Jamaica
Country in the Caribbean Sea From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jamaica (/dʒəˈmeɪkə/ jə-MAY-kə; Jamaican Patois: Jumieka [dʒʌˈmie̯ka]) is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi), it is the third largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean.[9] Jamaica lies about 145 km (90 mi) south of Cuba, 191 km (119 mi) west of Hispaniola (the island containing Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and 215 km (134 mi) south-east of the Cayman Islands (a British Overseas Territory).[9]
Jamaica | |
|---|---|
| Motto: "Out of Many, One People" | |
| Anthem: "Jamaica, Land We Love" | |
.svg) | |
| Capital and largest city | Kingston 17°58′17″N 76°47′35″W |
| Official languages | English |
| Vernacular language | Jamaican Patois |
| Ethnic groups |
|
| Religion |
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| Demonym(s) | Jamaican |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
• Monarch | Charles III |
| Patrick Allen | |
| Andrew Holness | |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| Senate | |
| House of Representatives | |
| Independence from the United Kingdom | |
• Granted | 6 August 1962 |
| Area | |
• Total | 10,991 km2 (4,244 sq mi) (160th) |
• Water (%) | 1.5 |
| Population | |
• 2019 estimate | 2,734,092[3] (137th) |
• 2011 census | 2,697,983[4] |
• Density | 266[5]/km2 (688.9/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total |  $35.690 billion[6] (143rd) |
• Per capita | $12,994[6] (134th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $18.761 billion[6] (119th) |
• Per capita | $6,830[6] (101st) |
| Gini (2016) |  35[7]medium inequality |
| HDI (2022) | 0.706[8] high (115th) |
| Currency | Jamaican dollar (JMD) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 |
| Drives on | left |
| Calling code | +1-876 +1-658 (Overlay of 876) |
| ISO 3166 code | JM |
| Internet TLD | .jm |
The indigenous Taíno peoples of the island gradually came under Spanish rule after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Many of the indigenous people either were killed or died of diseases, after which the Spanish brought large numbers of Africans to Jamaica as slaves.[9] The island remained a possession of Spain, under the name Santiago, until 1655, when England (part of what would become the Kingdom of Great Britain) conquered it and named it Jamaica. It became an important part of the colonial British West Indies. Under Britain's colonial rule, Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with a plantation economy dependent on continued importation of African slaves and their descendants. The British fully emancipated all slaves in 1838, and many freedmen chose to have subsistence farms rather than to work on pla