Editing Cayman Islands (section)

== History ==
{{main|History of the Cayman Islands|Colony of Jamaica|West Indies Federation}}

=== Origins and colonization ===
[[File:2 dollar Cayman 1975.png|thumb|2 dollar Cayman 1975]]

{{As of|2017}}, no evidence has been found that the islands had been occupied before their discovery by Europeans.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Keegan |first1=William F. |title=The Caribbean before Columbus |last2=Hofman |first2=Corinne |author-link2=Corinne Hofman |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780190647353 |edition=ebook |location=New York, New York |pages=6}}</ref> The Cayman Islands got their name from the word for crocodile (''caiman'') in the language of the [[Arawak|Arawak-Taíno]] people.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/4954ce0dc.html|publisher=www.refworld.org |title=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Cayman Islands}}</ref> It is believed that the first [[Europe]]an to sight the islands was [[Christopher Columbus]], on 10 May 1503, during his [[voyages of Christopher Columbus|final voyage]] to the Americas.<ref name="History of Cayman Islands">{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/cighome/cayman/islands/history |title=History of Cayman Islands |publisher=Cayman Islands Government |access-date=7 July 2019 |archive-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909232014/http://www.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/cighome/cayman/islands/history |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="britannica.com">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Cayman-Islands |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Cayman Islands |access-date=7 July 2019 |archive-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506134919/https://www.britannica.com/place/Cayman-Islands |url-status=live }}</ref> He named them "Las Tortugas", after the large number of turtles found there (which were soon hunted to near-extinction).<ref name="History of Cayman Islands"/><ref name="History of the Cayman Islands">{{cite web |url=https://www.explorecayman.com/about-cayman/history-of-the-cayman-islands |title=History of the Cayman Islands |website=Explore Cayman |access-date=7 July 2019 |archive-date=7 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307214219/https://www.explorecayman.com/about-cayman/history-of-the-cayman-islands |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in succeeding decades, the islands began to be referred to as "Caimanas" or "Caymanes".<ref name="britannica.com"/><ref name="History of Cayman Islands"/>

No immediate colonisation followed Columbus's sighting, but a variety of settlers from various backgrounds eventually arrived, including [[pirate]]s, shipwrecked sailors, and deserters from [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s army in [[Jamaica]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bauman |first=Robert |date=2007 |title=The Complete Guide to Offshore Residency |page=115 |publisher=The Sovereign Society |isbn=978-0-9789210-9-5}}</ref> Sir [[Francis Drake]] briefly visited the islands in 1586.<ref name="keytocayman.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.keytocayman.com/history/history-islands-that-time-forgot/ |title=Key to Cayman - HISTORY – ISLANDS THAT TIME FORGOT |access-date=7 July 2019 |date=22 January 2016 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301014126/http://www.keytocayman.com/history/history-islands-that-time-forgot/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Cayman Islands National Museum - George Town, Grand Cayman.jpg|thumb|left|Cayman Islands National Museum, George Town, Grand Cayman]]

The first recorded permanent inhabitant, Isaac Bodden, was born on [[Grand Cayman]] around 1661. He was the grandson of an original settler named Bodden, probably one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers involved in the capture of Jamaica from [[Spain]] in 1655.<ref>{{cite book |first=Keith |last=Thompson |title=Life in The Caribbean |date=2010 |isbn=978-9987-16-015-0 |page=152|publisher=New Africa Press }}</ref>

[[Kingdom of England|England]] took [[English overseas possessions|formal control]] of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, as a result of the [[Treaty of Madrid (1670)|Treaty of Madrid of 1670]].<ref name="britannica.com"/> That same year saw an attack on a turtle fishing settlement on Little Cayman by the Spanish under Portuguese privateer [[Manuel Ribeiro Pardal]].<ref name="keytocayman.com"/> Following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement in what had by then become a haven for pirates,<ref name="History of the Cayman Islands"/> a permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s.<ref name="History of the Cayman Islands"/> With settlement, after the first royal land grant by the [[governor of Jamaica]] in 1734, came the introduction of [[slavery|slaves]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gocayman.ky/history.html |title=Cayman Islands History |publisher=Gocayman.ky |archive-date=12 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012073753/http://www.gocayman.ky/history.html}}</ref> Many were purchased and brought to the islands from Africa. That has resulted in the majority of native Caymanians being of African or English descent.<ref name="britannica.com"/>

On 8 February 1794, the Caymanians rescued the crews of a group of ten [[merchant ship]]s, including HMS ''Convert'', an incident that has since become known as the [[Wreck of the Ten Sail]].<ref name="History of Cayman Islands" /><ref name="History of the Cayman Islands" /> The ships had struck a reef and run aground during rough seas.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wood |first=Lawson |title=The Cayman Islands |date=2007 |publisher=New Holland Publishers, Limited |isbn=978-1-84537-897-4 |page=12}}.</ref> Legend has it that [[George III|King George III]] rewarded the islanders for their generosity with a promise never to introduce taxes, because one of the ships carried a member of the King's family. Despite the legend, the story is not true.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zayas y Alfonso |first=Alfredo |title=Lexografía Antillana |publisher=El Siglo XX Press |year=1914 |location=Havana}}</ref><ref name="History of the Cayman Islands" />

=== 19th century ===
The first census taken in the islands, in 1802, showed the population on Grand Cayman to be 933, with 545 of those inhabitants being slaves.<ref name="History of the Cayman Islands" /> Slavery was abolished in the Cayman Islands in 1833, following the passing of the [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833|Slavery Abolition Act]] by the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]]. At the time of abolition, there were over 950 slaves of African ancestry, owned by 116 families.<ref>{{citation |title=The Cayman Islands Annual Report 1988 |location=Cayman Islands |date=1988 |page=127}}</ref><ref name="History of Cayman Islands" />

On 22 June 1863, the Cayman Islands was officially declared and administered as a dependency of the Crown Colony of Jamaica.<ref>{{cite book |title=Colonies in Conflict: The History of the British Overseas Territories |first=Charles |last=Cawley}}{{page needed|date=September 2022}}</ref> The islands continued to be governed as part of the [[Colony of Jamaica (1655–1962)|Colony of Jamaica]] until 1962, when they became a separate [[Crown colony]], after Jamaica became an independent [[Commonwealth realm]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Newman |first=Graeme R. |date=2010 |title=Crime and Punishment Around the World: Africa and the Middle East |page=82 |publisher=Abc-Clio, LLC |isbn=978-0-313-35133-4}}.</ref><ref name="britannica.com"/>

[[File:Heroes Square of George Town.jpg|thumb|right|The Heroes Square in the center of George Town, which commemorates the Cayman Islands' war dead. The Legislative Assembly building is at the left.]]

=== 20th century ===
In the 1950s, tourism began to flourish, following the opening of [[Owen Roberts International Airport]] (ORIA),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.caymanairports.com/ |title=Airport Authority of Cayman Islands – CIAA |website=Caymanairports.com |access-date=13 May 2021 |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513094028/https://www.caymanairports.com/ |url-status=live}}</ref> along with a bank and several hotels, as well as the introduction of a number of scheduled flights and cruise stop-overs.<ref name="keytocayman.com"/><ref name="History of the Cayman Islands"/> Politically, the Cayman Islands were an internally self-governing territory of Jamaica from 1958 to 1962, but they reverted to direct British rule following the [[independence of Jamaica]] in 1962.<ref name="britannica.com"/> In 1972, a large degree of internal autonomy was granted by a new constitution, with further revisions being made in 1994.<ref name="britannica.com"/> The Cayman Islands government focused on boosting the territory's economy via tourism and the attraction of off-shore finance, both of which mushroomed from the 1970s onwards.<ref name="History of the Cayman Islands"/><ref name="britannica.com"/> Historically, the Cayman Islands has been a tax-exempt destination, and the government has always relied on indirect and not direct taxes. The territory has never levied [[income tax]], [[capital gains tax]], or any [[wealth tax]], making it a popular [[tax haven]].<ref name=biswas>{{cite book |last=Biswas |first=Rajiv |date=2002 |title=International Tax Competition: A Developing Country Perspective |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |page=38 |isbn=0-85092-688-2}}.</ref>

In April 1986, the first [[marine protected area]]s were designated in the Cayman Islands, making them the first islands in the Caribbean to protect their fragile marine life.

=== 21st century ===
The constitution was further modified in 2001 and 2009, codifying various aspects of human rights legislation.<ref name="britannica.com"/>

On 11 September 2004, the island of Grand Cayman, which lies largely unprotected at sea level, was battered by [[Hurricane Ivan]], the worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Keith |date=2010 |title=Caribbean Islands: The Land and the People |page=152 |publisher=New Africa Press |isbn=978-9987-16-018-1}}</ref> It created an {{convert|8|ft|adj=on}} [[storm surge]] which flooded many areas of Grand Cayman.<ref name="britannica.com"/> An estimated 83% of the dwellings on the island were damaged, with 4% requiring complete reconstruction. A reported 70% of all dwellings suffered severe damage from flooding or wind. Another 26% sustained minor damage from partial roof removal, low levels of flooding, or impact with floating or wind-driven hurricane debris.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.ky/portal/page?_pageid=1143%2C5067689&_dad=portal&_schema=portal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223143341/http://www.gov.ky/portal/page?_pageid=1143%2C5067689&_dad=portal&_schema=portal |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 December 2015 |title=Hurricane Ivan Remembered |publisher=Hazard Management Cayman Islands |access-date=26 July 2012 }}</ref> Power, water, and communications were disrupted for months in some areas. Within two years, a major rebuilding program on Grand Cayman meant that its infrastructure was almost back to its pre-hurricane condition. Due to the tropical location of the islands, more hurricanes or tropical systems have affected the Cayman Islands than any other region in the Atlantic basin. On average, it has been brushed, or directly hit, every 2.23 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hurricanecity.com/city/caymanislands.htm |title=Grand Cayman's history with tropical systems |publisher=hurricanecity.com |access-date=31 July 2011 |archive-date=29 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429150540/http://www.hurricanecity.com/city/caymanislands.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>