The White River Fishing Village is in Ocho Rios, St. Ann on the border with St.Mary parish.
Photo: CaptJayRuffins, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Street in Montigo Bay Jamaica Photo Don Ramey Logan
Photo: Don Ramey Logan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Rastafarian man in a public market at a port of Jamaica's Black River
Photo: Mattstone911, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Did you know?
The Indigenous Ciboney people of the island gradually came under Spanish rule after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Many of the Indigenous people either were killed or died of diseases, after which the Spanish brought large numbers of Africans to Jamaica as slaves. The island belonged to Spain under the name Santiago until 1655, when England, part of what would become the Kingdom of Great Britain, conquered it and named it Jamaica. It became an important part of the colonial British West Indies.
Wikipedia: Jamaica – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Harbour Street, Kingston. (Jamaica)
Photo: James Hakewill, Public domain · source
Photo: Stufffreak, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Windalco, Alumina plant in Kirkvine, Manchester
Photo: Nigel20, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Etymology
The Indigenous peoples, the Ciboney, called the island Xaymaca in their language, meaning the "Land of Wood and Water" or the "Land of Springs". Yamaye has been suggested as a possible early Taíno name for the island as recorded by Christopher Columbus.
Jamaicans often refer to their home island as "yaad" – the Jamaican Patois word for yard, meaning home. Other colloquial names such as "Jamrock", "Jamdown" ("Jamdung" in Jamaican Patois), or briefly "Ja" are also widely used.
Wikipedia: Jamaica – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Statue of of Cristobal Columbus St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica offering a parchment
Photo: CaptJayRuffins, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
tourists bamboo rafting on the White River, Ocho Rios, Ja
Photo: CaptJayRuffins, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Cows foraging in a field, St. Ann Parish, Jamaica
Photo: CaptJayRuffins, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
History
There is no archaeological evidence of any human presence on Jamaica until about 500 CE. A group known as the "Redware people" after their pottery arrived circa 600 CE, followed by the Taíno circa 800 CE, who most likely came from South America. They practised an agrarian and fishing economy, and at their height are thought to have numbered some 60,000 people, grouped into around 200 villages headed by caciques (chiefs). The south coast of Jamaica was the most populated, especially around the area now known as Old Harbour.
Wikipedia: Jamaica – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
KFC Draxhall mini-mall
Photo: CaptJayRuffins, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Geography
Jamaica is the third-largest island in the Caribbean. It lies between latitudes 17° and 19°N, and longitudes 76° and 79°W. Mountains dominate the interior: the Don Figuerero, Santa Cruz, and May Day mountains in the west, the Dry Harbour Mountains in the centre, and the John Crow Mountains and Blue Mountains in the east, the latter containing Blue Mountain Peak, Jamaica's tallest mountain at 2,256 m. They are surrounded by a narrow coastal plain.
Wikipedia: Jamaica – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Government and politics
Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The head of state is the King of Jamaica (currently King Charles III), represented locally by the Governor-General of Jamaica. The governor-general is nominated by the prime minister of Jamaica and the entire Cabinet and then formally appointed by the monarch. All the members of the Cabinet are appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister.
The monarch and the governor-general serve largely ceremonial roles, apart from their reserve powers for use in certain constitutional crisis situations.
Wikipedia: Jamaica – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Economy
Jamaica is a mixed economy with both state enterprises and private sector businesses. Major sectors of the Jamaican economy include agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism, petroleum refining, financial and insurance services. Tourism and mining are the leading earners of foreign exchange. Half the Jamaican economy relies on services, with half of its income coming from services such as tourism. An estimated 4.3 million foreign tourists visit Jamaica every year.
Wikipedia: Jamaica – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Demographics
Breakdown of responses to the 2011 census by the University of the West Indies.
Jamaica's diverse ethnic roots are reflected in the national motto "Out of Many One People". Some dispute the appropriateness of the motto because Jamaicans are overwhelmingly of a single race. The Jamaican founding fathers were mostly White or brown men and unrepresentative of the views of the country's majority Black population.
Wikipedia: Jamaica – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Culture
Jamaican culture has a strong global presence. The musical genres reggae, ska, mento, rocksteady, dub, and, more recently, dancehall and ragga all originated in the island's vibrant, popular urban recording industry. These have themselves gone on to influence numerous other genres, such as punk rock (through reggae and ska), dub poetry, New Wave, two-tone, lovers rock, reggaeton, jungle, drum and bass, dubstep, grime and American rap music. Some rappers, such as The Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes, and Heavy D, are of Jamaican descent.
Wikipedia: Jamaica – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0