105-669: The Eastern Time Zone ( ET ) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States , parts of eastern Canada , and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico . On the second Sunday in March, at 2:00 a.m. EST, clocks are advanced to 3:00 a.m. EDT, creating a 23 hour day. On the first Sunday in November, at 2:00 a.m. EDT, clocks are moved back to 1:00 a.m. EST, which results in
210-558: A tropical wet and dry climate , with a wet season from May to October, and a dry season that runs from November to April. Seasonally, there is little temperature change. A major natural hazard is the tropical cyclones that form during the Atlantic hurricane season from June to November. On 11 and 12 September 2004, Hurricane Ivan struck the Cayman Islands. The storm resulted in two deaths and caused significant damage to
315-678: A 25 hour day. The boundaries of the Eastern Time Zone have moved westward since the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) took over time-zone management from railroads in 1938. The easternmost and northernmost counties in Kentucky were added to the zone in the 1940s, and in 1961 most of the state went Eastern. In 2000, Wayne County , on the Tennessee border, switched from Central to Eastern Time. Within
420-564: A C library based on the BSD C library, or the System V Release 4 C library, can make use of this database. Windows -based computer systems prior to Windows 95 and Windows NT used local time, but Windows 95 and later, and Windows NT, base system time on UTC. They allow a program to fetch the system time as UTC, represented as a year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and millisecond; Windows 95 and later, and Windows NT 3.5 and later, also allow
525-483: A bank and several hotels, as well as the introduction of a number of scheduled flights and cruise stop-overs. Politically, the Cayman Islands were an internally self-governing territory of Jamaica from 1958 to 1962, but they reverted to direct British rule following the independence of Jamaica in 1962. In 1972, a large degree of internal autonomy was granted by a new constitution, with further revisions being made in 1994. The Cayman Islands government focused on boosting
630-444: A convenient time, usually at night, not exactly when they cross a certain longitude. Some ships simply remain on the time of the departing port during the whole trip. Ideal time zones, such as nautical time zones, are based on the mean solar time of a particular meridian in the middle of that zone with boundaries located 7.5 degrees east and west of the meridian. In practice, however, many time zone boundaries are drawn much farther to
735-488: A dynamic environment for marine life. While visitors are not allowed to take anything, there are endless sights. Each of the five decks of the ship offers squirrelfish, rare sponges, Goliath groupers, urchins, and more. Experienced and beginner divers are invited to swim around the Kittiwake . Pirates Week is an annual 11-day November festival started in 1977 by the then-Minister of Tourism Jim Bodden to boost tourism during
840-461: A major rebuilding program on Grand Cayman meant that its infrastructure was almost back to its pre-hurricane condition. Due to the tropical location of the islands, more hurricanes or tropical systems have affected the Cayman Islands than any other region in the Atlantic basin. On average, it has been brushed, or directly hit, every 2.23 years. The islands are in the western Caribbean Sea and are
945-466: A more mixed-race population. The country's demographics are changing rapidly. Immigration plays a large role, and the changing demographics in age have sounded alarm bells in the most recent census. In comparison to the 2010 census, the 2021 census has shown that 36% of Cayman's population growth has been in persons over age 65, while 8% growth was recorded in groups under age 15. This is due to extremely low birth rates among Caymanians, which almost forces
1050-458: A permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s. With settlement, after the first royal land grant by the governor of Jamaica in 1734, came the introduction of slaves . Many were purchased and brought to the islands from Africa. That has resulted in the majority of native Caymanians being of African or English descent. On 8 February 1794, the Caymanians rescued
1155-423: A single time zone even though the extent of their territory far exceeds the ideal 15° of longitude for one hour; other countries, such as Spain and Argentina , use standard hour-based offsets, but not necessarily those that would be determined by their geographical location. The consequences, in some areas, can affect the lives of local citizens, and in extreme cases contribute to larger political issues, such as in
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#17327839866611260-401: A system of hourly standard time zones for North American railroads, although he published nothing on the matter at that time and did not consult railroad officials until 1869. In 1870 he proposed four ideal time zones having north–south borders, the first centered on Washington, D.C. , but by 1872 the first was centered on meridian 75° west of Greenwich , with natural borders such as sections of
1365-488: A variety of settlers from various backgrounds eventually arrived, including pirates , shipwrecked sailors, and deserters from Oliver Cromwell 's army in Jamaica . Sir Francis Drake briefly visited the islands in 1586. The first recorded permanent inhabitant, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1661. He was the grandson of an original settler named Bodden, probably one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers involved in
1470-445: A worldwide system of time zones in 1876 - see Sandford Fleming § Inventor of worldwide standard time . The proposal divided the world into twenty-four time zones labeled A-Y (skipping J), each one covering 15 degrees of longitude. All clocks within each zone would be set to the same time as the others, but differed by one hour from those in the neighboring zones. He advocated his system at several international conferences, including
1575-476: Is George Town on Grand Cayman, which is the most populous of the three islands. The Cayman Islands is considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean zone as well as the Greater Antilles . The territory is a major offshore financial centre for international businesses and the rich mainly due to the state charging no tax on income earned or stored. With a GDP per capita of US$ 109,684
1680-632: Is Stingray City, Grand Cayman . Stingray City is a top attraction in Grand Cayman and originally started in the 1980s when divers started feeding squid to stingrays. The stingrays started to associate the sound of the boat motors with food, and thus visit this area year-round. There are two shipwrecks off the shores of Cayman Brac, including the MV Captain Keith Tibbetts ; Grand Cayman also has several shipwrecks off its shores, including one deliberate one. On 30 September 1994,
1785-414: Is indirect taxation : there is no income tax , capital gains tax , or corporation tax . An import duty of 5% to 22% (automobiles 29.5% to 100%) is levied against goods imported into the islands. Few goods are exempt; notable exemptions include books, cameras, and perfume. One of Grand Cayman 's main attractions is Seven Mile Beach , site of a number of the island's hotels and resorts. Named one of
1890-478: Is $ 6 KYD for standard positions, and $ 4.50 for workers in the service industry, where tips supplement income. This contributes to wealth disparity. A small segment of the population lives in condemned properties lacking power and running water. The government has established a Needs Assessment Unit to relieve poverty in the islands. Local charities, including Cayman's Acts of Random Kindness (ARK) also provide assistance. The government's primary source of income
1995-569: Is Caymanian. According to the Economics and Statistics Office of the Government of the Cayman Islands, the Cayman Islands had a population of 71,432 at the Census of 10 October 2021, but was estimated by them to have risen to 81,546 as of December 2022, making it the most populous British Overseas Territory. It was revealed in the 2021 census that 56% of the workforce is Non-Caymanian; this is
2100-544: Is about 2.5 degrees to the west. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich , founded in 1675, established Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the mean solar time at that location, as an aid to mariners to determine longitude at sea, providing a standard reference time while each location in England kept a different time. In the 19th century, as transportation and telecommunications improved, it became increasingly inconvenient for each location to observe its own solar time. In November 1840,
2205-478: Is added directly after the time without a separating space. "Z" is the zone designator for the zero UTC offset. "09:30 UTC" is therefore represented as "09:30Z" or "0930Z". Likewise, "14:45:15 UTC" is written as "14:45:15Z" or "144515Z". UTC time is also known as "Zulu" time, since "Zulu" is a phonetic alphabet code word for the letter "Z". Offsets from UTC are written in the format ±hh:mm, ±hhmm, or ±hh (either hours ahead or behind UTC). For example, if
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#17327839866612310-497: Is also a widely used variant of ACST ( Australian Central Standard Time , UTC+09:30). Conversion between time zones obeys the relationship in which each side of the equation is equivalent to UTC. The conversion equation can be rearranged to For example, the New York Stock Exchange opens at 09:30 ( EST , UTC offset= −05:00). In California ( PST , UTC offset= −08:00) and India ( IST , UTC offset= +05:30),
2415-522: Is believed that the first European to sight the islands was Christopher Columbus , on 10 May 1503, during his final voyage to the Americas. He named them "Las Tortugas", after the large number of turtles found there (which were soon hunted to near-extinction). However, in succeeding decades, the islands began to be referred to as "Caimanas" or "Caymanes", after the caimans present there. No immediate colonisation followed Columbus's sighting, but
2520-489: Is by far the largest, with an area of 197 km (76 sq mi). Grand Cayman's two "sister islands", Cayman Brac and Little Cayman , are about 120 km (75 mi) east north-east of Grand Cayman and have areas of 38 and 28.5 km (14.7 and 11.0 sq mi) respectively. The nearest land mass from Grand Cayman is the Canarreos Archipelago (about 240 km or 150 miles away), whereas
2625-464: Is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time. Each time zone is defined by a standard offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The offsets range from UTC−12:00 to UTC+14:00 , and are usually a whole number of hours, but a few zones are offset by an additional 30 or 45 minutes, such as in India and Nepal . Some areas in a time zone may use a different offset for part of
2730-519: Is due to their close proximity to Columbus, Georgia , which is on Eastern Time. In addition Smiths Station in Lee County along with Valley and Lanett in Chambers county honor Eastern Time. The Bahamas and Haiti officially observe both Eastern Standard Time during the winter months and Eastern Daylight Time during the summer months. Cuba generally follows the U.S. with Eastern Standard Time in
2835-613: Is in the North American Central Time Zone , is " −06:00 " for the winter (Central Standard Time) and " −05:00 " for the summer (Central Daylight Time). Time zones are often represented by alphabetic abbreviations such as "EST", "WST", and "CST", but these are not part of the international time and date standard ISO 8601 . Such designations can be ambiguous; for example, "CST" can mean (North American) Central Standard Time (UTC−06:00), Cuba Standard Time (UTC−05:00) and China Standard Time (UTC+08:00), and it
2940-467: Is to allow the more efficient use of afternoon sunlight. Some of these locations also use daylight saving time (DST), further increasing the difference to local solar time. As a result, in summer, solar noon in the Spanish city of Vigo occurs at 14:41 clock time. This westernmost area of continental Spain never experiences sunset before 18:00 clock time, even in winter, despite lying 42 degrees north of
3045-599: Is updated whenever time zone or daylight saving time rules change. Oracle provides an updater tool for this purpose. As an alternative to the information bundled with the Java Platform, programmers may choose to use the Joda-Time library. This library includes its own data based on the IANA time zone database. As of Java 8 there is a new date and time API that can help with converting times. Traditionally, there
3150-403: Is usually converted to local time when displayed to the user, and times specified by the user in local time are converted to Unix time. The conversion takes into account the time zone and daylight saving time rules; by default the time zone and daylight saving time rules are set up when the system is configured, though individual processes can specify time zones and daylight saving time rules using
3255-824: The Appalachian Mountains . Dowd's system was never accepted by North American railroads. Chief meteorologist at the United States Weather Bureau Cleveland Abbe divided the United States into four standard time zones for consistency among the weather stations. In 1879, he published a paper titled Report on Standard Time . In 1883, he convinced North American railroad companies to adopt his time-zone system. In 1884, Britain, which had already adopted its own standard time system for England, Scotland, and Wales, helped gather international consent for global time. In time,
Eastern Time Zone - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-696: The Cayman Islands dollar (KYD), which is pegged to the US dollar US$ 1.227 to 1 KYD. However, in many retail stores throughout the islands, the KYD is typically traded at US$ 1.25. Cayman Islands have a high cost of living, even when compared to UK and US. For example, a loaf of multigrain bread is $ 5.49 (KYD), while a similar loaf sells for $ 2.47 (KYD) in the US and $ 1.36 (KYD) in the UK. The minimum wage (as of February 2021)
3465-544: The IANA time zone database and includes the ability to get, set and convert between time zones. The DateTime objects and related functions have been compiled into the PHP core since 5.2. This includes the ability to get and set the default script time zone, and DateTime is aware of its own time zone internally. PHP.net provides extensive documentation on this. As noted there, the most current time zone database can be implemented via
3570-705: The International Meridian Conference , where it received some consideration. The system has not been directly adopted, but some maps divide the world into 24 time zones and assign letters to them, similarly to Fleming's system. By about 1900, almost all inhabited places on Earth had adopted a standard time zone, but only some of them used an hourly offset from GMT. Many applied the time at a local astronomical observatory to an entire country, without any reference to GMT. It took many decades before all time zones were based on some standard offset from GMT or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). By 1929,
3675-498: The PECL timezonedb. Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands ( / ˈ k eɪ m ən / ) is a self-governing British Overseas Territory , and the largest by population. The 264-square-kilometre (102-square-mile) territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman , Cayman Brac and Little Cayman , which are located south of Cuba and north-east of Honduras , between Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula . The capital city
3780-652: The Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park on the Grand Cayman. Among other notable fauna at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park is the critically threatened blue iguana , which is also known as the Grand Cayman iguana ( Cyclura lewisi ). The blue iguana is endemic to the Grand Cayman particularly because of rocky, sunlit, open areas near the island's shores that are advantageous for the laying of eggs. Nevertheless, habitat destruction and invasive mammalian predators remain
3885-576: The Standard Time Act of March 19, 1918. Italian mathematician Quirico Filopanti introduced the idea of a worldwide system of time zones in his book Miranda! , published in 1858. He proposed 24 hourly time zones, which he called "longitudinal days", the first centred on the meridian of Rome . He also proposed a universal time to be used in astronomy and telegraphy. However, his book attracted no attention until long after his death. Scottish -born Canadian Sir Sandford Fleming proposed
3990-513: The TZ environment variable . This allows users in multiple time zones, or in the same time zone but with different daylight saving time rules, to use the same computer, with their respective local times displayed correctly to each user. Time zone and daylight saving time rule information most commonly comes from the IANA time zone database . In fact, many systems, including anything using the GNU C Library ,
4095-622: The USS ; Kittiwake was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register. In November 2008 her ownership was transferred for an undisclosed amount to the government of the Cayman Islands, which had decided to sink the Kittiwake in June 2009 to form a new artificial reef off Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman. Following several delays, the ship was finally scuttled according to plan on 5 January 2011. The Kittiwake has become
4200-541: The American government, influenced in part by Abbe's 1879 paper, adopted the time-zone system. It was a version proposed by William F. Allen, the editor of the Traveler's Official Railway Guide . The borders of its time zones ran through railroad stations, often in major cities. For example, the border between its Eastern and Central time zones ran through Detroit , Buffalo , Pittsburgh , Atlanta , and Charleston . It
4305-718: The British Great Western Railway started using GMT kept by portable chronometers . This practice was soon followed by other railway companies in Great Britain and became known as railway time . Around August 23, 1852, time signals were first transmitted by telegraph from the Royal Observatory. By 1855, 98% of Great Britain's public clocks were using GMT, but it was not made the island's legal time until August 2, 1880. Some British clocks from this period have two minute hands, one for
Eastern Time Zone - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-546: The Cayman Islands has the highest standard of living in the Caribbean, and one of the highest in the world. Immigrants from over 140 countries and territories reside in the Cayman Islands. As of 2017 , no evidence has been found that the islands had been occupied before their discovery by Europeans. The Cayman Islands got their name from the word for crocodile ( caiman ) in the language of the Arawak-Taíno people. It
4515-537: The Cayman Islands is Christianity (67% in 2021, down from over 80% in 2010). Religions practised include United Church, Church of God, Anglican Church, Baptist Church, Catholic Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Pentecostal Church. Roman Catholic churches are St. Ignatius Church, George Town, Christ the Redeemer Church, West Bay and Stella Maris Church, Cayman Brac. Many citizens are deeply religious, regularly going to church, however, atheism has been on
4620-526: The Cayman Islands is English (90%). Islanders' accents retain elements passed down from English, Scottish, and Welsh settlers (among others) in a language variety known as Cayman Creole. Caymanians of Jamaican origin speak in their own vernacular (see Jamaican Creole and Jamaican English ). It is quite common to hear residents converse in Spanish as many citizens have relocated from Latin America to work and live on Grand Cayman. The Latin American nations with
4725-651: The Cayman Islands provides guided tours weekly on the Mastic Trail and other locations. Another attraction to visit on Grand Cayman is the Observation Tower, located in Camana Bay. The Observation Tower is 75 feet tall and provides 360-degree views across Seven Mile Beach, George Town, the North Sound, and beyond. It is free to the public and climbing the tower has become a popular thing to do in
4830-534: The Cayman Islands was officially declared and administered as a dependency of the Crown Colony of Jamaica. The islands continued to be governed as part of the Colony of Jamaica until 1962, when they became a separate Crown colony , after Jamaica became an independent Commonwealth realm . In the 1950s, tourism began to flourish, following the opening of Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA), along with
4935-599: The Cayman Islands. Points of interest include the East End Light (sometimes called Gorling Bluff Light), a lighthouse at the east end of Grand Cayman island. The lighthouse is the centrepiece of East End Lighthouse Park, managed by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands ; the first navigational aid on the site was the first lighthouse in the Cayman Islands. As of 31 December 2015 , 360 commercial vessels and 1,674 pleasure craft were registered in
5040-745: The DST period California observes UTC−07:00 and the United Kingdom observes UTC+01:00 . The apparent position of the Sun in the sky, and thus solar time , varies by location due to the spherical shape of the Earth. This variation corresponds to four minutes of time for every degree of longitude , so for example when it is solar noon in London , it is about 10 minutes before solar noon in Bristol , which
5145-824: The Eastern Time Zone. The boundary between time zones is set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations , with the boundary between the Eastern and Central Time Zones being specifically detailed in 49 C.F.R. part 71. Washington, D.C. , and 17 states are located entirely within the Eastern Time Zone. They are: Five states are divided between the Eastern Time Zone and the Central Time Zone . The following locations observe Eastern Time: Additionally, Phenix City, Alabama , and several nearby communities in Russell County, Alabama , unofficially observe Eastern Time. This
5250-657: The New York Stock Exchange opens at These calculations become more complicated near the time switch to or from daylight saving time, as the UTC offset for the area becomes a function of UTC time. The time differences may also result in different dates. For example, when it is 22:00 on Monday in Egypt (UTC+02:00), it is 01:00 on Tuesday in Pakistan (UTC+05:00). The table "Time of day by zone" gives an overview on
5355-595: The Terminal Server so that users see the correct time for their time zone in their desktop/application sessions. Terminal Services uses the server base time on the Terminal Server and the client time zone information to calculate the time in the session. While most application software will use the underlying operating system for time zone and daylight saving time rule information, the Java Platform , from version 1.3.1, has maintained its own database of time zone and daylight saving time rule information. This database
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#17327839866615460-486: The US version shows Eastern Time . US Eastern Time and Pacific Time are also used fairly commonly on many US-based English-language websites with global readership. The format is typically based in the W3C Note "datetime". Email systems and other messaging systems ( IRC chat , etc.) time-stamp messages using UTC, or else include the sender's time zone as part of the message, allowing the receiving program to display
5565-611: The Ultimate Beaches by Caribbean Travel and Life, Seven Mile Beach (due to erosion over the years, the number has decreased to 5.5 miles) is a public beach on the western shore of Grand Cayman Island. Historical sites in Grand Cayman, such as Pedro St. James Castle in Savannah, also attract visitors. All three islands offer scuba diving , and the Cayman Islands are home to several snorkelling locations where tourists can swim with stingrays . The most popular area to do this
5670-579: The United States, the Eastern Time Zone is the most populous region, with nearly half of the country's population. In March 2019, the Florida Legislature passed a bill requesting authorization from Congress for year-round daylight saving time, which would effectively put Florida on Atlantic Standard Time year-round (except for west of the Apalachicola River , which would be on Eastern Standard Time year-round). A similar bill
5775-417: The advantage for business and tourism of being in the same time zone as the eastern United States as an important factor in the decision. Time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal , commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude , because it
5880-464: The article on daylight saving time for more details on this aspect.) Web servers presenting web pages primarily for an audience in a single time zone or a limited range of time zones typically show times as a local time, perhaps with UTC time in brackets. More internationally oriented websites may show times in UTC only or using an arbitrary time zone. For example, the international English-language version of CNN includes GMT and Hong Kong Time, whereas
5985-469: The begin and end dates of daylight saving time are changed, calendar entries should stay the same in local time, even though they may shift in UTC time. Unix-like systems, including Linux and macOS , keep system time in Unix time format, representing the number of seconds (excluding leap seconds ) that have elapsed since 00:00:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on Thursday, January 1, 1970. Unix time
6090-549: The calendar events are assumed to take place in the time zone the computer or smartphone was on when creating the event. The event can be shown at the wrong time. For example, if a New Yorker plans to meet someone in Los Angeles at 9 am, and makes a calendar entry at 9 am (which the computer assumes is New York time), the calendar entry will be at 6 am if taking the computer's time zone. Calendaring software must also deal with daylight saving time (DST). If, for political reasons,
6195-469: The capture of Jamaica from Spain in 1655. England took formal control of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, as a result of the Treaty of Madrid of 1670 . That same year saw an attack on a turtle fishing settlement on Little Cayman by the Spanish under Portuguese privateer Manuel Ribeiro Pardal . Following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement in what had by then become a haven for pirates,
6300-464: The country's infrastructure and services cannot cope with the surging population. It is believed that given current trends, the population will reach 100,000 before 2030. According to the Economics and Statistics Office, the final result of the 20 October 2021 Census was 71,432; however, according to a late 2022 population report by the same body, the estimated population at the end of 2022 was 81,546, broken down as follows: The predominant religion on
6405-469: The country's tourism slow season. Other Grand Cayman tourist attractions include the ironshore landscape of Hell ; the 23-acre (93,000 m ) marine theme park " Cayman Turtle Centre : Island Wildlife Encounter", previously known as "Boatswain's Beach"; the production of gourmet sea salt ; and the Mastic Trail , a hiking trail through the forests in the centre of the island. The National Trust for
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#17327839866616510-560: The crews of a group of ten merchant ships , including HMS Convert , an incident that has since become known as the Wreck of the Ten Sail . The ships had struck a reef and run aground during rough seas. Legend has it that King George III rewarded the islanders for their generosity with a promise never to introduce taxes, because one of the ships carried a member of the King's family. Despite
6615-598: The discovery of the islands by Europeans. Marine life around the island of the Grand Cayman includes tarpon , silversides ( Atheriniformes ), French angelfish ( Pomacanthus paru ), and giant barrel sponges . A number of cetaceans are found in offshore waters. These species include the goose-beaked whale ( Ziphius cavirostris ), Blainville's beaked whale ( Mesoplodon densirostris ) and sperm whale ( Physeter macrocephalus ). Cayman avian fauna includes two endemic subspecies of Amazona parrots: Amazona leucocephala hesterna or Cuban amazon , presently restricted to
6720-469: The equator. Near the summer solstice , Vigo has sunset times after 22:00, similar to those of Stockholm , which is in the same time zone and 17 degrees farther north. Stockholm has much earlier sunrises, though. In the United States, the reasons were more historical and business-related. In Midwestern states, like Indiana and Michigan , those living in Indianapolis and Detroit wanted to be on
6825-403: The first marine protected areas were designated in the Cayman Islands, making them the first islands in the Caribbean to protect their fragile marine life. The constitution was further modified in 2001 and 2009, codifying various aspects of human rights legislation. On 11 September 2004, the island of Grand Cayman, which lies largely unprotected at sea level, was battered by Hurricane Ivan ,
6930-414: The first time in the territory's history that the number of working immigrants has overtaken the number of working Caymanians. Most Caymanians are of mixed African and European ancestry. Slavery occurred but was not as common compared to other Caribbean islands, and once it was abolished, black and white communities seemed to integrate more compliantly than other Caribbean nations and territories resulting in
7035-454: The government to seek workers from overseas to sustain the country's economy. This has raised concerns among many young Caymanians, who worry about the workforce becoming increasingly competitive with the influx of workers, as well as rent and property prices going up. Because the population has skyrocketed over the last decade, former government officials have stressed that the islands need more careful and managed growth. Many have worried that
7140-470: The greatest representation are Honduras, Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. Spanish speakers comprise approximately between 10 and 12% of the population and are predominantly of the Caribbean dialect. Tagalog is spoken by about 8% of inhabitants, most of whom are Filipino residents on work permits. According to Forbes , the Cayman Islands has the 7th strongest currency in
7245-449: The greatest terrestrial time zone difference on Earth, with a 3.5 hour difference between Afghanistan's UTC+4:30 and China's UTC+08:00 . Many countries, and sometimes just certain regions of countries, adopt daylight saving time (DST), also known as summer time, during part of the year. This typically involves advancing clocks by an hour near the start of spring and adjusting back in autumn ("spring forward", "fall back"). Modern DST
7350-525: The highest point on the islands. The terrain is mostly a low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs . The portions of prehistoric coral reef that line the coastline and protrude from the water are referred to as ironshore . In Cayman Islands forest cover is around 53% of the total land area, equivalent to 12,720 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 13,130 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 12,720 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 0 hectares (ha). Of
7455-410: The infrastructure on the islands. The total economic impact of the storms was estimated to be $ 3.4 billion. While there are a large number of generational Caymanians, many Caymanians today have roots in almost every part of the world. Similarly to countries like the United States, the Cayman Islands is a melting pot with citizens of every background. 52.5% of the population is Non-Caymanian, while 47.5%
7560-570: The island of Cayman Brac , but formerly also on Little Cayman , and Amazona leucocephala caymanensis or Grand Cayman parrot , which is native to the Cayman Islands, forested areas of Cuba, and the Isla de la Juventud . Little Cayman and Cayman Brac are also home to red-footed and brown boobies. Although the barn owl ( Tyto alba ) occurs in all three of the islands they are not commonplace. The Cayman Islands also possess five endemic subspecies of butterflies. These butterfly breeds can be viewed at
7665-573: The legend, the story is not true. The first census taken in the islands, in 1802, showed the population on Grand Cayman to be 933, with 545 of those inhabitants being slaves. Slavery was abolished in the Cayman Islands in 1833, following the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act by the British Parliament . At the time of abolition, there were over 950 slaves of African ancestry, owned by 116 families. On 22 June 1863,
7770-519: The local time and one for GMT. On November 2, 1868, the British Colony of New Zealand officially adopted a standard time to be observed throughout the colony. It was based on longitude 172°30′ east of Greenwich , that is 11 hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT. This standard was known as New Zealand Mean Time . Timekeeping on North American railroads in the 19th century was complex. Each railroad used its own standard time, usually based on
7875-413: The local time of its headquarters or most important terminus, and the railroad's train schedules were published using its own time. Some junctions served by several railroads had a clock for each railroad, each showing a different time. Because of this a number of accidents occurred when trains from different companies using the same tracks mistimed their passings. Around 1863, Charles F. Dowd proposed
7980-554: The majority of countries had adopted hourly time zones, though some countries such as Iran , India , Myanmar and parts of Australia had time zones with a 30-minute offset. Nepal was the last country to adopt a standard offset, shifting slightly to UTC+05:45 in 1986. All nations currently use standard time zones for secular purposes, but not all of them apply the concept as originally conceived. Several countries and subdivisions use half-hour or quarter-hour deviations from standard time. Some countries, such as China and India , use
8085-653: The message's date and time of sending in the recipient's local time. Database records that include a time stamp typically use UTC, especially when the database is part of a system that spans multiple time zones. The use of local time for time-stamping records is not recommended for time zones that implement daylight saving time because once a year there is a one-hour period when local times are ambiguous. Calendar systems nowadays usually tie their time stamps to UTC, and show them differently on computers that are in different time zones. That works when having telephone or internet meetings. It works less well when travelling, because
8190-525: The naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity). For the year 2015, 0% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership , 12% private ownership and 88% with ownership listed as other or unknown. The mammalian species in the Cayman Islands include the introduced Central American agouti and eight species of bats . At least three now extinct native rodent species were present until
8295-596: The nearest from the easternmost island Cayman Brac is the Jardines de la Reina archipelago (about 160 km or 100 miles away) – both of which are part of Cuba. All three islands were formed by large coral heads covering submerged ice-age peaks of western extensions of the Cuban Sierra Maestra range and are mostly flat. One notable exception to this is The Bluff on Cayman Brac's eastern part, which rises to 43 m (141 ft) above sea level,
8400-416: The necessary support for working with all (or almost all) possible local times based on the various time zones. Internally, operating systems typically use UTC as their basic time-keeping standard , while providing services for converting local times to and from UTC, and also the ability to automatically change local time conversions at the start and end of daylight saving time in the various time zones. (See
8505-816: The peaks of an undersea mountain range called the Cayman Ridge (or Cayman Rise). This ridge flanks the Cayman Trough , 6,000 m (20,000 ft) deep which lies 6 km (3.7 mi) to the south. The islands lie in the northwest of the Caribbean Sea, east of Quintana Roo , Mexico and Yucatán State , Mexico, northeast of Costa Rica, north of Panama, south of Cuba and west of Jamaica. They are situated about 700 km (430 mi) south of Miami , 750 km (470 mi) east of Mexico, 366 km (227 mi) south of Cuba, and about 500 km (310 mi) northwest of Jamaica . Grand Cayman
8610-413: The population itself. The Cayman Islands have come under criticism for allegations of money laundering and other financial crimes, including a 2016 statement by then US president Barack Obama that described a particular building which was the registered address of over 12,000 corporations as a "tax scam". The Cayman Islands holds a relatively low unemployment rate of about 4.24% as of 2015, lower than
8715-455: The primary reasons that blue iguana hatchlings do not survive naturally. The Cuban crocodile ( Crocodylus rhombifer ) once inhabited the islands. And the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) is also believed to be slowly repopulating the islands from Cuba. The name "Cayman" is derived from a Carib word for the various crocodilians that inhabited the islands. The Cayman Islands has
8820-554: The rise throughout the islands since 2000, with 16.7% now identifying with no religion, according to the 2021 census. Ports are closed on Sundays and Christian holidays. There is also an active synagogue and Jewish community on the island as well as places of worship in George Town for Jehovah's Witnesses and followers of the Bahá'í faith. In 2020, there were an estimated 121 Muslims in the Cayman Islands. The official language of
8925-543: The same days and at the same times as it does in the United States. In Canada , the following provinces and territories are part of the Eastern Time Zone: Within Canada, as with the United States, the Eastern Time Zone is the most populous time zone. Most of Canada observes daylight saving time synchronously with the United States, with the exception of Saskatchewan , Yukon , and several other very localized areas. None of those areas are in
9030-493: The same meridian but north of the Arctic Circle, has two sunsets on the same day in early August, one shortly after midnight at the start of the day, and the other shortly before midnight at the end of the day. China extends as far west as 73°E , but all parts of it use UTC+08:00 ( 120°E ), so solar "noon" can occur as late as 15:00 in western portions of China such as Xinjiang . The Afghanistan-China border marks
9135-419: The same time zone as New York to simplify communications and transactions. A more extreme example is Nome, Alaska , which is at 165°24′W longitude – just west of center of the idealized Samoa Time Zone ( 165°W ). Nevertheless, Nome observes Alaska Time ( 135°W ) with DST so it is slightly more than two hours ahead of the sun in winter and over three in summer. Kotzebue, Alaska , also near
9240-465: The system time to be fetched as a count of 100 ns units since 1601-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. The system registry contains time zone information that includes the offset from UTC and rules that indicate the start and end dates for daylight saving in each zone. Interaction with the user normally uses local time, and application software is able to calculate the time in various zones. Terminal Servers allow remote computers to redirect their time zone settings to
9345-404: The territory's economy via tourism and the attraction of off-shore finance, both of which mushroomed from the 1970s onwards. Historically, the Cayman Islands has been a tax-exempt destination, and the government has always relied on indirect and not direct taxes. The territory has never levied income tax , capital gains tax , or any wealth tax , making it a popular tax haven . In April 1986,
9450-529: The time being described is one hour ahead of UTC (such as the time in Germany during the winter), the zone designator would be " +01:00 ", "+0100", or simply "+01". This numeric representation of time zones is appended to local times in the same way that alphabetic time zone abbreviations (or "Z", as above) are appended. The offset from UTC changes with daylight saving time , e.g. a time offset in Chicago , which
9555-548: The time relations between different zones. Since the 1920s, a nautical standard time system has been in operation for ships on the high seas . As an ideal form of the terrestrial time zone system, nautical time zones consist of gores of 15° offset from GMT by a whole number of hours. A nautical date line follows the 180th meridian, bisecting one 15° gore into two 7.5° gores that differ from GMT by ±12 hours. However, in practice each ship may choose what time to observe at each location. Ships may decide to adjust their clocks at
9660-518: The value of 4.7% that was recorded in 2014. With an average income of US$ 109,684 Caymanians have the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. According to the CIA World Factbook , the Cayman Islands' real GDP per capita is the tenth highest in the world, but the CIA's data for Cayman dates to 2018 and is likely to be lower than present-day values. The territory prints its own currency,
9765-471: The war. Similarly, prior to World War II, the Netherlands observed "Amsterdam Time", which was twenty minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. They were obliged to follow German time during the war, and kept it thereafter. In the mid-1970s the Netherlands, as other European states, began observing daylight saving (summer) time. One reason to draw time zone boundaries far to the west of their ideal meridians
9870-576: The west, and some countries are located entirely outside their ideal time zones. For example, even though the Prime Meridian (0°) passes through Spain and France , they use the mean solar time of 15 degrees east ( Central European Time ) rather than 0 degrees (Greenwich Mean Time). France previously used GMT, but was switched to CET (Central European Time) during the German occupation of the country during World War II and did not switch back after
9975-562: The western reaches of China. In Russia, which has 11 time zones , two time zones were removed in 2010 and reinstated in 2014. ISO 8601 is a standard established by the International Organization for Standardization defining methods of representing dates and times in textual form, including specifications for representing time zones. If a time is in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), a "Z"
10080-508: The winter, and Eastern Daylight Time in the summer, but the exact day of change varies year to year. The Cayman Islands and Jamaica use Eastern Standard Time year-round. The Turks and Caicos Islands followed Eastern Time with daylight saving until 2015, when the territory switched to the Atlantic Time Zone . The Turks and Caicos Islands switched back to the pre-2015 schedule in March 2018. A 2017 consultation paper highlighted
10185-453: The world (the CI dollar or KYD), with US$ 1.00 equivalent to CI$ 0.80. The economy of the Cayman Islands is dominated by financial services and tourism, together accounting for 50–60% of Gross Domestic Product . The nation's zero tax rate on income and storage of funds has led to it being used as a tax haven for corporations; there are 100,000 companies registered in the Cayman Islands, more than
10290-562: The worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years. It created an 8-foot (2.4 m) storm surge which flooded many areas of Grand Cayman. An estimated 83% of the dwellings on the island were damaged, with 4% requiring complete reconstruction. A reported 70% of all dwellings suffered severe damage from flooding or wind. Another 26% sustained minor damage from partial roof removal, low levels of flooding, or impact with floating or wind-driven hurricane debris. Power, water, and communications were disrupted for months in some areas. Within two years,
10395-441: The year, typically one hour ahead during spring and summer , a practice known as daylight saving time (DST). In the table below, the locations that use daylight saving time (DST) are listed in their UTC offset when DST is not in effect. When DST is in effect, approximately during spring and summer, their UTC offset is increased by one hour (except for Lord Howe Island , where it is increased by 30 minutes). For example, during
10500-463: Was Detroit (located about halfway between the meridians of Eastern and Central time), which kept local time until 1900, then tried Central Standard Time, local mean time , and Eastern Standard Time (EST) before a May 1915 ordinance settled on EST and was ratified by popular vote in August 1916. The confusion of times came to an end when standard time zones were formally adopted by the U.S. Congress in
10605-583: Was amended to make the first Sunday in April the beginning of daylight saving time beginning in 1987. Later, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended daylight saving time in the United States, beginning in 2007. Since then, local times change at 2:00 a.m. EST to 3:00 a.m. EDT on the second Sunday in March, and return from 2:00 a.m. EDT to 1:00 a.m. EST on the first Sunday in November. In Canada, daylight saving time begins and ends on
10710-415: Was first proposed in 1907 and was in widespread use in 1916 as a wartime measure aimed at conserving coal . Despite controversy , many countries have used it off and on since then; details vary by location and change occasionally. Countries around the equator usually do not observe daylight saving time, since the seasonal difference in sunlight there is minimal. Many computer operating systems include
10815-403: Was inaugurated on Sunday, November 18, 1883, also called "The Day of Two Noons", when each railroad station clock was reset as standard-time noon was reached within each time zone. The North American zones were named Intercolonial, Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. Within a year 85% of all cities with populations over 10,000 (about 200 cities) were using standard time. A notable exception
10920-589: Was proposed for the Canadian province of Ontario by its legislative assembly in late 2020, which would have a similar effect on the province if passed. For those in the United States, daylight saving time for the Eastern Time Zone was introduced by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which specified that daylight saving time would run from the last Sunday of April until the last Sunday in October. The act
11025-669: Was very little in the way of time zone support for JavaScript . Essentially the programmer had to extract the UTC offset by instantiating a time object, getting a GMT time from it, and differencing the two. This does not provide a solution for more complex daylight saving variations, such as divergent DST directions between northern and southern hemispheres. ECMA-402, the standard on Internationalization API for JavaScript, provides ways of formatting Time Zones. However, due to size constraint, some implementations or distributions do not include it. The DateTime object in Perl supports all entries in
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