Geography and Economy

The Cayman Islands are a British dependency and island nation. It is a three-island archipelago in the Caribbean Sea, consisting of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. The Cayman Islands are 130 nautical miles (241 km; 150 mi) south of Cuba and 145 nautical miles (269 km; 167 mi) northwest ofJamaica, and are between Cuba and Central America. Its geographic coordinates are 19°30 north, 80°30 west.

The Cayman Islands have a land area of 101.2 square miles (262 km²), about 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C. and 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²) larger than Saint Kitts and Nevis. The Caymans have a coastline of 99 miles (159 km). The Cayman Islands make a maritime claim of a 200-nautical-mile (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) exclusive fishing zone and aterritorial sea of 12 nautical miles (22.2 km; 13.8 mi).

The Cayman Islands' lowest elevation is the Caribbean Sea at sea level. The highest point is The Bluff, a limestone outcrop 155 feet (47 m) in height on the eastern end of eastern Cayman Brac, which itself was named for The Bluff—"brac" is Gaelic for "bluff."

The Cayman Trough is the deepest point in theCaribbean Sea and forms part of the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate and theCaribbean Plate.

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GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.939 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.7% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $43,800 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 3.2%
services: 95.4% (1994 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.4% (2004)

Labor force: 23,450 (2004)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 1.4%, industry 12.6%, services 86% (1995)

Unemployment rate: 1.7% (2010) Budget:
revenues: $423.8 million
expenditures: $392.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997)

Industries: tourism, banking, insurance and finance, construction, construction materials, furniture

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 441.9 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 411 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: vegetables, fruit; livestock, turtle, sea salt farming

Exports: $2.52 million (2004)

Exports - commodities: turtle products, sea salt,manufactured consumer goods

Exports - partners: mostly US (2004)

Imports: $866.9 million (2004)

Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, manufactured goods

Imports - partners: UK, US, Netherlands Antilles, Japan (2004)

Debt - external: $70 million (1996)

Economic aid - recipient: $NA

Currency: 1 Cayman Islands dollar (CI$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Caymanian dollars per US dollar - 0.82 ( 29 October 2001), 0.83 ( 3 November 1995), 0.85 ( 22 November 1993.