Geography of the Cayman Islands

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Country geography 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 Template:Convert south of Havana, Cuba,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Template:Convert northwest of Kingston, Jamaica,<ref name="mapcrow">Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="mapcrow"/>

The Cayman Islands have a land area of Template:Convert approximately 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C., and just Template:Convert larger than Saint Kitts and Nevis. The Cayman Islands have a coastline of Template:Convert. The Cayman Islands make a maritime claim of a Template:Convert exclusive fishing zone and a territorial sea of Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite CIA World Factbook</ref><ref>Template:Cite CIA World Factbook</ref>

Geology

Template:Main 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.<ref>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 Template:Webarchive Template:Doi</ref> The islands are formed of marine limestone and dolomite that was uplifted during the late Miocene epoch.<ref>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. Template:ISBN.</ref> 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.

Climate data for George Town
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average sea temperature °C (°F)	26.6 (79.9)	26.6 (79.9)	26.8 (80.2)	27.7 (81.9)	28.3 (82.9)	28.7 (83.7)	29.2 (84.6)	30.0 (86.0)	29.9 (85.8)	29.3 (84.7)	28.6 (83.5)	28.0 (82.4)	27.9 (82.2)
Source #1: seatemperature.org<ref name=seatemperature>Template:Cite web</ref>
Source #2: Weather Atlas<ref name="Weather Atlas">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Natural resources

File:Map of Grand Kayman.gif

Map of Grand Cayman

File:North Side Sunset.jpg

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.

Nr.	District or island	Area (km2)	Pop. 1999-10-10	Pop. 2007 est.	Pop.- density
1	Bodden Town		5,764	6,918	865
2	Cayman Brac	36	1,822	1,500	42
3	East End	50	1,371	1,552	31
4	George Town	29	20,626	31,785	1096
5	Little Cayman	26	115	200	8
6	North Side		1,079	1,258	14
7	West Bay	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.

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)

External links

• Districts of Cayman Islands, Statoids.com
• Cayman vents are world's hottest (BBC News, 10 January 2012)
• Cayman Islands Land