Geography of the Cayman Islands

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Geography of the Cayman Islands
Continent	—
Region	Central America Caribbean Sea
Coordinates	19°30'N, 80°30'W
Area	Ranked 186th 259 km² 101.2 miles² 100% land 0% water
Coastline	160 km (99.42 miles)
Borders	Total land borders: 0 km (0 miles)
Highest point	The Bluff 43 m (141.08 ft)
Lowest point	Caribbean Sea 0 m (0 ft)
Longest river	—
Largest lake	—

The Cayman Islands are a British dependency and island nation comprised of a three-island archipelago in the Caribbean Sea: Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. The Cayman Islands are 240 km south of Cuba and 268 km northwest of Jamaica, 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 259 km² (101.2 square miles), about 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C. and 3 km² larger than Saint Kitts and Nevis. The Caymans have a coastline of 160 km (99 km). The Cayman Islands make a maritime claim of a 200-nautical mile exclusive fishing zone and a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles.

The Cayman Islands' lowest elevation is the Caribbean Sea at sea level. The highest point is The Bluff, a limestone outcrop 43 m (141 feet) in length on the eastern end of eastern Cayman Brac, which itself was named for The Bluff—"brac" is Gaelic for "bluff."

The Cayman Islands have a tropical marine climate, with a wet season of warm, rainy summers (May to October) and a dry season of relatively cool winters (November to April). Terrain is mostly a low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs.

An important environmental issue is the lack of fresh water resources. Drinking water supplies must be met by rainwater catchment and desalination.

Natural resources include fish and a climate and beaches that foster tourism, which is the islands' major industry. A 2005 estimate of land use determined that the Caymans' had 3.85 percent arable land and no permanent crops. A major natural hazard is the tropical cyclones that form during the Atlantic hurricane season from July to November.