NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Jamaica

Jamaica 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 620 kilometres (385 mi) northeast of the Central American mainland, 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 either the "Land of Springs," or the "Land of Wood and Water." 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. Major Mark Park Jamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Jamaica. ... Image File history File links Jamaica_coa. ... Flag ratio: 1:2 The flag of Jamaica was adopted on August 6, 1962 which was the original Jamaican Independence Day. ... This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... A motto (from Italian) is a phrase or a short list of words meant formally to describe the general motivation or intention of an entity, social group, or organization. ... A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that is evoking and eulogising the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognised either by a countrys government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people. ... Jamaica, Land We Love is the national anthem of Jamaica. ... A royal anthem is a patriotic song, much like a national anthem that recognizes the nations monarch. ... Publication of an early version in The Gentlemans Magazine, 15 October 1745. ... Image File history File links LocationJamaica. ... Not to be confused with capitol. ... Population: 2,758,124 (July 2006 est. ... The City of Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica. ... An official language is a language that is given a unique legal status in the countries, states, and other territories. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a people or the inhabitants of a place. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box: A constitutional monarchy is a form of government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges an elected or hereditary monarch as head of state, as opposed to an absolute monarchy, where the monarch is not bound by a... A parliamentary system, or parliamentarism, is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. ... The countries of the Commonwealth Realm share the same monarch. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... The flag of the Governor-General of Jamaica The Governor General of Jamaica is Jamaicas defacto head of state. ... The Most Honourable Professor Kenneth Octavius Hall, ON, OJ (Born in Lucea, Jamaica April 24, 1941)is the current Governor-General of Jamaica. ... The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaicas head of government, currently Portia Simpson-Miller. ... Bruce Golding (born on December 5, 1947 in Jamaica) is a Jamaican politician, and currently the head of the Jamaica Labour Party, the ruling party in the Jamaican parliament. ... is the 218th day of the year (219th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the physical quantity. ... To help compare orders of magnitude of different geographical regions, we list here areas between 10,000 kmÂ² and 100,000 kmÂ². See also areas of other orders of magnitude. ... This is a list of the countries of the world sorted by area. ... A square mile is an English unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (â‰ˆ1,609 m) in length. ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ... A percentage is a way of expressing a proportion, a ratio or a fraction as a whole number, by using 100 as the denominator. ... This is a list of countries ordered according to population. ... Population density per square kilometre by country, 2006 Population density map of the world in 1994. ... Population density by country, 2006 List of countries and dependencies by population density in inhabitants/kmÂ². The list includes sovereign states and self-governing dependent territories that are recognized by the United Nations. ... Gross domestic product (by purchasing power parity) in 2006 The purchasing power parity (PPP) theory was developed by Gustav Cassel in 1920. ... There are three lists of countries of the world sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP) (the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year). ... Per capita is a Latin phrase meaning for each head. ... Map of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita for the year 2006. ... One thousand million (1,000,000,000) is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001. ... Countries by nominal GDP. Source: IMF (2005) This article includes a list of countries of the world sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. ... Per capita is a Latin phrase meaning for each head. ... Map of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita. ... Graphical representation of the Gini coefficient The Gini coefficient is a measure of inequality of income distribution or inequality of wealth distribution. ... World map indicating Human Development Index (2006). ... Image File history File links Red_Arrow_Down. ... Coloured world map indicating Human Development Index (2006) (colour-blind compliant map) This is a list of countries by Human Development Index as included in the United Nations Development Programmes Human Development Report 2006, compiled on the basis of 2004 data. ... The dollar (ISO 4217 code: JMD) is the currency of Jamaica. ... ISO 4217 is the international standard describing three letter codes (also known as the currency code) to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ... Timezone and TimeZone redirect here. ... â€œUTCâ€ redirects here. ... A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is a top-level domain used and reserved for a country or a dependent territory. ... .jm is the Internet country code top-level domain ( ccTLD) for Jamaica. ... A telephone number is a sequence of decimal digits (0-9) that is used for identifying a destination telephone line in a telephone network. ... The area code (876) is the local telephone area code of Jamaica. ... An island nation is a country that is wholly confined to an island or islands. ... The Greater Antilles, an island group in the Caribbean Sea, are part of the Antilles. ... A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer) (symbol: km) is a unit of length equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words khilia = thousand and metro = count/measure). ... Map of Central America and the Caribbean The Caribbean Sea (pronounced or ) is a tropical sea in the Western Hemisphere, part of the Atlantic Ocean, southeast of the Gulf of Mexico. ... For other uses, see Central America (disambiguation). ... Early map of Hispaniola The island of Hispaniola (from Spanish, La EspaÃ±ola) is the second-largest island of the Antilles, lying between the islands of Cuba to the west, and Puerto Rico to the east. ... The term indigenous people has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. ... The Arawakan languages (also Arahuacan, Arawakanas, Arahuacano, Maipurean, Maipuran, Maipureano, MaipÃºrean) are a hypothetical indigenous language family of South America and the Caribbean. ... Reconstruction of a TaÃno village in Cuba The TaÃno are pre-Columbian indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and some of the Lesser Antilles. ... Roadtown, Tortola The term British West Indies refers to territories in and around the Caribbean which were colonised by Great Britain. ... A United Kingdom overseas territory (formerly known as a dependent territory or earlier as a crown colony) is a territory that is under the sovereignty and formal control of the United Kingdom but is not part of the United Kingdom proper (Great Britain and Northern Ireland). ... Look up Anglophone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1] and South America with their associated islands and regions. ...

[edit] History

Main article: History of Jamaica

The original Arawak or 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 very little trace of the Arawak culture, and the Jamaican National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any evidence of the Arawaks [1]. Jamaica, one of the largest Caribbean islands, was inhabited by TaÃno natives. ... The term Arawak (from aru, the Lokono word for cassava flour), was used to designate the Amerindians encountered by the Spanish in the Caribbean. ... The Taíno are the pre-Hispanic Amerindian inhabitants of the Greater Antilles, which includes Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the Bahamas. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... The European peoples are the various nations and ethnic groups of Europe. ...

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 English (then British) rule, post Spanish rule, Jamaica became one of the world's leading sugar exporting nations and produced over 77,000 tons of sugar annually between 1820 and 1824, which was achieved through the massive use of imported African slave labour. After the abolition of the slave trade the British imported Indian and Chinese indentured servants in the early 1800s as more cheap labour. Many of the descendants of the Chinese and Indian indentured servants continue to reside in Jamaica today. Christopher Columbus (1451 â€“ May 20, 1506) was a navigator and maritime explorer credited as the discoverer of the Americas. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Admiral Sir William Penn, 1621–1670 by Sir Peter Lely, painted 1665–1666. ... For other uses, see William Penn (disambiguation). ... This article is about sugar as food and as an important and widely-traded commodity. ... World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... Slave redirects here. ... An indentured servant (also called a bonded laborer) is a labourer under contract to work for an employer for a specific amount of time, usually two to seven years, to pay off a passage to a new country or home. ...

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, leading to constant opportunities for revolt. Following a series of rebellions, slavery was formally abolished in 1834, with full emancipation from chattel slavery declared in 1838. This English poster depicting the horrific conditions on slave ships was influential in mobilizing public opinion against slavery. ...

During the 1800’s a number of botanical gardens were established. These included the Castleton Garden in 1862 (set up to replace the Bath Garden which was established during the late 1770s and where breadfruit brought to Jamaica by Captain William Bligh was planted but which was subject to flooding), the Cinchona Plantation in 1868 and the Hope Garden during 1874. Inside the United States Botanic Garden Botanical gardens grow a wide variety of plants both for scientific purposes and for the enjoyment and education of visitors. ... Binomial name Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg The Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a tree and fruit native to the Malay Peninsula and western Pacific islands. ... 1814 portrait of William Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh FRS RN (9 September 1754 â€“ 7 December 1817) was an officer of the British Royal Navy and colonial administrator. ... Species See text Cinchona L., is the name of a genus in Rubiaceae family, large evergreens that can grow over 10 metres tall. ... Fundamentally, a plantation is usually a large farm or estate, especially in a tropical or semitropical country, on which cotton, tobacco, coffee, sugar cane, or trees and the like is cultivated, usually by resident laborers. ...

In 1945, Sir Horace Hector Hearne became Chief Justice and Keeper of the Records in Jamaica and sat in the Supreme Court, Kingston between 1945 and 1950/1951 before going on to become Chief Justice in Kenya. 1892 - 1962. ... The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth- or other countries with an Anglosaxon type of justice, such as the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the Supreme... The supreme court functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be challenged, in some countries, provinces and states. ... The City of Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica. ... The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth- or other countries with an Anglosaxon type of justice, such as the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the Supreme...

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 all of the British West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence by leaving the federation in 1962. National motto: Official language English Capital Chaguaramas Capitals coordinates Largest city {{{largestcity}}} {{{head_of_state}}} {{{current_head_of_state}}} {{{head_of_government}}} {{{current_head_of_government}}} Political system Constitutional monarchy Area - Total - % water Ranked % Population - Total (1960) - Density Ranked approx. ... Roadtown, Tortola The term British West Indies refers to territories in and around the Caribbean which were colonised by Great Britain. ...

Strong 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). Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (February 24, 1884 - August 6, 1977) was a conservative Jamaican politician and labor leader. ... Sir Donald Burns Sangster (October 26, 1911 - April 11, 1967) was a Jamaican politician and Prime Minister of Jamaica. ... Image:Http://www. ... â€œIMFâ€ redirects here. ...

Economic deterioration continued into the mid 1980s, exacerbated by the closure of the first (Alpart) and third (Alcoa) largest alumina producers, significant reduction in production by the second largest (Alcan), the exit of Reynolds Jamaica Mines Ltd from the Jamaican industry and reduced flows from tourism. During the 1980s Jamaica was still a prosperous country though increases in crime and petty theft began to weigh on the island.

The early capital of Jamaica was Spanish Town in the parish of St. Catherine, the site of the old Spanish colonial capital. The Spanish named the town Santiago de la Vega. In 1655 when the English captured the island, much of the old Spanish capital was burned by the invading troops. The town was rebuilt by the English and renamed Spanish Town. It remained the capital until 1872, when the city of Kingston was named the capital under questionable circumstances. For other uses, see Spanish Town (disambiguation). ...

Map of Jamaica

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

[edit] Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Jamaica

Jamaica is a constitutional monarchy with the monarch being represented by a Governor-General.^[1] The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who officially uses the title "Queen of Jamaica" when she visits the country or performs duties overseas on Jamaica's behalf. See Jamaican Royal Family. The Governor-General is nominated by the Prime Minister and the entire Cabinet and 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 potent reserve power to dismiss the Prime Minister or Parliament. Politics of Jamaica takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box: A constitutional monarchy is a form of government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges an elected or hereditary monarch as head of state, as opposed to an absolute monarchy, where the monarch is not bound by a... For other uses, see Monarch (disambiguation). ... This page lists Governors-General of Jamaica. ... Head of state or Chief of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaicas head of government, currently Portia Simpson-Miller. ... In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government, a reserve power is a power that may be exercised by the head of state without the approval of another branch of the government. ...

Jamaica's current Constitution was drafted in 1962 by a bipartisan joint committee of the Jamaican legislature. It came into force with the Jamaica Independence Act, 1962 of the United Kingdom Parliament, which gave Jamaica political independence. This was followed by a reformation of the island's flag. Parliament is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. ... Type Bicameral Houses House of Commons House of Lords Speaker of the House of Commons The Right Honourable Michael Martin MP Lord Speaker HÃ©lÃ¨ne Hayman, Baroness Hayman, PC Members 1377 (646 Commons, 731 Peers) Political groups (as of May 5, 2005 elections) Labour Party Conservative Party Liberal Democrats...

Inside the Jamaican Parliament

The Parliament of Jamaica is bicameral, consisting of the House of Representatives (Lower House) and the Senate (Upper House). Members of the House (known as Members of Parliament or MPs) are directly elected, and the member of the House of Representatives who, in the Governor-General's best judgement, is best able to command the confidence of a majority of the members of that House, is appointed by the Governor-General to be the Prime Minister. Senators are appointed jointly by the Prime Minister and the parliamentary Leader of the Opposition. Image File history File linksMetadata Parliament. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Parliament. ... Parliament is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. ... Parliament is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. ... Image:WashingtonDC Capitol USA2. ... The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaicas head of government, currently Portia Simpson-Miller. ... Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. ...

In February 2006, Portia Simpson-Miller was elected by delegates of the ruling People's National Party (PNP) to replace P. J. Patterson as President of the Party. At the end of March 2006 when Patterson demitted office, Simpson-Miller became the first female Prime Minister of Jamaica. Former Prime Minister Patterson had held office since the 1992 resignation of Michael Manley. Patterson was re-elected three times, the last being in 2002. Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller, ON, MP (born 12 December 1945 in Wood Hall, St. ... The Most Honourable Percival Noel James Patterson QC (born April 10, 1935) was the Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1992 to 2006. ... Michael Norman Manley (December 10, 1924 â€“ March 6, 1997) was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica (1972 â€“ 1980, 1989 â€“ 1992). ...

On 3 September 2007, Bruce Golding of the Jamaica Labour Party was voted in as Prime Minister-Designate after achieving a 33 - 27 seat victory over Portia Simpson-Miller and the PNP in the 2007 Jamaican general election. Portia Simpson-Miller conceded defeat on the 5 September 2007.^[2]On 11 September 2007, after being sworn in by Governor-General Kenneth Hall, The Hon. Bruce Golding assumed office as Prime Minister of Jamaica. Bruce Golding (born on December 5, 1947 in Jamaica) is a Jamaican politician, and currently the head of the Jamaica Labour Party, the ruling party in the Jamaican parliament. ... General elections were scheduled to be held in Jamaica on August 27, 2007. ... Bruce Golding (born on December 5, 1947 in Jamaica) is a Jamaican politician, and currently the head of the Jamaica Labour Party, the ruling party in the Jamaican parliament. ... The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaicas head of government, currently Portia Simpson-Miller. ...

Jamaica has traditionally had a two-party system, with power often alternating between the People's National Party and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).However,over the past decade a new political party called the National Democratic Movement [NDM] emerged in an attempt to challenge the two party system. However, the NDM has almost become irrelevant in the two party system as it garnered only 540 votes of the over 800,000 votes cast in the September 3 elections. Jamaica is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). A two-party system is a form of party system where two major political parties dominate the voting in nearly all elections. ... The Peoples National Party (PNP) is a democratic socialist Jamaican political party, founded by Norman Manley in 1938. ... The Jamaica Labour Party is a conservative political party in Jamaica. ... Map showing CARICOM members, associates and observers Seat of Secretariat Georgetown, Guyana Official languages English4 Membership 15 full members1 5 associate members2 7 observers3 Leaders - Secretary-General Edwin W. Carrington (since 1992) - CARICOM Heads of Government Establishment - August 1, 1973 Website http://www. ...

[edit] Parishes

Main article: Parishes of Jamaica

Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes, which are grouped to three historic counties that have no administrative relevance. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Jamaica is divided into fourteen parishes (capitals in parentheses)- Clarendon Parish (May Pen) Hanover Parish (Lucea) Kingston Parish (Kingston) Manchester Parish (Mandeville) Portland Parish (Port Antonio) Saint Andrew Parish (Half Way Tree) Saint Ann Parish (Saint Anns Bay) Saint Catherine Parish (Spanish Town) Saint Elizabeth Parish (Black River) Saint... Jamaica is divided into fourteen parishes (capitals in parentheses)- Clarendon Parish (May Pen) Hanover Parish (Lucea) Kingston Parish (Kingston) Manchester Parish (Mandeville) Portland Parish (Port Antonio) Saint Andrew Parish (Half Way Tree) Saint Ann Parish (Saint Anns Bay) Saint Catherine Parish (Spanish Town) Saint Elizabeth Parish (Black River) Saint...

Surrey (county) in the east, containing the following parishes:
Middlesex (county) in the centre, containing the following parishes:
Cornwall (county) in the west, containing the following parishes:

Surrey is the easternmost of the three counties into which Jamaica is divided. ... Kingston is a parish of Jamaica. ... Location latitude 18Â°10 N longitude 75Â°27W Capital Town Port Antonio Major towns Buff Bay, County Surrey Area 814 square km Rank Jamaicas seventh largest parish Population 81,000 in 2001 Commerce Tourism, Agriculture Portland, with its capital town Port Antonio, is a parish located on Jamaica... Saint Andrew (capital Half Way Tree) is a parish, situated in the south east of Jamaica in the county of Surrey. ... Location latitude 18Â°05N, longitude 76Â°40W Capital City Morant Bay Major towns Port Morant, Yallahs, Bath, Seaforth, Golden Grove, County Surrey Area 742. ... Middlesex is the central of the three counties into which Jamaica is divided. ... Clarendon (capital May Pen) is a parish in Jamaica. ... Location latitude 17Â°51N, longitude 77Â°38W Capital Town Mandeville Major towns Christiana, Mile Gully, Newport, Porus, Williamsfield. ... Location latitude 18Â°12N, longitude 77Â°28W Capital Town Saint Anns Bay Major towns Ocho Rios, Browns Town, Runaway Bay, Claremont County Middlesex Area 1,212. ... Location latitude 18Â°15N, longitude 77Â°12W Capital town Spanish Town Other towns Portmore, Old Harbour, Ewarton, Linstead County Middlesex Area 1,192 square km Rank Jamaicas fourth largest parish Population 500,000 in 2001 Commerce Tourism, Agriculture, Manufacturing St Catherine (capital Spanish Town) is a parish... Saint Mary, Jamaica, is a parish located in the north, north eastern part of Jamaica. ... Cornwall is the westernmost of the three counties into which Jamaica is divided. ... Location latitude 18Â°25N, longitude 78Â°08W Capital City Lucea County Cornwall Area 430 sq km Rank Jamaicas second smallest parish Population 68,000 in 2001 Commerce Tourism, Agriculture, Manufactoring Hanover, (capital Lucea), is a parish, located on the north western tip of the island of Jamaica. ... Location latitude 18Â°15N, longitude 77Â°56W Capital town Black River other Towns Santa Cruz, Malvern, Junction, Balaclava, Prospect County Cornwall Area 1212. ... Location Latitude18Â°31N Longitude 77Â°59W Capital City Montego Bay Major towns Adelphi, Cambridge, Montpelier, Catadupa, Fairfield County Cornwall Area 595 square km Rank Jamaicas fourth smallest parish Population 178,000 in 2001 Commerce Tourism, Agriculture , Manufactoring St James is a parish, located on the north west... Location latitude 18Â°15N, longitude 77Â°46W Capital town Falmouth Major towns Clarks Town, Duncans, Wakefield, Wait-a-Bit, Albert Town County Cornwall Area 874 square km Rank Jamaicas fifth largest parish Population 74,000 in 2001 Commerce Agriculture, Manufactoring Trelawny (capital Falmouth) is a parish located... Location Latitude 18Â°21N Longitude unknown Capital Town Savanna-la-mar County Cornwall Area 807 square km Rank Jamaicas eighth largest parish Population 141,000 in 2001 Commerce Tourism, Agriculture Manufacturing Westmoreland is the westernmost parish in Jamaica, located on the south side of the island. ...

[edit] Geography

Main article: Geography of Jamaica

Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean, and the most populous English speaking island there. The island of Jamaica is home to the Blue Mountains inland and is surrounded by a narrow coastal plain. Most major towns and both cities are located on the coast. Chief towns include the capital city Kingston, Portmore, Spanish Town, Mandeville, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, and the city of Montego Bay. Map Of Jamaica Jamaica lies 145 kilometers south of Cuba and 160 kilometers west of Haiti. ... â€œWest Indianâ€ redirects here. ... The Blue Mountains are a mountainous region of Jamaica. ... The City of Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica. ... Portmore is a coastal city in southern Jamaica, near Kingston. ... For other uses, see Spanish Town (disambiguation). ... Mandeville is the capital of Manchester Parish, Jamaica. ... View of Ocho Rios, taken from Shaw Park Gardens - 2006 Ocho Rios is a town on the northern coast of Jamaica, located in the parish of Saint Ann. ... Port Antonio is the capital of the parish of Portland on the northeastern coast of Jamaica, about 100 km from Kingston. ... Doctors Cave Beach Club is a popular tourist destination in Montego Bay Montego Bay is a city in Jamaica that contains Jamaicas largest airport, Sangster International Airport. ...

The climate in Jamaica is tropical, with hot and humid weather, although higher inland regions have a more temperate climate. Some regions on the south coast, such as the Liguanea Plain and the Pedro Plains are relatively dry rain-shadow areas.

[edit] Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Jamaica

Population: 2,758,124 (July 2006 est. ...

[edit] Ethnic Origins

Jamaica's population consists mainly of people of West-African descent, comprising about 90.9% of the demographics. The Akan people of Ghana's influence is evidenced by the town of Accompong (Achiampong is a common family name in Ghana). Other populations on the island are as follows: East Indian 1.3%, White 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%,Lebanese 0.1%,Multiracial 7.3%. Immigration from countries such as China, Colombia, St. Lucia and many more areas of the Caribbean and South Asia have seen a steady rise. Western Africa (UN subregion) Maghreb[1] West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... Akan may be: Akan people, an ethnic group from western Africa Akan States, any of several states organized in the 16th or 17th century by the Akan people Akan languages, a stock of dialects spoken by the Akan people Akan District, Hokkaido Akan, Hokkaido, a town in Akan District, Hokkaido... Accompong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Indo-Jamaican or East Indian Jamaicans are People who are born in Jamaica who are descents of East Indian immigrants who came from India to the island as indentured workers. ... This article is about the color. ... Actress Halle Berry was born to a white mother of British extraction and a black father of American extraction. ... â€œWest Indianâ€ redirects here. ... Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir). ...

[edit] Skin Complexion

The motto of Jamaica is 'Out of Many, one people' And, in terms of genetic inheritance, there is much evidence that many 'African-Jamaicans' also have European ancestors ^[3]. This is primarily due to the widespread practice of white British plantation owners and overseers engaging in (often forced) sexual relations with African women ^[4] during the era of slavery and colonialism (or Maafa) (as well as the much less common practice of African men having sexual relations with British women). As a result, any well-travelled visitor to the island will immediately notice that the African-Jamaican population has many more people of a brown or light-brown complexion than is found in those regions of West Africa which provided the main sources of enslaved labourers (such as Nigeria or Ghana) ^[5]. Many (not all) of the African-European children of planters and overseers were given favoured status compared with African plantation slaves/workers. This included greater access to education, capital and land, as well as 'social acceptance'. This however was a common practice in countries involved in the slave trade ^[6] . The word Maafa (also known as the African Holocaust or Holocaust of Enslavement) is derived from a Kiswahili word meaning disaster, terrible occurrence or great tragedy. ...

[edit] Language

The official language of Jamaica is English. Informally Jamaican Patois (pronounced patwah) is more commonly spoken by a majority of the population. British English or "The Queen's English" is the most obvious influence on patois, but it includes words and syntax from various African languages (including Akan and Yoruba); other European languages (Spanish, Portuguese and French); Pre-Columbian Caribbean languages (Arawak); and Asian languages (Hindi and Mandarin) which is evidence of the long standing mixing of the people. In general, patois differs from English in pronunciation, grammar, nominal orthography and syntax, having many intonations to indicate meaning and mood. The language's characteristics include pronouncing /θ/ as [t] and /ð/ as [d], and omitting some initial consonant sounds, principally /h/. For example, the word "there" is pronounced [dɪeɹ]. A number of linguists classify Jamaican Patois as a separate language, while others consider it to be a dialect of English. This does not cite its references or sources. ... Jamaican Creole, also known as Patois/(Patwa) or simply Jamaican, is an English/African-based language --not to be confused with Jamaican English nor with the Rastafarian use of English-- used primarily on the island of Jamaica. ... Akan may be: Akan people, an ethnic group from western Africa Akan States, any of several states organized in the 16th or 17th century by the Akan people Akan languages, a stock of dialects spoken by the Akan people Akan District, Hokkaido Akan, Hokkaido, a town in Akan District, Hokkaido... The Yoruba (YorÃ¹bÃ¡ in Yoruba orthography) are a large ethno-linguistic group or ethnic nation in West Africa. ... Hindi ( , Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is one of the two official languages of India, the other being English. ... Mandarin may mean: Mandarin (linguistics), a group of dialects of spoken Chinese, or more specifically, its standardized version, Standard Mandarin Mandarin (bureaucrat), a bureaucrat of Imperial China, Vietnam and Korea, and in the United Kingdom and Canada, by analogy, any government bureaucrat Mandarin Airlines, a subsidiary of China Airlines Mandarin... A dialect (from the Greek word Î´Î¹Î¬Î»ÎµÎºÏ„Î¿Ï‚, dialektos) is a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers. ...

[edit] Religion

65.3%^[7] of Jamaica's population are Christians, the majority being Protestant, which is primarily due to the influence of British colonialism, and the later influence of denominations from the U.S. Today, the five largest denominations in Jamaica are: Church of God, Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist, Pentecostal and Anglican. This article is about the religous people known as Christians. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... It has been suggested that Benign colonialism be merged into this article or section. ... For other senses of this word, see denomination. ... Church of God is a name used by numerous, mostly unrelated bodies. ... The Seventh-day Adventist (abbreviated Adventist[1]) Church is a Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week, as the Sabbath. ... Topics in Christianity Movements Â· Denominations Â· Other religions Ecumenism Â· Preaching Â· Prayer Music Â· Liturgy Â· Calendar Symbols Â· Art Â· Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul Â· Church Fathers Constantine Â· Athanasius Â· Augustine Anselm Â· Aquinas Â· Palamas Â· Luther Calvin Â· Wesley Arius Â· Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury Â· Catholic Pope Coptic Pope Â· Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box: Baptist is... The Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ...

The largest non-Christian religion is the Rastafari, which was founded on the island and reveres the late Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Haile Selassie I Rasta, or the Rastafari movement, is a religion that accepts Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as God incarnate, whom they call Jah. ... Haile Selassie I (Geez: , Power of the Trinity; July 23, 1892 â€“ August 27, 1975) was de jure Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 and de facto from 1916 to 1936 and 1941 to 1974. ...

Other non-Christian religions in Jamaica include: Bahai, Buddhism, Islam. Practisers of Spiritism can also be found on the island.^[8] The West African folk cult of Obeah is found in poor urban and rural areas of Jamaica. Known in India as the Lotus Temple, the Bahai House of Worship attracts an average of three and a half million visitors a year. ... A silhouette of a Buddha statue at Ayutthaya, Thailand. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Obeah is a term used in the West Indies to refer to folk magic or sorcery. ...

[edit] Emigration

Main article: Jamaican diaspora

Over the past several decades, close to a million^{[citation needed]} Jamaicans have emigrated, especially to the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. This emigration appears to have been tapering off somewhat in recent years, however the great number of Jamaicans living abroad has become known as the "Jamaican diaspora". There has also been emigration of Jamaicans to Cuba.^[9] This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A memorial statue in Hanko, Finland, commemorating the thousands of emigrants who left the country to start a new life in the United States Emigration is the act and the phenomenon of leaving ones native country to settle in another country. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Concentrations of expatriate Jamaicans are large in a number of cities in the United States, including New York City, Buffalo, the Miami metro area, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Washington, D.C, Philadelphia, Hartford and Los Angeles. In Canada, the Jamaican population is centred in Toronto; in the United Kingdom, Jamaican communities exist in most large cities where they make up the larger part of the British-Caribbean community. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Nickname: Location of Buffalo in New York State County Government - Mayor Byron Brown (D) Area - City 52. ... Location of metropolitan area in the state of Florida Major cities Miami, Florida Fort Lauderdale, Florida West Palm Beach, Florida Area - Total - Water 15,896 km² (6,137 mi²) 2,621 km² (1,011 mi²) 16. ... â€œAtlantaâ€ redirects here. ... Nickname: Location in Orange County and the state of Florida Coordinates: , Country State Counties Orange Government - Mayor Buddy Dyer (D) Area - City 101 sq mi (261. ... Nickname: Location in Hillsborough County and the state of Florida. ... ... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... Nickname: Location in Hartford County, Connecticut Coordinates: , Country State NECTA Hartford Region Capitol Region Named 1637 Incorporated (city) 1784 Consolidated 1896 Government - Type Mayor-council - Mayor Eddie Perez Area - City 18. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... The Leicester Caribbean Carnival The British African-Caribbean (Afro-Caribbean) community are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background, and whose ancestors were indigenous to Africa. ...

[edit] Education

Main article: Education in Jamaica

The emancipation of the slaves heralded in the establishment of the Jamaican education system for the masses. Prior to emancipation there were some elite schools for the plantocracy. Others sent their children off to England to access quality education. Education in Jamaica is based primarily on the British model. ...

After emancipation the West Indian Commission granted a sum of money to establish Elementary Schools, now known as All Age Schools, for the children of the freed slaves. Most of these schools were established by the churches. This was the genesis of the stratified system of education that is still currently embedded in the policies of the 21st century.

Presently the following categories of schools exist:

Early childhood – Basic, Infant and privately operated pre- school. Age cohort – 1 – 5 years. Early Childhood Education is inclusive of Basic, Infant and privately operated pre- schools (Similar to the american kindergarten but it includes students who are just about ready for elementary or primary schools). ...

Primary – Publicly and privately owned (Privately owned being called Preparatory Schools). Ages 5 – 12 years. Primary education in Jamaica addresses the basic educational needs of students and prepares them for secondary education. ...

Secondary – Publicly and privately owned. Ages 12 – 18 years. The high schools in Jamaica may be either single-sex or co-educational institutions. Many follow the traditional English grammar school model e.g., St. Hugh's High School for Girls, Wolmer's Girls' and Boys' Schools, Calabar (boys) Baptist Missionary College first created for the education of former slaves and closely associated with the abolition movement (notably in the personage of William Knibb from Britain) and the establishment of the seminary which is the progenitor of the theological college at the University of the West Indies - one of the country's highest seats of learning (Mona campus),Cornwall College (Montego Bay) Kingston College (boys), Jamaica College (boys), St. George's College (boys), Convent of Mercy Academy (popularly known as Alpha) (girls), Camperdown High, Campion College and Vauxhall High (co-ed), Holy Childhood High School (girls),the Mount Alvernia High School (Montego Bay - girls)the St. Andrew High School for Girls, The Queen's School(girls) high school for girls, the Immaculate Conception High School (girls), Munro College (boys), Hampton School (girls), Clarendon College, St. Jago High School, Glenmuir High School (co-ed) Meadowbrook High School, and the Ardenne High School (co-ed) Excelsior High School; although there are several good technical high schools. Chief among these are the St. Andrew Technical High School, the St. Elizabeth Technical High School, Marymount High School (girls), Saint Mary High School (co-ed) and Kingston Technical High School. St. ...

Tertiary - Community Colleges, Teachers’ Colleges, Vocational Training Centres, Colleges and Universities - Publicly and privately owned. There are five local universities namely: The University of the West Indies (Mona Campus); the University of Technology, Jamaica formerly The College of Art Science and Technology (CAST); the Northern Caribbean University; the University College of the Caribbean and the International University of the Caribbean. Additionally there are many teacher training and community colleges including: Mico, Bethlehem Moravian, Moneague and Shortwood teacher-training colleges and Exed, Portmore and Montego Bay community colleges. The University of the West Indies, also known as UWI, is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 16 countries and territories in the Caribbean - Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Northern Caribbean University The Northern Caribbean University (NCU) is a tertiary level academic facility run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Jamaica. ...

There is no free education in Jamaica above the primary level. Although there isn't free education, there are opportunities for those who can't afford further education in the vocational arena through the Human Employment and Resource Training-National Training Agency (HEART Trust-NTA) programme and through an extensive scholarship network for the various universities.

[edit] Economy

Main article: Economy of Jamaica

Jamaica is a mixed, free-market economy with state enterprises as well as private sector businesses. Major sectors of the Jamaican economy include agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism and financial and insurance services. Tourism and mining are the leading foreign exchange earners. Jamaica has natural resources, primarily bauxite, and an ideal climate conducive to agriculture and tourism. ...

Supported by multilateral financial institutions, Jamaica has, since the early 1980s, sought to implement structural reforms aimed at fostering private sector activity and increasing the role of market forces in resource allocation. Since 1991, the Government has followed a programme of economic liberalization and stabilization by removing exchange controls, floating the exchange rate, cutting tariffs, stabilising the Jamaican currency, reducing inflation and removing restrictions on foreign investment. Emphasis has been placed on maintaining strict fiscal discipline, greater openness to trade and financial flows, market liberalisation and reduction in the size of government. During this period, a large share of the economy was returned to private sector ownership through divestment and privatisation programmes.

The macroeconomic stabilisation programme introduced in 1991, which focused on tight fiscal and monetary policies, has contributed to a controlled reduction in the rate of inflation. The annual inflation rate has decreased from a high of 80.2% in 1991 to 7.9% in 1998. inflation for FY1998/99 was 6.2% compared to 7.2% in the corresponding period in CUU1997/98. The Government remains committed to lowering inflation, with a long-term objective of bringing it in line with that of its major trading partners.

After a period of steady growth from 1985 to 1995, real GDP decreased by 1.8% and 2.4% in 1996 and 1997, respectively. The decrease in GDP in 1996 and 1997 was largely due to significant problems in the financial sector and, in 1997, a severe island-wide drought (the worst in 70 years) that drastically reduced agricultural production. In 1997, nominal GDP was approximately J$220,556.2 million (US$6,198.9 million based on the average annual exchange rate of the period).

Fishing boats and bauxite cargo ships share the waterways near Alligator Pond, Jamaica

The economy in 1997 was marked by low levels of import growth, high levels of private capital inflows and relative stability in the foreign exchange market. Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 806 KB)A schoolchild walks past a row of fishing boats on the beach near Alligator Pond, Jamaica. ... Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 806 KB)A schoolchild walks past a row of fishing boats on the beach near Alligator Pond, Jamaica. ...

Recent economic performance shows the Jamaican economy is recovering. Agricultural production, an important engine of growth increased 15.3% in third quarter of 1998 compared to the corresponding period in 1997, signaling the first positive growth rate in the sector since January 1997. Bauxite and alumina production increased 5.5% from January to December, 1998 compared to the corresponding period in 1997. January's bauxite production recorded a 7.1% increase relative to January 1998 and continued expansion of alumina production through 2009 is planned by Alcoa [2]. Tourism, which is the largest foreign exchange earner, showed improvement as well. In the third quarter of 1998, growth in tourist arrivals accelerated with an overall increase of 8.5% in tourism earnings in 1998 when compared to the corresponding period in 1997. Bauxite with penny Bauxite with core of unweathered rock Bauxite is an aluminium ore. ... Aluminium oxide (or aluminum oxide) (Al2O3) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen. ... â€œTouristâ€ redirects here. ...

Jamaica has a wide variety of industrial and commercial activities. The aviation industry[3] is able to perform most routine aircraft maintenance, except for heavy structural repairs. There is a considerable amount of technical support for transport and agricultural aviation. Jamaica has a considerable amount of industrial engineering, light manufacturing, including metal fabrication, metal roofing, and furniture manufacturing. Food and beverage processing, glassware manufacturing, computer software and data processing, printing and publishing, insurance underwriting, music and recording, and advanced education activities can be found in the larger urban areas. The Jamaican construction industry is entirely self-sufficient, wit

Encyclopedia > Jamaica > Transnational-issues

Contents