Cayman Islanders - Orientation



The Cayman Islands are an English-speaking British crown colony situated in the northwest Caribbean. Its three small islands lie between 19°15′ and 19°45′ N and 79°40′ and 81°30′ W. The largest and most populated of the islands is Grand Cayman, which is located about 240 kilometers south of Cuba, 740 kilometers south of Miami, and 290 kilometers northwest of Jamaica. Grand Cayman is 35 kilometers long and has a total land area of 197 square kilometers. Cayman Brac, the second-largest island, is located 142 kilometers away. It is 19 kilometers long and has a total land surface of 36 square kilometers. The island of Little Cayman completes the group. It lies about 10 kilometers from Cayman Brac and is 16 kilometers long, with a land area of 26 square kilometers.

According to the last census, in 1989, the total population of the Cayman Islands was 25,355, indicating a tripling of the population in the preceding thirty years. A provisional estimate, by the Economies and Statistics Office, of 31,150 by the end of 1993 suggests that the population has continued to increase. Ninety-four percent of this population reside on Grand Cayman, which has been the major site of tourist and financial development since the late 1960s. The population of the "sister islands" together numbered only 1,474 in 1989, with the majority residing on Cayman Brac. There were only 33 residents on Little Cayman. Unlike that of Grand Cayman, the population size of the sister islands has remained relatively stable, alternately rising and then declining between 1960 and 1989.


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