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    Jamaica

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    Jamaica

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    Jamaica lies in the Carribbean Sea and has coastal beach regions popular with tourists.
    PHOTOGRAPH BY RUTH PETERKIN, DREAMSTIME

    Jamaica
    Jamaica is a mountainous island in the Caribbean Sea about 600 miles (965
    kilometers) south of Miami, Florida.

    FAST FACTS

    OFFICIAL NAME: Jamaica

    FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary democracy

    CAPITAL: Kingston

    POPULATION: 2,812,090

    OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: English

    MONEY: Jamaican dollar

    AREA: 4,411 square miles (10,992 square kilometers)

    MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES: Blue Mountains, John Crow


    Mountains, Don Figuero Mountains, Cockpit Country

    MAJOR RIVERS: Black River, Rio Cobre, Rio Grande

    GEOGRAPHY

    Jamaica is a mountainous island in the Caribbean Sea


    about 600 miles (965 kilometers) south of Miami,
    Florida. It is part of the chain of Caribbean islands
    called the Greater Antilles, along with Cuba,
    Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. Jamaica was formed when
    the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates
    collided about 25 million years ago.

    Jamaica is the tip of a mountain rising from the sea


    floor. Nearly half of the island is more than 1,000 feet
    (330 meters) above sea level. There are lush rolling hills
    that are ideal for agriculture and coastal beach regions
    that are popular with tourists.

    Map created by National Geographic Maps

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    A man steers a raft down the Martha Brae River in Jamaica.


    PHOTOGRAPH BY SCOTT GRIESSEL , DREAMSTIME

    PEOPLE & CULTURE


    Most of the population lives in the city and one third
    of all Jamaicans live in the capital of Kingston. More
    than 90 percent of the population is of African
    descent, but many other people have come from
    China, India, Germany, and Syria to find work on the
    island. Jamaica's motto is "Out of Many, One People."

    When most people think of Jamaica they think of


    Reggae, or "Ragged Music." The music was born in the
    1950s and '60s from the musical styles of mento, ska,
    and rocksteady. The most famous reggae star was Bob
    Marley, who was backed by his group the Wailers.
    Other famous reggae stars include Desmond Dekkar,
    Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, and Burning Spear.

    Jamaicans are spiritual people and follow many


    religions, including Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism,
    and Islam. Many are Rastafarians, followers of a
    Christian-based faith, which grew out of a civil rights
    movement in the 1930s.

    Rastafarians believe that Haile Selassie, Emperor of


    Ethiopia from 1916 to 1974, was their savior. Rasta men
    wear their hair in dreadlocks, believing that hair should
    not be cut, and wear clothing in red, gold, and green—
    the colors of the Ethiopian flag.

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    NATURE
    The island is home to the endangered Homerus
    swallowtail, the largest butterfly in the Western
    Hemisphere. Its wingspan is 6 inches (25 cm), which
    makes this insect larger than many of the island's birds.

    Bird watchers enjoy the 250 bird species that can be


    seen on the island, including 26 birds that are found
    nowhere else. The vervain, the world's second smallest
    bird is found here. This tiny hummingbird is only 2.5
    inches (8 cm) long. Jamaica's national bird is the
    streamertail hummingbird, or "doctor bird." It has long
    tail feathers and a scarlet bill.

    Jamaica boasts more than 200 orchids and 550


    different ferns. One quarter of the 3,000 plant species
    are endemic, or native species. Years of development
    have decreased the habitats for wildlife on the island.
    The American crocodile, manatee, and iguana are rare
    now because they were hunted for meat and hides.

    LEFT: JAMAICAN FLAG, RIGHT: JAMAICAN DOLLARPhotograph by Maypen, Dreamstime

    HISTORY
    The Taino people arrived from South America in the
    seventh century and called the island Xaymaca, "land
    of wood and water," because of the green dense forest
    and the hundreds of fast-flowing streams that once
    covered the landscape.

    Christopher Columbus was the first European to visit


    Jamaica in 1494 and called it "the fairest island that
    eyes have beheld." The Taino people were enslaved
    and by 1600 were wiped out by disease or harsh
    treatment. The Spanish brought in slaves from Africa
    and ruled the island until 1655 when the British seized
    it.

    African slaves worked on the sugar plantations and


    were treated very cruelly by the owners. By the late
    1700s, Jamaica became one of the largest slave
    markets for the Western Hemisphere. There were
    many slave uprisings and slavery was finally abolished
    in Jamaica in 1838. The island became independent in
    1962.

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