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capital:
george town administrative divisions: 8 districts; creek. eastern. midland. south town. spot bay. stake bay. west end. western independence: none (overseas territory of the uk) national holiday: constitution day. first monday in july constitution: 1959; revised 1972 and 1992 legal system: british common law and local statutes suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: queen elizabeth ii (since 6 february 1952); governor stuart jack (since 23 november 2005) head of government: leader of government business kurt tibbetts (since 18 may 2005) cabinet: executive council (three members appointed by the governor. four members elected by the legislative assembly) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections. the leader of the majority party or coalition is appointed by the governor leader of government business legislative branch: unicameral legislative assembly (18 seats. three appointed members from the executive council and 15 elected by popular vote; members serve four-year terms) elections: last held 11 may 2005 (next to be held 2009) election results: percent of vote - na%; seats - ppm 9. udp 5. independent 1 judicial branch: summary court; grand court; cayman islands court of appeal political parties and leaders: no national teams (loose groupings of political organizations) were formed for the 2000 elections; united democratic party or udp [leader mckeeva bush]; people's progressive movement or ppm [leader kurt tibbetts] political pressure groups and leaders: na international organization participation: caricom (associate). cdb. interpol (subbureau). ioc. unesco (associate). upu diplomatic representation in the us: none (overseas territory of the uk) diplomatic representation from the us: none (overseas territory of the uk) flag description: blue. with the flag of the uk in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the caymanian coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms includes a pineapple and turtle above a shield with three stars (representing the three islands) and a scroll at the bottom bearing the motto he hath founded it upon the seas economy - overview: with no direct taxation. the islands are a thriving offshore financial center. more than 40.000 companies were registered in the cayman islands as of 1998. including almost 600 banks and trust companies; banking assets exceed $500 billion. a stock exchange was opened in 1997. tourism is also a mainstay. accounting for about 70% of gdp and 75% of foreign currency earnings. the tourist industry is aimed at the luxury market and caters mainly to visitors from north america. total tourist arrivals exceeded 1.2 million in 1997. with 600.000 from the us. about 90% of the islands' food and consumer goods must be imported. the caymanians enjoy one of the highest outputs per capita and one of the highest standards of living in the world. gdp (purchasing power parity): $1.391 billion (2004 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): na gdp - real growth rate: 1.7% (2002 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $32.300 (2004 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 1.4% industry: 3.2% services: 95.4% (1994 est.) labor force: 19.820 (1995) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 1.4%. industry 12.6%. services 86% (1995) unemployment rate: 4.1% (1997) population below poverty line: na household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: na highest 10%: na inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.8% (2002) budget: revenues: $265.2 million expenditures: $248.9 million. including capital expenditures of na (1997) agriculture - products: vegetables. fruit; livestock. turtle farming 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% (2001) electricity - consumption: 411 million kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 0 kwh (2003) oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003) oil - consumption: 2.450 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) exports: $1.2 million (1999) exports - partners: mostly us (2004) imports: $457.4 million (1999) imports - partners: us. trinidad and tobago. uk. netherlands antilles. japan (2004) debt - external: $70 million (1996) economic aid - recipient: na currency (code): caymanian dollar (kyd) currency code: kyd exchange rates: caymanian dollars per us dollar - 0.82 (29 october 2001). 0.83 (3 november 1995). 0.85 (22 november 1993) fiscal year: 1 april - 31 march telephones - main lines in use: 38.000 (2002) telephones - mobile cellular: 17.000 (2002) telephone system: general assessment: reasonably good system domestic: liberalization of telecom market in 2003 reflected in falling prices and improving services international: country code - 1-345; 2 submarine fiber optic cables (maya-1. cayman-jamaica); satellite earth station - 1 intelsat (atlantic ocean) radio broadcast stations: am 1. fm 4. shortwave 0 (2004) radios: 36.000 (1997) television broadcast stations: 4 with cable system (2004) televisions: 7.000 (1997) internet country code: .ky internet service providers (isps): 16 (2000) internet users: 9.909 (2003) airports: 3 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 2 1.524 to 2.437 m: 2 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1 914 to 1.523 m: 1 (2005 est.) roadways: total: 785 km paved: 785 km (2002) merchant marine: total: 129 ships (1.000 grt or over) 2.827.837 grt/4.555.974 dwt by type: bulk carrier 29. cargo 12. chemical tanker 39. liquefied gas 1. petroleum tanker 17. refrigerated cargo 28. roll on/roll off 3 foreign-owned: 126 (denmark 1. germany 14. greece 20. italy 12. norway 1. philippines 1. sweden 13. switzerland 11. united kingdom 9. united states 44) (2005) ports and terminals: cayman brac. george town military branches: no regular military forces; royal cayman islands police force military - note: defense is the responsibility of the uk disputes - international: none illicit drugs: offshore financial center; vulnerable to drug transshipment to the us and europe
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