Jamaica is an island country, spanning 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq miles) in area. Jamaica has a varied topography with rugged mountains, some of which are volcanic, narrow valleys and a coastal plain. The climate of Jamaica is tropical, hot and humid on its coast and temperate inland.
The population of Jamaica is 2,982,438 (2022) of which 76.3% identified as African; 15.1% as Afro-European, 3.4% as East Indian and Afro-East Indian, 3.2% Caucasian, 1.2% Chinese and 0.8% other.
The country has a global influence that belies it’s small size: it was the birthplace of the Rastafari religion, reggae music and is internationally prominent in sports, notably cricket and athletics.
picture courtesy of bigupja.com
National Flower
Lignum Vitae (Guiacum Officinale) is a small compact tree with small purple blossoms. The gum has served as a remedy for gout, whilst the wood was used for propeller shaft bearings.
History
Humans have inhabited Jamaica from as early as 4000–1000 BC, the first peoples known as the "Redware people" after their pottery, arrived circa 600 AD, followed by the Taíno circa 800 AD, 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). Though often thought to have become extinct following contact with Europeans, the Taíno in fact still inhabited Jamaica when the English took control of the island in 1655. The Taino called the island Xaymaca meaning the "Land of Wood and Water" or the "Land of Springs".
The island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494 until 1655 during which time many of the indigenous people either were killed or died of diseases and large numbers of African slaves were brought to Jamaica as labourers.
Great Britain conquered and renamed the island Jamaica, in 1655. the island became a leading sugar exporter, with a plantation economy dependent on the African slaves and later their descendants. In 1673 there were 57 sugar estates but by 1739 there were 430 with 150 - 250 slaves per estate, with evidence of brutal treatment of slaves. The British fully emancipated all slaves in 1838, and many freed men chose to have subsistence farms rather than to work on plantations. Beginning in the 1840s, the British began using Chinese and Indian indentured labour to work on plantations. The island achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962.
Jamaica’s road since independence is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with legislative power vested in the Parliament of Jamaica consisting of an appointed Senate and a directly elected House of Representatives. Whilst a member of the Commonwealth, Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness has announced recently that Jamaica will take steps to become a republic.
Geography, Climate and environment
Mountains dominate the interior with several ranges: 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 (7401 feet).
There are significant coastal plains, agricultural land, waterfalls, marine parks and Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, covering roughly 780 km2 (300 sq miles) of a wilderness area, which supports thousands of tree and fern species and rare animals.
The Jamaican tourism industry accounts for 32% of total employment and 36% of the country's GDP and is largely based on the sun, sea and sand, the last two of these attributes being dependent on healthy coral reef ecosystems.
Culture, music, dance and carnival traditions
The country has a global influence that belies its small size; it was the birthplace of the Rastafari religion, reggae music and is internationally prominent in sports, most notably cricket, sprinting and athletics. Jamaicans in the United Kingdom number an estimated 800,000 making them by far the country's largest African-Caribbean group.
Ackee and Saltfish is the national dish. Ackee is a brightly coloured fruit that is inedible until cooked. Saltfish, also known as codfish, is the meat component of this Jamaican recipe, served with rice.
The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, reggae fusion and related styles. Reggae is especially popular through the international fame of Bob Marley. Jamaican music's influence on music styles in other countries includes the practice of toasting, which was brought to New York City and evolved into rapping.
Mento is a style of Jamaican music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box—a large mbira in the shape of a box that can be sat on while played. Mento and calypso music in Jamaica have found their own hybrid styles.
From early in the 20th century, Jamaica produced many notable jazz musicians. Supported by the Alpha Boys School in Kingston, which provided training and music education, many students were nurtured who then left for USA or UK to become professional musicians. Notable were alto saxophonist Joe Harriott trumpeters Dizzy Reece, Leslie 'Jiver' Hutchinson and Leslie Thompson, bassist Coleridge Goode, guitarist Ernest Ranglin and pianist Monty Alexander.
Ska as a music genre originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and combined elements of Caribbean mento, calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and skinheads.
Reggae is one of the music genres first created in Jamaica. In the late 1960s, reggae genre grew from early Ska and Rocksteady, but came into its own style of Jamaican authenticity, through Bob Marley and the Wailers. Marley became a Rastafarian and his lyrics about love, redemption and natural beauty captivated audiences. He met and married fellow singer songwriter in Kingston in 1966 and travelled the world singing about social justice and peace until an untimely death in 1981 at the age of 36. He gained international headlines for embracing independence in Zimbabwe and negotiating a truce in 1978 in Jamaica between the two opposing political parties (at the One Love Concert), to reconcile the political violence between them. Reggae and ska had a massive influence on British punk rock and new wave bands of the 1970s, such as The Clash , Elvis Costello and the Attractions, The Police, The Slits, and The Ruts.
Whilst reggae music is not the best beat for carnival dance, Jamaican carnival has taken root in Kingston since the 1990s, inspired by the traditions of Trinidad and Tobago.Jamaica has world famous athletes such as Usain Bolt, who holds the world record for 100 metres, 200 metres and the 4x100 metres relay. He is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three Olympics (2008,2012 and 2016). Chris Gayle is the most capped West Indian Cricket player with triple hundreds, breaking Brian Lara’s record. Yohan Blake, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Courtney Walsh are also well known on the international Olympic and Cricket records.
