- published: 09 Aug 2007
- views: 709887
Montego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica by area and the fourth by population (after Kingston, Spanish Town and Portmore).
It is a tourist destination with duty free shopping, cruise line terminal and the beaches. The city is backed by picturesque low mountains.
Christopher Columbus, when he first visited the island in 1494, named the bay Golfo de Buen Tiempo ('Fair Weather Gulf') The name "Montego Bay" is believed to have originated as a corruption of the Spanish word manteca ("lard"), allegedly because during the Spanish period it was the port where lard, leather, and beef were exported.[citation needed] Jamaica was a colony of Spain from 1511 until 1655, when Oliver Cromwell's Caribbean expedition, the Western Design, drove the Spanish from the island.
During the epoch of slavery, from the mid-17th century until 1834, and well into the 20th century, the town functioned primarily as a sugar port. The island's last major slave revolt, the Christmas Rebellion or Baptist War (1831–1832) took place in the area around Montego Bay; the leader of the revolt, Samuel Sharpe, was hanged there in 1832. In 1975, Sharpe was proclaimed a national hero of Jamaica, and the main square of the town was renamed in his honor.
RADIO STATION | GENRE | LOCATION |
---|---|---|
StylzFM | Reggae | Jamaica |
Boneyaad Radio | Reggae | Jamaica |
Power 106 | World,Reggae | Jamaica |
NCU 91.1 | Christian Contemporary | Jamaica |
Reggae141 | Reggae | Jamaica |