Cayman Islands - Κέιμαν Νήσοι

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Location

Fast Data
Capital city	George Town
State	British Overseas Territory
Coin	Cayman Islands Dollar (KYD)
Area	262 km²
Population	56.732
Language	English


Calling Code	1-345
Internet TLD	.ky
Time zone	(UTC -5)

The Cayman Islands or the Cayman Islands (English: Cayman Islands) is a British Overseas Territory and is located in Caribbean Sea. It is a complex of three islands with a total area of 262 sq.km. and a population of 55,691 inhabitants (2013). The capital of the islands is George Town and official language English.

At a glance

History

The islands were discovered on May 10, 1503 by Christopher Columbus, on his fourth and final voyage to the New World, and he named them Las Tortugas (Spanish: Las Tortugas, "turtles") because of the innumerable sea turtles that existed there. The first recorded Englishman to visit the islands was Sir Francis Drake in 1586, a lieutenant in the fleet against the Spanish Armada, who christened them "Cayman" from the native word for crocodile.

The islands (along with Jamaica) came under English rule in 1670, following the Treaty of Madrid. It was ruled as a colony together until Jamaica gained its independence in 1962 and the Cayman Islands became a separate British Overseas Territory.