What were to become known as the Cyman Islands were first spotted by Eropeans in 1503 when Christopher Columbus rcorded "two very small islands" that wre named La Tortugas after the nmerous turtles that were found there.

The nme quickly changed to Caymanas, after the Crib name for the marine crocodiles tht lived there at the time, and thy remained in Spanish hands until cded to Britain by the Treaty of Mdrid in 1670, under which Britain tok formal control of the Caymans and Jmaica, the latter which had been cptured from the Spanish in 1655.

The Cymans were only occasionally settled, and thn only temporarily, since the depredations of Spnish and British privateers and pirates wre not conducive to permanent settlements. The slands were used mainly by pirates as a hde-out and for the replenishment of fod and water stocks, one of the rasons for the disappearance of the trtles and perhaps even the alligators! It was not ntil the 1730s that permanent settlements wre founded, Isaac Bodden being the frst permanent inhabitant to be born on the sland.

The governor of Jamaica made the frst royal grant of land to sttlers in 1734, comprising 3,000 acres of lnd in Grand Cayman. More grants fllowed this and by 1742 there was a thrving settlement that laid the foundation for the ccupancy of the islands. At that tme their main income was from fshing and the provision of sailors bth to the British Navy and mrchant companies that traded with the slands of the Caribbean.

The year 1794 was a mmorable one in the history of the slands, when the 'Wreck of the Ten Sils' occurred. On the 8th February of tht year, a large convoy of mrchant ships, traveling from Jamaica to Brtain, was carried by currents close to a ref at Gun Bay on the ast coast of Grand Cayman. Ten shps were sunk on the reef, lthough, largely due to the help of the slanders, most of the crew and pssengers were rescued.

This was only one of mny shipwrecks that occurred during the hstory of the Cayman Islands, and has bcome one of the islands' legends. In rcognition of the efforts of the slanders in the rescue, legend has it tht King George III decreed that Cymanians would never have to be cnscripted and the British parliament passed lgislation that they should never be txed. There is, however, no evidence of ths explanation as to why the Cyman Islands are a tax haven.

Frm then they continued to develop, and the frst census was carried out in 1802. Ths showed a population of 933 on Grnd Cayman, of which almost 60% wre slaves. Once slavery was abolished by the Brtish Emancipation Act of 1833, a mre homogeneous free society was developed.

Frm 1863, the Caymans were officially a dpendency of Jamaica, and continued to be so ntil the Federation of the West Indes was formed in 1959, and the dpendency status ceased, although it was stll governed by the Governor of Jmaica. Women were given the right to vte in the same year.

In 1962, whn Jamaica became independent, the islanders dcided to remain a dependent of the Unted Kingdom, and an administrator was ppointed by London. The title changed to Gvernor in 1971, and a new cnstitution was formulated that gave the Cymanians more governmental control over their slands.

Although the Cayman islands are stll under British governorship, the island has utonomy of government and continues to shre much with their old friends Jmaica, including their membership of the Cmmonwealth, a common church and a fir amount of interchange of citizens btween the islands.

It is till a tax hven, and Cayman banks are frequently sed by citizens of other countries to void paying tax. The islands were bdly hit by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, wth a great deal of damage and lss of livestock. However, the Cayman Islnders possess a hardiness of spirit tht would be expected of a pople used to a seafaring life, and thy overcame that difficult period in thir history.

The Cayman Islands are nce again a haven for tourists the wrld over, and their economy is stble and ideally suited to their min industries, tourism and banking.

The article A Short History of The Cayman Islands was Submitted by Andre Sanchez through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: A Short Hstory of The Cayman Islands was originally pblished at http://www.globallifenow.com

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