Jamaica Culture, Map, Flag, Tourist Places

Jamaica is an island in the West Indies, 90 mi (145 km) south of Cuba and 100 mi (161 km) west of Haiti. It is a little smaller than Connecticut. The island is made up of coastal lowlands, a limestone plateau, and the Blue Mountains, a group of volcanic hills, in the east.

Jamaica is populated by over 2 million people, largely descendents of the freed African slaves brought over to the island by the spanish and British. Jamaica is classified as a developing country. Tourism and mining are the two most profitable economic sectors along with agriculture and manufacturing. Jamaica has been an independent country since 1962 when it ceased to be a British colony but remains part of the British Commonwealth.

The average temperature in Jamaica is 82° F and remains consistent throughout the year. Daytime highs are a bit hotter. The northeast trade winds keep you from feeling overwhelmed despite the high humidly levels. Rainfall varies with the seasons; however, on average the island receives 78 inches per year, the bulk of which is in the Blue Mountains. Short heavy downpours are common on the coasts.

The official language of Jamaica is English. However, most likely you will hear traces of what sounds like a foreign tongue. The language on the streets is called Patois. Patois is a combination of English, spanish. Portuguese and African phrases which sounds more rhythmic then traditional English.


Major Attractions of Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica
Overwhelming and fascinating in equal measure, Jamaica capital Kingston is quite unlike anywhere else in the Caribbean. Given its troubled reputation, it's hardly surprising that few tourists visit, and while the scare stories are absurdly exaggerated, Kingston is certainly not a place for the faint-hearted. In the 1950s, Ian Fleming called it a "tough city", and that still holds true today: Jamaica's capital is rough and ready, a little uncompromising, but always exciting.

Montego Bay, Jamaica
Montego Bay was once unashamedly Jamaica's tourist capital. Hundreds of Jamaica visitors flooded in every day, seduced by a heavily marketed Caribbean dream of swaying palm trees, lilting reggae and cocktails at sunset. In recent years the steady flow of tourists has moved on to the more expansive Jamaica charms of Negril or laid-back Treasure Beach. In many ways though, Montego Bay still delivers; sitting pretty in a sweeping natural harbor, hemmed in by a dazzling labyrinth of protected offshore reefs, and cradled by a majestic arc of hills.

Negril, Jamaica
Jamaica's shrine to permissive indulgence, Negril has metamorphosed from deserted fishing beach to full-blown resort town in little over two decades. Though it's hard to imagine once you've seen today's overdeveloped strip, in the late 1960s the population was well under a hundred and the only visitors were day-tripping Jamaicans. By the 1970s, hippies had discovered a virgin paradise of palms and pristine sand, and the picture of beach camping, ganja smoking and chemically enhanced sunsets set the tone for today's free-spirited attitude.


National Name: Jamaica
Area: 4,244 sq mi (10,991 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 2,758,124 (growth rate: 0.8%); birth rate: 20.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 16.0/1000; life expectancy: 73.2; density per sq mi: 660
Capital: Kingston
Currency : Jamaican dollar
Languages: English, Jamaican Creole
Ethnicity/race: black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1%
Religions: Protestant 61.3% (Church of God 21.2%, Baptist 8.8%, Anglican 5.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Methodist 2.7%, United Church 2.7%, Brethren 1.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.6%, Moravian 1.1%), Roman Catholic 4%, other including some spiritual cults 34.7%
Literacy: 88% Approx.