The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory located in the
western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the islands of Grand
Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and
northwest of Jamaica. It is considered a part of the geographic Western
Caribbean Zone. The territory is a major offshore financial centre in
the Caribbean.
The Cayman Islands were sighted by Christopher Columbus, on 10 May 1503
on his fourth and final voyage to the New World. He named the islands
Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there. The first
recorded English visitor to the islands was Sir Francis Drake, who
landed there in 1586 and named them the Cayman Islands after caiman, the
Neo-Taino nations' term for alligator. The first recorded
permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on
Grand Cayman around 1661. He was the grandson of the original settler
named Bodden who was probably one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers at the
taking of Jamaica in 1655.
Click here for more
Cayman Islands Facts