Geography of the Cayman Islands
Encyclopedia
The Cayman Islands
are a British dependency
and island country. It is a three-island archipelago
in the Caribbean Sea
, consisting of Grand Cayman
, Cayman Brac
, and Little Cayman
. Georgetown, the capital of the Cayman Islands is 438 km (272 mi) south of Havana
, Cuba
]], and 504 km (313 mi) northwest of Kingston, Jamaica
, and are between Cuba and Central America
. Georgetown’s geographic coordinates are 19.300° north, 81.383° west.
The Cayman Islands have a land area of 264 km² (101.9 sq mi) about 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C.
and just 3 km² (1.2 sq mi) larger than Saint Kitts and Nevis
. The Cayman Islands have a coastline of 160 km (99 mi). The Cayman Islands make a maritime claim of a 200 nmi (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) exclusive fishing zone
and a territorial sea
of 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi).
. The trough is the deepest point in the Caribbean Sea
and forms part of the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate
and the Caribbean Plate
. The Cayman Rise extends from southeastern Cuba
along the northern margin of the Cayman Trough toward Costa Rica
and resulted from Paleocene
to Eocene
island arc
formation with associated volcanism
along an extinct subduction zone.
of warm, rainy summers (May to October) and a dry season
of relatively cool winters (November to April). Terrain is mostly a low-lying limestone
base surrounded by coral reef
s.
A major natural hazard
is the tropical cyclone
s that form during the Atlantic hurricane season
from July to November.
resources. Drinking water
supplies must be met by rainwater catchment and desalination
.
s include fish
and a climate and beaches that foster tourism
, which is the islands' major industry. A 2005 estimate of land use determined that the Cayman Islands' had 3.85 percent arable land
and no permanent crops.
The population is concentrated in the three (south-)western districts George Town (capital), West Bay, and Bodden Town. Those have a population density many times higher than all remaining districts.
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
are a British dependency
British overseas territories
The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...
and island country. It is a three-island archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
in the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
, consisting of Grand Cayman
Grand Cayman
Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the nation's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles southwest of Cayman Brac.-Geography:Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of...
, Cayman Brac
Cayman Brac
Cayman Brac is an island that is part of the Cayman Islands. It lies in the Caribbean Sea about 90 miles northeast of Grand Cayman and 5 miles east of Little Cayman. It is about 12 miles long, with an average width of 1 mile...
, and Little Cayman
Little Cayman
Little Cayman is an island that is part of the Cayman Islands. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, about 75 miles northeast of Grand Cayman and five miles west of Cayman Brac. Little Cayman has a permanent population of less than 170 and is about 10 miles long with an average width of 1 mile...
. Georgetown, the capital of the Cayman Islands is 438 km (272 mi) south of Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
]], and 504 km (313 mi) northwest of Kingston, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, and are between Cuba and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. Georgetown’s geographic coordinates are 19.300° north, 81.383° west.
The Cayman Islands have a land area of 264 km² (101.9 sq mi) about 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and just 3 km² (1.2 sq mi) larger than Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis
The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population....
. The Cayman Islands have a coastline of 160 km (99 mi). The Cayman Islands make a maritime claim of a 200 nmi (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) exclusive fishing zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
and a territorial sea
Territorial waters
Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most from the baseline of a coastal state...
of 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi).
Geology
The islands are located on the Cayman Rise which forms the northern margin of the Cayman TroughCayman Trough
The Cayman Trough, is a complex transform fault zone pull apart basin which contains a small spreading ridge on the floor of the western Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands...
. The trough is the deepest point in the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
and forms part of the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate
North American Plate
The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, Bahamas, and parts of Siberia, Japan and Iceland. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust...
and the Caribbean Plate
Caribbean Plate
The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America....
. The Cayman Rise extends from southeastern Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
along the northern margin of the Cayman Trough toward Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
and resulted from Paleocene
Paleocene
The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...
to Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
island arc
Island arc
An island arc is a type of archipelago composed of a chain of volcanoes which alignment is arc-shaped, and which are situated parallel and close to a boundary between two converging tectonic plates....
formation with associated volcanism
Volcanism
Volcanism is the phenomenon connected with volcanoes and volcanic activity. It includes all phenomena resulting from and causing magma within the crust or mantle of a planet to rise through the crust and form volcanic rocks on the surface....
along an extinct subduction zone.
Climate
The Cayman Islands have a tropical marine climate, with a wet seasonWet season
The the wet season, or rainy season, is the time of year, covering one or more months, when most of the average annual rainfall in a region occurs. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the...
of warm, rainy summers (May to October) and a dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
of relatively cool winters (November to April). Terrain is mostly a low-lying limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
base surrounded by coral reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
s.
A major natural hazard
Natural hazard
A natural hazard is a threat of a naturally occurring event that will have a negative effect on people or the environment. Many natural hazards are interrelated, e.g. earthquakes can cause tsunamis and drought can lead directly to famine. It is possible that some natural hazards are...
is the tropical cyclone
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
s that form during the Atlantic hurricane season
Atlantic hurricane season
The Atlantic hurricane season is the period in a year when hurricanes usually form in the Atlantic Ocean. Tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic are called hurricanes, tropical storms, or tropical depressions. In addition, there have been several storms over the years that have not been fully...
from July to November.
Environmental issues
An important environmental issue is the lack of fresh waterFresh Water
Fresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...
resources. Drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
supplies must be met by rainwater catchment and desalination
Desalination
Desalination, desalinization, or desalinisation refers to any of several processes that remove some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water...
.
Natural resources
Natural resourceNatural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
s include fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and a climate and beaches that foster tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, which is the islands' major industry. A 2005 estimate of land use determined that the Cayman Islands' had 3.85 percent arable land
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
and no permanent crops.
Districts
The territory is subdivided into seven districts that are governed by district managers and that have a role as electoral districts and as regional units for statistics. Five of the districts are located on the main island Grand Cayman, and the remaining two correspond to the islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac:| Nr. | District | Area(km²) | Pop.1999-10-10 | Pop.2007 est. | Pop.-density Population density Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans... |
|||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bodden Town Bodden Town Bodden Town, Grand Cayman, is the former capital and largest district in the Cayman Islands. It is situated on a natural harbor and a coral reef. The first settlement was named after a government leader, William Bodden. Once ravaged by pirates, this village is known for its remains of a... |
8 | 5,764 | 6,918 | 865 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Cayman Brac Cayman Brac Cayman Brac is an island that is part of the Cayman Islands. It lies in the Caribbean Sea about 90 miles northeast of Grand Cayman and 5 miles east of Little Cayman. It is about 12 miles long, with an average width of 1 mile... |
36 | 1,822 | 1,500 | 42 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | East End | 50 | 1,371 | 1,552 | 31 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | George Town George Town, Cayman Islands George Town, Grand Cayman, is the capital of the Cayman Islands, in the British West Indies. The city has a population of 35,600 and is the largest city on Grand Cayman.... |
29 | 20,626 | 31,785 | 1096 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Little Cayman Little Cayman Little Cayman is an island that is part of the Cayman Islands. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, about 75 miles northeast of Grand Cayman and five miles west of Cayman Brac. Little Cayman has a permanent population of less than 170 and is about 10 miles long with an average width of 1 mile... |
26 | 115 | 200 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | North Side | 91 | 1,079 | 1,258 | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | West Bay West Bay, Cayman Islands West Bay is a district located on Grand Cayman Island in the British West Indies.-Politics:West Bay is one of the two largest electoral districts on Grand Cayman, along with George Town... |
19 | 8,243 | 11,436 | 602 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Cayman Islands | 259 | 39,020 | 54.649 | 211 | ||||||||||||||||||||
The population is concentrated in the three (south-)western districts George Town (capital), West Bay, and Bodden Town. Those have a population density many times higher than all remaining districts.
External links
- Districts of Cayman Islands, Statoids.com