Government; "History of the Cayman Islands", Explore Cayman; "Cayman Islands"; "History of Cayman Islands", Cayman Islands Government (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. "History of the Cayman Islands", Explore Cayman. facts only, no text reused. explorecayman.com
  5. Wikipedia, "Cayman Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thompson, "Life in The Caribbean", New Africa Press, 2010, p. 152 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Cayman Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Cayman Islands"; "Key to Cayman - HISTORY – ISLANDS THAT TIME FORGOT", 22 January 2016; "History of the Cayman Islands", Explore Cayman; "History of the Cayman Islands", Explore Cayman; "Cayman Islands History", Gocayman.ky (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Cayman Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cawley}}{{page needed, "Colonies in Conflict: The History of the British Overseas Territories", September 2022; Newman, "Crime and Punishment Around the World: Africa and the Middle East", Abc-Clio, LLC, 2010, p. 82; "Cayman Islands" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Cayman Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Airport Authority of Cayman Islands – CIAA", Caymanairports.com; "Key to Cayman - HISTORY – ISLANDS THAT TIME FORGOT", 22 January 2016; "History of the Cayman Islands", Explore Cayman; "Cayman Islands"; "Cayman Islands"; "History of the Cayman Islands", Explore Cayman; "Cayman Islands" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Cayman Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "History of the Cayman Islands", Explore Cayman (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Cayman Islands (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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