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The Cayman Islands are an overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the West Indies, comprising the islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman.

First visited by Christopher Columbus on May 10, 1503 during his fourth and final voyage to the New World, the islands, along with nearby Jamaica, were ceded to Great Britain in 1670 under the Treaty of Madrid. They were governed as a single colony with Jamaica until 1963 when they became a separate British overseas territory and Jamaica became an independent commonwealth realm.

Caymanians enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the West Indies. Most residents are Protestants of British or African descent and many are of mixed racial ethnicity. The islands' main industries are tourism and offshore banking, thanks to the absence of direct taxes.

The Cayman Islands are completely self-governing and universal voting rights are granted to all citizens at the age of 18 years. A legislature is elected by the people every four years. The GovernorA governor is an official who heads the government of a colony, state or other sub-national state unit. Most countries in the world have some sort of official known as a governor, though in some countries, the heads of the states, provinces and regions ma of the islands serves as the British representative and is appointed by Queen Elizabeth IIGolden Jubilee in 2002, wearing her Canadian orders) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary), styled HM The Queen (born April 21, 1926) is the Queen regnant and Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland an.

The island of Grand Cayman was severely damaged in a near-miss by the Category Five Hurricane IvanFor other storms of the same name, see Hurricane Ivan (disambiguation). Caribbean, the swirling eye of the hurricane was photographed on September 11, 2004 from aboard the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) at an altitude of about 230 miles (370 k in September 2004, destroying many buildings and damaging nearly all. Power, water and communications were all disrupted.

1 In fiction

Large parts of the novel The FirmThe Firm may refer to more than one thing: The Firm was a British rock group. The Firm is the title of a novel by John Grisham. It was made into a 1993 movie The Firm starring Tom Cruise. The Firm were a Rap music supergroup who released one album in 1997 by John GrishamJohn Grisham (born February 8, 1955) is an American novelist and author best known for his works of modern legal drama. The second eldest of five siblings, Grisham was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas to Southern Baptist parents of modest means. His father wor takes place on the Cayman Islands. The main character works for a MemphisMemphis, Tennessee City flag City seal City nickname: "The River City or The Bluff City Location in the state of Tennessee County Shelby County, Tennessee Area Total Water 763. 4 km² (294. 24% Population Total ( 2000) Density 650,100 898. 6/km^2 Time zone, TennesseeTennessee ( In Detail) (Full size) State nickname: Volunteer State Other U. States Capital Nashville Largest City Memphis Governor Phil Bredesen Area Total Land Water % water Ranked 36th 109,247 km² 106,846 km² 2,400 km² 2. 2% Population Total ( 2000) Den law firm that use island banks for money laundering.