{{Country geography |
name =the Cayman Islands |
map =Cayman Islands Map.svg |
continent = North America
|region =Central AmericaCaribbean Sea|
coordinates =19°30'N, 80°30'W |
area ranking =205th |
km area =264 |
miles area =101.2 |
percent land= 100 |
percent water =0 |
km coastline =160 |
miles coastline =99.42 |
borders =Total land borders:0 km (0 miles)|
highest point= The Bluff43 m (141.08 ft)|
lowest point= Caribbean Sea0 m (0 ft)|
longest river=—|
largest lake=—|
}}
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 south of Havana, Cuba, and northwest of Kingston, Jamaica, northeast of Costa Rica, north of Panama 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 approximately 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C., and just larger than Saint Kitts and Nevis. The Cayman Islands have a coastline of . The Cayman Islands make a maritime claim of a exclusive fishing zone and a territorial sea of .
Geology
The islands are located on the Cayman Rise which forms the northern margin of the Cayman Trough. 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.H. Sigurdsson, et al., History of circum-Caribbean explosive volcanism: 40Ar/39Ar dating of tephra layers, Ch. 20 in Volume 165, Proceedings of the Oceanic Drilling Program, 26 May 2000, ISSN 1096-7451 The islands are formed of marine limestone and dolomite that was uplifted during the late Miocene epoch.J.E. Davies and M.A. Brunt (1994), "Scientific Studies in the Cayman Islands", in: The Cayman Islands: Natural History and Biogeography, Volume 71, edited by M. A. Brunt. Springer. p. 1. . Due to the islands' location, the Cayman Islands do get earthquakes.
Climate
The Cayman Islands have a tropical wet and dry climate, with a wet season from May to December, and a dry season that runs from January to April. Terrain is mostly a low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs.
Besides earthquakes another major natural hazard is the tropical cyclones that form during the Atlantic hurricane season from June to November.
{{Weather box
|location = George Town (Owen Roberts International Airport) 1991–2020, extremes 1962–2024
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|Jan maximum humidex = 39.2
|Feb maximum humidex = 42.6
|Mar maximum humidex = 43.3
|Apr maximum humidex = 43.5
|May maximum humidex = 45.4
|Jun maximum humidex = 43.8
|Jul maximum humidex = 45.5
|Aug maximum humidex = 44.8
|Sep maximum humidex = 44.8
|Oct maximum humidex = 44.1
|Nov maximum humidex = 43.1
|Dec maximum humidex = 43.1
|year maximum humidex = 45.5
|Jan record high F = 90.0
|Feb record high F = 89.0
|Mar record high F = 90.0
|Apr record high F = 91.0
|May record high F = 93.9
|Jun record high F = 94.0
|Jul record high F = 95.5
|Aug record high F = 95.0
|Sep record high F = 94.5
|Oct record high F = 92.7
|Nov record high F = 92.5
|Dec record high F = 90.0
|year record high F = 95.5
|Jan high F = 83.1
|Feb high F = 83.7
|Mar high F = 84.6
|Apr high F = 86.2
|May high F = 87.8
|Jun high F = 89.0
|Jul high F = 90.1
|Aug high F = 90.1
|Sep high F = 89.4
|Oct high F = 88.2
|Nov high F = 85.3
|Dec high F = 84.0
|year high F = 86.7
|Jan mean F = 78.8
|Feb mean F = 79.3
|Mar mean F = 80.0
|Apr mean F = 81.9
|May mean F = 83.3
|Jun mean F = 84.8
|Jul mean F = 85.5
|Aug mean F = 85.7
|Sep mean F = 85.0
|Oct mean F = 83.4
|Nov mean F = 81.7
|Dec mean F = 80.2
|year mean F = 82.5
|Jan low F = 73.6
|Feb low F = 73.2
|Mar low F = 73.6
|Apr low F = 75.7
|May low F = 77.2
|Jun low F = 78.4
|Jul low F = 78.6
|Aug low F = 78.8
|Sep low F = 78.3
|Oct low F = 77.4
|Nov low F = 76.1
|Dec low F = 74.5
|year low F = 76.3
|Jan record low F = 54.0
|Feb record low F = 52.0
|Mar record low F = 55.0
|Apr record low F = 54.0
|May record low F = 57.0
|Jun record low F = 62.1
|Jul record low F = 68.0
|Aug record low F = 66.9
|Sep record low F = 68.0
|Oct record low F = 66.0
|Nov record low F = 57.9
|Dec record low F = 57.4
|year record low F = 52.0
|rain colour = green
|Jan rain inch = 2.13
|Feb rain inch = 1.21
|Mar rain inch = 1.17
|Apr rain inch = 1.33
|May rain inch = 5.89
|Jun rain inch = 6.34
|Jul rain inch = 5.31
|Aug rain inch = 5.79
|Sep rain inch = 8.52
|Oct rain inch = 9.60
|Nov rain inch = 6.18
|Dec rain inch = 2.57
|year rain inch = 56.02
|unit rain days = 0.1mm
|Jan rain days = 7
|Feb rain days = 6
|Mar rain days = 6
|Apr rain days = 4
|May rain days = 10
|Jun rain days = 12
|Jul rain days = 12
|Aug rain days = 14
|Sep rain days = 16
|Oct rain days = 15
|Nov rain days = 12
|Dec rain days = 9
|year rain days=
|Jan humidity = 77
|Feb humidity = 77
|Mar humidity = 76
|Apr humidity = 76
|May humidity = 78
|Jun humidity = 79
|Jul humidity = 77
|Aug humidity = 78
|Sep humidity = 80
|Oct humidity = 80
|Nov humidity = 78
|Dec humidity = 78
|year humidity = 77
|Jan sun = 242.2
|Feb sun = 224
|Mar sun = 279
|Apr sun = 300
|May sun = 279
|Jun sun = 240
|Jul sun = 322.9
|Aug sun = 248
|Sep sun = 240
|Oct sun = 248
|Nov sun = 210
|Dec sun = 217
|year sun =
|Jand sun = 7.8
|Febd sun = 8
|Mard sun = 9
|Aprd sun = 10
|Mayd sun = 9
|Jund sun = 8
|Juld sun = 10.4
|Augd sun = 8
|Sepd sun = 8
|Octd sun = 8
|Novd sun = 7
|Decd sun = 7
|yeard sun =
|Jan uv = 8
|Feb uv = 10
|Mar uv = 12
|Apr uv = 12
|May uv = 12
|Jun uv = 12
|Jul uv = 12
|Aug uv = 12
|Sep uv = 11
|Oct uv = 10
|Nov uv = 8
|Dec uv = 7
|source 1 = National Weather Service (Cayman Islands)<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.weather.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/nwshome/climate/Data%20Table
|publisher = Meteorological Service (Cayman)
|title = Cayman Data Table
|access-date = 5 February 2025
|url-status = live
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160923025010/http://www.weather.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/nwshome/climate/Data%20Table
|archive-date = 23 September 2016
|df = dmy-all
}}</ref>
|date=March 2013|source 2=Weather in Cayman<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://weatherincayman.com/index.php
|publisher = Weather in Cayman
|title = Weather in Cayman
|access-date = 22 December 2018}}</ref> Weather Spark<ref>{{cite web
|url = https://weatherspark.com/y/17540/Average-Weather-in-George-Town-Cayman-Islands-Year-Round
|publisher = Weather Spark
|title = Weather Spark
|access-date= 4 April 2019}}</ref> Climate-Data<ref>{{cite web
|url = https://en.climate-data.org/north-america/cayman-islands/george-town/george-town-5581/
|publisher = Climate-data.org
|title = Climate-data
|access-date= 5 February 2025}}</ref>}}
{|style="width:100%;text-align:center;line-height:1.2em;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|-
!Colspan=14|Climate data for George Town
|-
!Month
!Jan
!Feb
!Mar
!Apr
!May
!Jun
!Jul
!Aug
!Sep
!Oct
!Nov
!Dec
!style="border-left-width:medium"|Year
|-
!Average sea temperature °C (°F)
|style="background:#ff6600;color:#000000;"|26.6(79.9)
|style="background:#ff6600;color:#000000;"|26.6(79.9)
|style="background:#ff6600;color:#000000;"|26.8(80.2)
|style="background:#ff5f00;color:#000000;"|27.7(81.9)
|style="background:#ff5a00;color:#000000;"|28.3(82.9)
|style="background:#ff5800;color:#000000;"|28.7(83.7)
|style="background:#ff5400;color:#000000;"|29.2(84.6)
|style="background:#ff4e00;color:#000000;"|30.0(86.0)
|style="background:#ff4e00;color:#000000;"|29.9(85.8)
|style="background:#ff5400;color:#000000;"|29.3(84.7)
|style="background:#ff5a00;color:#000000;"|28.6(83.5)
|style="background:#ff5a00;color:#000000;"|28.0(82.4)
|style="background:#ff5f00;color:#000000;border-left-width:medium"|27.9(82.2)
|-
!Colspan=14 style="background:#f8f9fa;font-weight:normal;font-size:95%;"|Source #1: seatemperature.org
|-
!Colspan=14 style="background:#f8f9fa;font-weight:normal;font-size:95%;"|Source #2: Weather Atlas
|}
Environmental issues
An important environmental issue is the lack of fresh water resources. Drinking water supplies must be met by rainwater catchment and desalination. There is also a problem with trash washing up on the beaches or being deposited by there by residents. The Cayman Islands have no recycling or waste treatment facilities.
Natural resources
Map of Grand Cayman|thumb|400px
thumb|right|250px|Sunset from North Side beach, Grand Cayman
Natural resources include fish and a climate and beaches that foster tourism, which is the islands' major industry. A 2012 estimate of land use determined that the Cayman Islands' had 0.83 percent arable land and 2.08 percent permanent crops.
In Cayman Islands forest cover is around 53% of the total land area, equivalent to 12,720 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 13,130 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 12,720 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 0 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity). For the year 2015, 0% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership, 12% private ownership and 88% with ownership listed as other or unknown.
Districts
The territory is subdivided into six 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. The sixth, Sister Islands, comprises the islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-style="background: #EEE;"
|-style="background: #CCC;"
! Nr. || District or island || align="right"| Area(km2)||align="right"| Pop.1999-10-10 ||align="right"| Pop.2007 est. ||Pop.-density
|-
|1|| Bodden Town || align="right"| || align="right"| 5,764|| align="right"| 6,918 || align="right"| 865
|-
|2|| Cayman Brac || align="right"| 36 || align="right"| 1,822|| align="right"| 1,500|| align="right"| 42
|-
|3|| East End || align="right"| 50 || align="right"| 1,371|| align="right"| 1,552|| align="right"| 31
|-
|4|| George Town || align="right"| 29 || align="right"| 20,626|| align="right"| 31,785|| align="right"| 1096
|-
|5|| Little Cayman || align="right"| 26 || align="right"| 115|| align="right"| 200|| align="right"| 8
|-
|6|| North Side || align="right"| || align="right"| 1,079|| align="right"| 1,258|| align="right"| 14
|-
|7|| West Bay || align="right"| 19 || align="right"| 8,243|| align="right"| 11,436|| align="right"| 602
|-
|-style="background: #DDD;" | class="sortbottom"
| ||Cayman Islands|| align="right"| 259 || align="right"| 39,020|| align="right"| 54.649||align="right"| 211
|}
The population is concentrated in the three (south-)western districts of George Town (capital), West Bay, and Bodden Town. These have a population density many times higher than all remaining districts.
Extreme points
- Northernmost point – Booby Point, Cayman Brac
- Easternmost point – North East Point, Cayman Brac
- Southernmost point – Great Pedro Point, Grand Cayman
- Westernmost point – North West Point, Grand Cayman
- Lowest point – Caribbean Sea (0m)
- Highest point – 1 km SW of The Bluff, Cayman Brac (50m)
References
External links
- Districts of Cayman Islands, Statoids.com
- Cayman vents are world's hottest (BBC News, 10 January 2012)
- Cayman Islands Land