The CaymanIslands is a self-governing British Overseas Territory,and the largest by population. The 264-square-kilometre (102-square-mile) territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman,Cayman Brac and Little Cayman,which are located south of Cuba and north-east of Honduras,between Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The capital city is George Town on Grand Cayman,which is the most populous of the three islands.
The economy of the Cayman Islands,a British overseas territory located in the western Caribbean Sea,is mainly fueled by the tourism sector and by the financial services sector,together representing 50–60 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The Cayman Islands Investment Bureau,a government agency,has been established with the mandate of promoting investment and economic development in the territory. Because of the territory’s strong economy and it being a popular banking destination for wealthy individuals and businesses,it is often dubbed the ‘financial capital’of the Caribbean.
The Cayman Islands is a parliamentary representative democratic dependency. As a British Overseas Territories,Charles III is the head of state. The Premier of the Cayman Islands is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government,legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of the Cayman Islands. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs),also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs),are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom,but do not form part of the United Kingdom itself. The permanently inhabited territories are internally self-governing,with the United Kingdom retaining responsibility for defence and foreign relations. All of the territories are inhabited by civilians,except three that are chiefly or only inhabited by military or scientific personnel. All fourteen have the British monarch as head of state. These UK government responsibilities are assigned to various departments of the Foreign,Commonwealth and Development Office and are subject to change.
William McKeeva Bush,is a Caymanian politician,former Speaker of the Parliament of the Cayman Islands and former Premier of the Cayman Islands. Bush,the former leader of the Cayman Democratic Party,is the elected member for the constituency of West Bay West. He is the territory's longest ever serving political figure with service spanning over 35 years,previously serving his tenth term in the Parliament of the Cayman Islands.
George Town is the capital and largest city in the Cayman Islands,located on Grand Cayman. As of 2022,the city had a population of 40,957,making it the largest city of all the British Overseas Territories.
The Cayman Democratic Party,formerly known as the United Democratic Party,was a political party in the Cayman Islands formed in late 2001 and collapsed in February 2021.
The governor of the Cayman Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the Cayman Islands. The governor,a civil servant who has in modern times typically been a British subject normally resident in the United Kingdom,is appointed by the monarch from the staff of the Foreign,Commonwealth and Development Office on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the de facto head of state,and is responsible for appointing the Premier,who is the leader of the party with a majority of seats in the Legislature.
Stuart Duncan Macdonald Jack was a British diplomat,latterly serving as the Governor of the Cayman Islands from 2005 until 2009.
Daniel William Finkelstein,Baron Finkelstein,is a British journalist and politician. He is a former executive editor of The Times and remains a weekly political columnist. He is a former chairman of Policy Exchange who was succeeded by David Frum in 2014. He is chair of the think tank Onward. He was made a member of the House of Lords in August 2013,sitting as a Conservative.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) persons in the Cayman Islands may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in the Cayman Islands. Despite anti-gay attitudes expressed by certain members of the government,social acceptance by the Caymanian public has been known to be some of the best in the Caribbean. Some have attributed this to the strong British influence in the territory.
Desmond Patrick Neil Wigan is a British diplomat who is the current British ambassador to Kenya. He previously served as the UK Ambassador to Somalia from 2013 to 2015. He also served as the British ambassador to Israel,June 2019 to June 2023,replacing David Quarrey. In June 2023,he was appointed the British High Commissioner to Kenya,replacing Jane Marriott.
Helen Marjorie Kilpatrick is a British civil servant. She was Governor of the Cayman Islands between 2013 and 2018.
Annie Huldah Bodden OBE was a Caymanian civil servant,lawyer,and politician. She was the first woman to serve in the Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands,of which she was a member from 1961 to 1964 and from 1965 to 1984.
Jane Caroline Owen is a British politician and diplomat. She is the current Governor of the Cayman Islands and the second woman to hold this position. She had previously served as the British ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein and the British ambassador to Norway.
Same-sex marriage is currently not recognised in the Cayman Islands. The island's statutory law limits marriage to different-sex couples. A lawsuit with the Grand Court successfully challenged this ban in March 2019;however,the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling in November 2019. Same-sex civil partnerships are legal following the enactment of the Civil Partnership Law,2020 on 4 September 2020.
The Cayman Islands Regiment is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands. It is a single territorial infantry and engineer reserve unit of the British Armed Forces that was formed in 2020. The regiment has an authorized strength level objective of 175 personnel,akin to that of a company-sized unit.
Andrew James Noble is a British diplomat who is currently the British Ambassador to Romania,previously having served as the British Ambassador to Algeria. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1982,and has also worked in Germany,South Africa and Greece.
The following lists events that happened during 2021 in the Caribbean.
Margaret Ramsay-Hale is a Jamaican lawyer and judge. She is currently serving as a justice of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands,a position that she has held since 13 January 2020. Ramsay-Hale was previously the first female puisne judge and the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
