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Jamaica Falmouth
Montego Bay
Ocho Rios
Jamaica
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Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater
Antilles, 240 kilometers in length and as
much as 80 kilometers in width situated in the
Caribbean Sea. It is 630 kilometers from the
Central American mainland, 150 kilometers from
Cuba on the north, and 180 kilometers from the
island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the
Dominican Republic are situated, on the east.
Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno
inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning
either the "land of springs," or the "Land of
wood and water." Formerly a Spanish possession
known as Santiago, then the British West Indies
Crown colony of Jamaica, the country's
population is composed mainly of the descendants
of former African slaves. It is the third most
populous Anglophone country in the Americas,
after the United States and Canada.
History
Main article: History of Jamaica
The original Arawak or Taino people from South
America, first settled on the island between
1000 and 400 BC. They became virtually extinct
following contact with Europeans.
Jamaica was claimed for Spain after Christopher
Columbus first landed there in 1494. Columbus
used it as his family's private estate. The
English Admiral William Penn (father of William
Penn of Pennsylvania) and General Venables
seized the island in 1655. During its first 200
years of British rule, Jamaica became the
world's largest sugar exporting nation and
produced over 77,000 tons of sugar annually
between 1820 - 1824, which was achieved through
the massive use of imported African slave labor.
By the beginning of the 19th century, Britain's
heavy reliance on slavery resulted in blacks
outnumbering whites by a ratio of almost 20 to
one, leading to constant threat of revolt.
Following a series of rebellions, slavery was
formally abolished in 1834, with full
emancipation from chattel slavery declared in
1838.
Jamaica slowly gained increasing independence
from the United Kingdom, and in 1958 Jamaica
became a province in the Federation of the West
Indies, a federation between all the British
West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence
by leaving the federation in 1962.
However, the initial optimism following Jamaican
independence for the next decade or so vanished
as Jamaica became a victim of the international
economic system. Rising foreign debt under the
government of Michael Manley, who was determined
to alleviate Jamaica's severe economic
inequality, led to the imposition of IMF
austerity measures. Deteriorating economic
conditions led to a desperately fraught
re-election campaign between Manley's People's
National Party and the main opposition, the
Jamaican Labour Party. Both political parties
became linked with rival gangs in Kingston which
were duly armed. This policy, along with the
increasing emergence of Jamaica as a smuggling
point for cocaine during the 1980s, led to
recurrent violence and only served to increase
the impoverishment of a large section of the
Jamaican populace. The ultimate result of this
cycle of violence, drugs and poverty has been
the brutal gun warfare seen on Kingston's
streets from the mid-1990s onwards. The Jamaican
police force has also been accused of complicity
in this murderous side of the island. It must be
noted however that the rural sections of the
island, especially in and around the resort
towns of Negril, Montego Bay and Ocho Rios,
remain quite safe.
Former capitals of Jamaica include Port Royal,
where the pirate Governor Morgan held sway, and
which was destroyed by a storm and earthquake,
and Spanish Town, in St. Catherine parish, the
site of the old Spanish colonial capital and the
English capital during the 18th and 19th
century.
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Background:
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Jamaica gained full independence within the British
Commonwealth in 1962. Deteriorating economic
conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent
violence and a dropoff in tourism. Elections in 1980
saw the democratic socialists voted out of office.
Subsequent governments have been open market
oriented. Political violence marred elections during
the 1990s. |
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Map references:
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Central America and the Caribbean |
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Area:
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total: 10,991 sq km
land: 10,831 sq km
water: 160 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than Connecticut |
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Climate:
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tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior |
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Terrain:
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mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal
plain |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m
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Nationality:
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noun: Jamaican(s)
adjective: Jamaican |
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Ethnic groups:
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black
90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%,
mixed 7.3%, other 0.1% |
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Religions:
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Protestant 61.3% (Church of God 21.2%, Baptist 8.8%,
Anglican 5.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%, Pentecostal
7.6%, Methodist 2.7%, United Church 2.7%, Brethren
1.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.6%, Moravian 1.1%), Roman
Catholic 4%, other, including some spiritual cults
34.7% |
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Languages:
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English, patois English |
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Currency:
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Jamaican dollar (JMD)
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Currency code:
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JMD
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Exchange rates:
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Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 47.277 (December
2001), 45.996 (2001), 42.701 (2000), 39.044 (1999),
36.550 (1998), 35.404 (1997) |
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Internet country code:
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.jm
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