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Jamaica
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For other uses, see Jamaica (disambiguation).
Jamaica
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Out of many, one people"
Anthem: "Jamaica, Land We Love"
Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"
Capital
(and largest city) Kingston
17°59′N, 76°48′W
Official languages English
Recognised regional languages Jamaican Patois
Ethnic groups 90.0% Black,
1.5% East Indian,
0.4% White,
7.3% Multiracial
Demonym Jamaican
Government Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy
- Monarch Elizabeth II
- Governor-General Kenneth Hall
- Prime Minister Bruce Golding
Independence
- from the United Kingdom 6 August 1962
Area
- Total 10,991 km² (166th)
4,244 ) sq mi
- Water (%) 1.5
Population
- July 2005 estimate 2,651,000 (138th)
- Density 252/km² (49th)
653/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
- Total $11.69 billion (131st)
- Per capita $4,300 (114th)
GDP (nominal) 2005 estimate
- Total $9.730 billion (101st)
- Per capita $3,658 (79th)
Gini (2000) 37.9 (medium)
HDI (2005) ▲ 0.736 (medium) (101st)
Currency Jamaican dollar (JMD)
Time zone (UTC-5)
Internet TLD .jm
Calling code +1 876
Jamaica (pronounced /ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə/) is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 234 kilometres (146 mi) in length and as much as 80 kilometres (50 mi) in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 190 kilometres (120 mi) west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated. Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the "Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs".[1] Formerly a Spanish possession known as Santiago, it later became the British West Indies Crown colony of Jamaica. It is the third most populous anglophone country in the Americas, after the United States and Canada.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Government and politics
2.1 Parishes
3 Geography
4 Demographics
4.1 Ethnic origins
4.2 Language
4.3 Emigration
5 Religion
6 Culture
6.1 National symbols
7 Sport
8 Education
9 Economy
9.1 International trade
10 Infrastructure
10.1 Transport
10.2 Energy
10.3 Communication
11 Military
12 Crime
13 See also
14 References
15 Further reading
16 External links
History
Main article: History of Jamaica
The original Arawak and possibly Taino people from South America first settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. Although some claim they became virtually extinct following contact with Europeans, others claim that some survived for a while. There is little trace remainingof the Arawak culture. The Jamaican National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any evidence of the Arawaks.[2]
Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for Spain after first landing there in 1494. Columbus' probable landing point was Dry Harbour, now called Discovery Bay. St. Ann's Bay was the "Saint Gloria" of Columbus who first sighted Jamaica at this point. One mile west of St. Ann's Bay is the site of the first settlement on the island -Sevilla. Sevilla was abandoned in 1554 because of numerous pirate raids.
The capital was moved to Spanish Town, now located in the parish of St. Catherine, as early as 1534. It was then called St. Jago de la Vega or Santiago de la Vega. Spanish Town has the oldest Cathedral in the British colonies. The Spanish were forcibly evicted by the English at Ocho Rios in St. Ann. However, it was not until 1655 that at Tower Isle [the site for the last Spanish fort in Jamaica] that the English took over Jamaica. The Spaniard Don Arnoldo de Yassi kept Tower Hill [the site for Tower Isle] from the English for five years, before escaping to Cuba. The site of his departure was fittingly "Runaway Bay" [also in St. Ann]. The name of Montego Bay, the capital of the parish of St. James, was derived from the Spanish name manteca bahía (or Bay of Lard) for the large quantity of boar used for the lard-making industry.[3]
The English Admiral William Penn (father of William Penn of Pennsylvania) and General Robert Venables seized the island in 1655. During its first 200 years of English/British rule, Jamaica became one of the world's leading sugar-exporting nations. It produced more than 77,000 tons of sugar annually between 1820 and 1824, achieved through the extensive use of imported enslaved African labourers. After the abolition of the slave trade, the British imported Indian and Chinese workers as indentured servants in the early 1800s to supplement the labour pool. Descendants of such Asian indentured servants continue to reside in Jamaica today.
By the beginning of the 19th century, the United Kingdom's heavy reliance on slavery resulted in blacks (Africans) outnumbering whites (Europeans) by a ratio of almost 20 to 1. Europeans feared possible revolts. Following a series of rebellions and changing attitudes in Great Britain, the nation formally abolished slavery in 1834, with full emancipation from chattel slavery declared in 1838.
During the 1800s, the British established a number of botanical gardens. These included the Castleton Garden in 1862, set up to replace the Bath Garden which was subject to flooding. Created in the 1779s, Bath Garden was the site for planting breadfruit brought to Jamaica from the Pacific by Captain William Bligh. Other gardens were the the Cinchona Plantation in 1868 and the Hope Garden founded in 1874.
In 1872 Kingston became the capital of the island.
In 1945, Sir Horace Hector Hearne became Chief Justice and Keeper of the Records in Jamaica. He headed the Supreme Court, Kingston between 1945 and 1950/1951. He then moved to Kenya where he was appointed Chief Justice.
Jamaica slowly gained increasing independence from the United Kingdom. In 1958, it became a province in the Federation of the West Indies, a federation among the British West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence by leaving the federation in 1962.
Map of JamaicaStrong economic growth averaging about six percent per annum marked its first ten years of independence under conservative governments led successively by Prime Ministers Alexander Bustamante, Donald Sangster and Hugh Shearer. The growth was fueled by strong investments in bauxite/alumina, tourism, manufacturing industry and to a lesser extent the agricultural sector. However, the initial optimism of the first decade was accompanied by a growing sense of inequality and a sense that the benefits of growth were not being experienced by the urban poor. This, combined with the effects of a slow-down in the global economy in 1970, prompted the electorate to change the government, electing the PNP (People's National Party) in 1972. However, despite efforts to create more socially equitable policies in education and health, Jamaica continued to lag economically, with its gross national product having fallen in 1980 to some twenty-five percent below the 1972 level. Rising foreign and local debt accompanied by large fiscal deficits resulted in the invitation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) financing from the USA and others, and the imposition of IMF austerity measures (with a greater than 25% interest rate per year).
Economic deterioration continued into the mid 1980s, exacerbated by the closure of Alpart and Alcoa, the first and third largest alumina producers, respectively. There was significant reduction in production by Alcan, the second largest. In addition, Reynolds Jamaica Mines, Ltd. left the Jamaican industry, and tourism decreased. During the 1980s, Jamaica was still a prosperous country though increases in crime and petty theft began to weigh on the island.
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