JUSTICE SOUND BOOKING & CDs 904
444 9444
Jamaica is an island country situated in the
Caribbean Sea, comprising the third-largest island of the
Greater Antilles.
The island, 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, lies about
145 kilometres (90 mi) south of
Cuba, and 191 kilometres (
119 mi) west of Hispaniola, the island containing the nation-states of
Haiti and the
Dominican Republic. Jamaica is the fifth-largest island country in the
Caribbean.[5]
Once a
Spanish possession known as
Santiago, in 1655 it came under the rule of
England (later
Great Britain), and was called Jamaica. It achieved full independence from the
United Kingdom on 6
August 1962.[6] With 2.8 million people, it is the third most populous
Anglophone country in the
Americas, after the
United States and Canada.
Kingston is the country's largest city and its capital, with a population of 937,700.[7][8] Jamaica has a large diaspora around the world, due to emigration from the country.[9]
Jamaica is a
Commonwealth realm, with
Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. Her appointed representative in the country is the
Governor-General of Jamaica, currently
Patrick Allen. The head of government and
Prime Minister of Jamaica is
Portia Simpson-Miller. Jamaica is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with legislative power vested in the bicameral
Parliament of Jamaica, consisting of an appointed
Senate and a directly elected
House of RepresentativesThe
Arawak and
Taino indigenous people, originating in
South America, settled on the island between 4000 and
1000 BC.[17] When
Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494, there were more than
200 villages ruled by caciques (chiefs of villages). The south coast of Jamaica was the most populated, especially around the area now known as
Old Harbour.[17] The Taino still inhabited Jamaica when the
English took control of the island in 1655.[17] The
Jamaican National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any evidence of the Taino/
Arawaks.[18]
Spanish rule
Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for
Spain after landing there in 1494. His probable landing
point was Dry
Harbour, now called
Discovery Bay.,[19] although there is some debate that it might have been
St. Ann's Bay[citation needed]. St. Ann's Bay was named "
Saint Gloria" by
Columbus, as the first sighting of the land. One mile west of St. Ann's Bay is the site of the
first Spanish settlement on the island,
Sevilla, which was established in 1509 and abandoned around 1524 because it was deemed unhealthy.[20] The capital was moved to
Spanish Town, then called
St. Jago de la
Vega, around 1534 (at present-day
St. Catherine).[21]
British rule
Spanish Town has the oldest cathedral of the
British colonies in the Caribbean.[21]
The Spanish were forcibly evicted by the English at
Ocho Rios in
St. Ann. In 1655 the English, led by
Sir William Penn and
General Robert Venables, took over the last Spanish fort in Jamaica
.[22] 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), alluding to the lard-making industry based on processing the numerous boars in the area.[23]
Henry Morgan was a famous
Caribbean pirate and privateer; he had first come to the
West Indies as an indentured servant, like most of the early
English colonists.[24]
In 1660, the population of Jamaica was about 4,
500 white and 1,500 black,[25] but by as early as the 1670s, black people formed a majority of the population.[26]
In 1394,
France prohibited
Jews as residents of their country. By 1660, Jamaica had become a refuge for Jews in the
New World, also attracting those who had been expelled from
Spain and Portugal. A settlement of Jews had arrived in 1510, soon after the son of Christopher Columbus settled on the island. Primarily merchants and traders, the
Jewish community was forced to live a clandestine life, calling themselves "Portugals". After the
British took over rule of Jamaica, the Jews decided the best defense against Spain's regaining control was to encourage making the colony a base for Caribbean pirates. With the pirates installed in
Port Royal, the Spanish would be deterred from attacking. The
British leaders agreed with the viability of this strategy to forestall outside aggression.[
27]
When the English captured Jamaica in 1655, the Spanish colonists fled after freeing their slaves.[22] The slaves dispersed into the mountains, joining the maroons, those who had previously escaped from the Spanish to live with the
Taínos.[28] The
Jamaican Maroons fought the British during the
18th century.[28] The name is still used today for their modern descendants. During the centuries of slavery,
Maroons established free communities in the mountainous interior of Jamaica, where they maintained their freedom and independence for generations.
- published: 14 Mar 2013
- views: 2073212