Jamaica

For other uses, see Jamaica (disambiguation).

Jamaica is a country in the Caribbean Sea, located south of Cuba and to the west of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated.

Jamaica

Flag of Jamaica Jamaica: Coat of Arms (In Detail)
National motto: Out of Many One People
Official language	English
Capital and largest city	Kingston
Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
Governor-General	Sir Howard Cooke
Prime Minister	Percival James Patterson
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 159th 10,991 km² 1.5
Population  - Total  - Density	Ranked 135th 2,695,867 (July 2003) 245/km²
Independence  - Date	From W.Indies Fed and the UK August 6, 1962
Currency	Dollar
Time zone	UTC -5
National anthem	Jamaica, Land We Love
Internet TLD	.jm
Calling Code	1-876

History

Main article: History of Jamaica

". …there silhouetted against the evening sky, arose sheer and darkly green Xamayca. It is the fairest island that eyes have beheld: mountainous and the land seems to touch the sky; very large, bigger then Sicily, and full of valleys and fields and plains." Christopher Columbus

The name of the country derives from the name Xamayca, meaning land of wood and water, given to it by the original Arawak or Taino people from South America, who first settled there around the year 1000 - 400 BC.

They are thought to have come to Jamaica in two major waves. The first wave of people came in 650 AD, and the second in 900 AD. they were then joined by the Caribs, who came from Guiana. While the Arawaks were a peaceful people, it is said that the Caribs were cannibalistic and fierce fighters. Much fighting arose between these two groups.

Jamaica was claimed for Spain after Christopher Columbus first landed there in 1494. Columbus used it as his family's private estate. Spanish settlers arrived from 1510, raising cattle and pigs, and introducing two things that would profoundly shape the island's future: sugar and slaves.

By the end of the 16th century the Arawak population had been entirely wiped out, suffering from hard labor, ill-treatment and European diseases to which they had no resistance.

Vast numbers died as a result of forced labor and thousands more committed suicide by hanging themselves or drinking poisonous cassava juice to escape from their bondage. Mothers are said to have murdered their children rather then let them grow up and suffer the slavery they had known under Spanish rule.

It is estimated that somewhere between 30,000 and 80,000 Irish were shipped to Jamaica from Ireland between 1640 and 1841. Captured Irish rebels and criminals were unwillingly sent to the West Indies to serve unspecified terms as indentured laborers.

In 1654 an ill-equipped and badly organized English contingent under Admiral William Penn sailed to the Caribbean. After failing to take Hispaniola, the English turned their sights on a weakly defended Jamaica. Despite the ongoing efforts of Spanish loyalists and guerilla-style campaigns of freed Spanish slaves called Maroons, England took control of the island.

Investment and further settlement hastened as profits began to accrue from cocoa, coffee, and sugarcane production. But with Britain constantly at war with France or Spain, effective control of the island was often entrusted to buccaneers, who committed themselves to lives of piracy against the Spaniards. Depending on whether Britain and Spain had just signed or just broken peace agreements, Britain was either supporting the buccaneers, or helping Spain repel them.

Slave rebellions didn't make life any easier for the English as escaped slaves joined with descendants of the Maroons, engaging in extended ambush-style campaigns, and eventually forcing the English to grant the Maroons autonomy in 1739.

New slaves kept arriving, however, most were put to work on sugar plantations in appalling conditions. Slaves were burnt, strangled and otherwise tortured to terrorize them into obedience. There were constant insurrections, especially after word of the American War of Independence and the French Revolution reached the islands.

The last and largest of the slave revolts in Jamaica was the 1831 Christmas Rebellion, inspired by 'Daddy' Sam Sharpe, an educated slave and lay preacher who incited passive resistance. The rebellion turned violent, however, as up to 20,000 slaves razed plantations and murdered planters. But the slaves were tricked into laying down arms with a false promise of abolition, and 400 of the conspirators were hanged and hundreds more whipped. News of the savage reprisals shocked British consciences, causing the provisional Jamaican parliament to finally abolish slavery on August 1, 1834.

"He (Sharp) referred to the manifold evils and injustice of slavery; asserted the natural equality of man with regard to freedom; and, referring to the Holy Scriptures as his authority, denied the white man had any more right to hold blacks in bondage then the blacks had to enslave the white."

From 1845 to 1921, over 36,000 East Indians, mainly of the Hindu faith, were brought to Jamaica. Close to two-thirds of them remained. Following the abolition of slavery in the 1830s, after failed attempts to source much-needed labour through bountied European immigration, the Jamaican Government turned to India and China. Indian labourers who had already proved successful in Mauritius, were therefore considered to be a good bet for survival in Jamaica.

They were, however, paid less than the ex-slaves and therefore originally lodged at the bottom of the society. Ironically, under the terms of their caste system, which valued light skin over dark, they in turn looked down on the ex-slaves. Relations between the two groups did not therefore begin on the best of footings.

In 1865 the feeling of economical oppression of Black laborers became so turgid that it finally burst. In 1864 Governor Eyre took over the task as Administrator over the island. The economically situation had become so terrible in Jamaica that many felt that there was nowhere to go except up. This, however, was proved drastically wrong with the introduction of Eyre into the scene. Eyre gave virtually no concern to the workers of Jamaica in an attempt to revise the system, and simply brought in a harsh tyrannical rule over the country. The people of Jamaica had had enough oppression by this time and in 1865 rebellion occurred in the area of Morant Bay. Many government officials were killed in the revolt but it was quickly overthrown as to the fact that many Blacks had very few means of defense. It did, however, prove very powerful in compelling the country to take a step away from the more tyrannical approach of ruling the country. Eyre was removed from office and Jamaica broke free from the "representative institution" that it had been for so many years.

In 1888, more than 800 additional Chinese arrived and the Jamaican business community began to get nervous. Fearful that they would lose control of the retail grocery trade, they lobbied the Jamaican Government to impose the first in a set of immigration laws that would make it more difficult for Chinese immigrants to come to the island. The new restrictions went into effect in 1905. Immigrants were now required to register with the authorities and provide a guarantee from a reliable person as to the soundness of their characters. In 1910, new and even harsher conditions were added. Chinese immigrants arriving subsequent to that date had to pay a £30 deposit upon landing and also pass a physical and a test showing that they could write and speak 50 words in 3 different languages. This law made it more difficult but not impossible for already settled Chinese-Jamaicans to send for their relatives.

By the mid-1920s the total number of Chinese who emigrated to Jamaica numbered close to 4,000. By 1930, an additional 2,000 Chinese had arrived. In 1931, however, the Jamaican Government issued a decree that no passport was to be issued to Chinese coming to Jamaica excepting to those under 14 years old who were allowed student permits. This was largely a result of ill-will towards the Chinese who had by this time branched out into laundries, restaurants and bakeries in addition to retail groceries. They were doing well on the island, contributing to national development while providing for the families. In the 1930s, during the labour riots, not surprisingly, many Chinese groceries were looted and robbed, and in some cases, their owners murdered. This decree stood until 1947 when the Chinese consulate (established in the 1920s and largely supported by the Jamaican-Chinese community) in Kingston succeeded in persuading the Jamaican Government to relax these restrictions, remove the quota system that had been placed on wives and children and parents and allow Chinese immigrants to send for their family members.

In the 1890's the Lebanese began arriving in Jamaica. Unlike their fellow immigrants from China and India who had begun arriving in Jamaica in the mid-19th century, the Lebanese did not land on the island as indentured labourers. They, like the Jews that had come centuries before, arrived by their own free will, albeit fleeing religious persecution.

Most of those that fled were Christians who suffered religious persecution at the hands of the Muslim Turks who controlled most of the area under the Ottoman Empire. At the time, that region of the Middle East contained people from an area known as Mount Lebanon which was then part of Syria ­ hence the common confusion between the terms Syrian and Lebanese and why they tend to be used interchangeably. Having heard of the wonders of the New World, a place where the streets were supposedly paved with gold that was there for the taking provided one worked hard enough, many sought to escape as quickly as possible and build new lives for themselves and their families.

The period after 1944 not only saw major political changes, but also major transformations of the structure of the economy. From a monocrop export economy, the economy became diversified around the export of sugar, bananas and other agricultural commodities, the export of bauxite and alumina, and the tourist industry. These in turn, stimulated a vibrant construction industry, and an import substituting manufacturing sector. The USA displaced the UK as Jamaica's principal trading partner. There was also a tremendous migration of labor to the UK and the USA which needed labor for the post-war reconstruction and expansion of their economies.

The post-war boom in the economy continued through the 60's, though it gradually slowed down, with the completion of the investment cycle of the bauxite/alumina industry. By the end of the decade, there were well established mining, tourism, manufacturing, and construction sectors, alongside the traditional agricultural and distribution sectors.

Political Independence was granted in 1962, following Jamaica's rejection, by referendum, of membership in the Federation of the West Indies. Jamaica was given a Westminister style constitution, with a Governor-general as the representative of the British Crown, and a bicameral Parliament. There is a House of Representatives consisting of elected representatives and a Senate appointed by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The government is headed by a Prime Minister, who is required to consult with the Governor General and the Leader of the Opposition on certain matters. The first two governments were formed by the JLP, which had opposed membership in the Federation.

Between 1972 and 1980, the PNP, the other major political party, held political office and initiated a shift in major economic policies. Most notable was the imposition of the Bauxite Levy in 1974, in order to increase Jamaica's share of the income in that industry. The government positioned the state in the leadership role within the process of economic development, with a view to attenuating and rectifying the inherited economic inequalities.

Related to this was an ideology of social reform to protect the weakest sections of the population, and to promote the welfare of the poor through subsidized food, housing, education, health, and other important social services. In international affairs, Jamaica opened up relations with many non-capitalist countries, and promoted the solidarity of the Third World in international negotiations with the advanced countries.

The international economy was quite unfavorable for a number of reasons. The main ones were the weakness of the aluminum market, and hence, the bauxite industry, the inflation of oil and food prices, and the decline and reversal of capital inflows for private investment. All of this contributed to the decline in the economy, with the attendant problems of unemployment, inflation, and growing external indebtedness. By the end of the decade, the government sought assistance from the IMF and the World Bank, and since then these two institutions, along with the USAID, have determined the policy framework of the government.

From 1980 to 1989, the JLP held political office. They were committed to the same free market development policies as the IMF, the World Bank, and the USAID. Because of a special political relationship with the Reagan administration, Jamaica benefited from generous USA assistance in the first half of the decade. The economy was substantially deregulated, the currency was devalued, and many public enterprises were divested in the process of adjustment, which has now been on-going for some 14 years.

The eighties saw the development of Free Zone manufacturing especially of garments for export to the USA, the gradual recovery of bauxite/alumina production, and the rapid growth of tourism from North America. In the process, the traditional international economic relations, particularly with the USA, were strengthened at the expense of regional relations, such as Caricom trade.

The eighties also saw large volumes of emigrants, primarily to the USA, swelling the ranks of established overseas Jamaican communities, and creating new ones. Jamaicans are contributing in every sphere of human activity, and distinguishing themselves in cultural activities, such as music, and sports. In addition, Jamaicans have been accumulating significant quantities of wealth in assets in the USA and other countries.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Jamaica

Jamaica is an independent country, completely self-governed since 1962 when the island ceased to be a British colony. Jamaica is governed by a parliamentary democracy, After Independence, Jamaica chose to be a part of the British Commonwealth, and to keep the Queen of the United Kingdom as the constitutional monarch, the titular head of the country. The Government of Jamaica was patterned on the Westminster model of government, and is composed of the Queen as head of state, and a bicameral Parliament. In Jamaica, the Governor General, who is appointed by Her Majesty upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Jamaica, represents the Queen.

The Jamaica Constitution, 1962 was drafted by a bipartisan joint committee of the Jamaican legislature in 1961-62, approved in the United Kingdom and included as the Second Schedule of the Jamaica (Constitution) Order in Council, 1962 under the West Indies Act, 1962. It came into force with the Jamaica Independence Act, 1962 of the United Kingdom Parliament, which gave Jamaica political independence.

The Jamaican Parliament is bicameral, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Members of the House (known as 'Members of Parliament' or MPs) are directly elected, and the leader of the majority party in the House becomes the Prime Minister. Senators are appointed by the Prime Minister, and the parliamentary Leader of the Opposition.

The current Prime Minister of Jamaica is Percival Patterson who has held office since the 1992 resignation of Michael Manley. He has been since re-elected three times, the last being in 2002.

Jamaica has traditionally had a two party system, with power often alternating between the People's National Party and Jamaican Labour Party.

Jamaica is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Parishes

Main article: Parishes of Jamaica

Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes:

• Clarendon
• Hanover
• Kingston
• Manchester
• Portland
• Saint Andrew
• Saint Ann
• Saint Catherine
• Saint Elizabeth
• Saint James
• Saint Mary
• Saint Thomas
• Trelawny
• Westmoreland

Geography

Main article: Geography of Jamaica

The island of Jamaica has mountainous inlands surrounded by a narrow coastal plain. For this reason, all major cities are located on the coast. Chief towns include the capital Kingston and Montego Bay.

The climate in Jamaica is tropical, with hot and humid weather, although inland regions have a more temperate climate.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Jamaica

Jamaica operates as a mixed, free market economy with state enterprises as well as private sector businesses. Major sectors of the Jamaican economy include agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism and financial and insurance services. Tourism and mining are the leading foreign exchange earners.

Supported by multilateral financial institutions, Jamaica has, since the early 1980's, sought to implement structural reforms aimed at fostering private sector activity and increasing the role of market forces in resource allocation. Since 1991, the Government has followed a program of economic liberalization and stabilization by removing exchange controls, floating the exchange rate, cutting tariffs, stabilizing the Jamaican currency, reducing inflation and removing restrictions on foreign investment. Emphasis has been placed on maintaining strict fiscal discipline, greater openness to trade and financial flows, market liberalization and reduction in the size of government. During this period, a large share of the economy was returned to private sector ownership through divestment and privatization programs.

The macroeconomic stabilization program introduced in 1991, which focused on tight fiscal and monetary policies, has contributed to a controlled reduction in the rate of inflation. The annual inflation rate has decreased from a high of 80.2% in 1991 to 7.9% in 1998. inflation for FY1998/99 was 6.2% compared to 7.2% in the corresponding period in FY1997/98. The Government remains committed to lowering inflation, with a long-term objective of bringing it in line with that of its major trading partners.

After a period of steady growth from 1985 to 1995, real GDP decreased by 1.8% and 2.4% in 1996 and 1997, respectively. The decrease in GDP in 1996 and 1997 was largely due to significant problems in the financial sector and, in 1997, a severe island-wide drought (the worst in 70 years) that drastically reduced agricultural production. In 1997, nominal GDP was approximately J$220,556.2 million (US$6,198.9 million based on the average annual exchange rate of the period). The economy in 1997 was marked by low levels of import growth, high levels of private capital inflows and relative stability in the foreign exchange market.

Recent economic performance shows the Jamaican economy is recovering. Agricultural production, an important engine of growth increased 15.3% in third quarter of 1998 compared to the corresponding period in 1997, signaling the first positive growth rate in the sector since January 1997. Bauxite and alumina production increased 5.5% from January to December, 1998 compared to the corresponding period in 1997. January's Bauxite production recorded a 7.1% increase relative to January 1998. Tourism, which is the largest foreign exchange earner, showed improvement as well. Growth in tourist arrivals accelerated in the third quarter of 1998 and tourism earnings, increased 8.5% from January to December 31, 1998 compared to the corresponding period in 1997.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Jamaica

Jamaica is mainly a blend of African and Anglo-Irish cultures, with influences from the Spanish and Taino cultures, although the Tainos as a people were completely wiped out by the Spanish soon after their arrival in 1494. These Tainos (sub-Arawaks) were known for archery and have left many remnants of their culture in artifacts and in at least one popular food (bammy- a small flat cake made of grated cassava).The majority of the population is of mixed race, of Black, Indian, Chinese and British, Irish and other European heritage. People of single race compose a tiny minority, less than 1% of the population. This ethnic diversity is what led to the composition of Jamaica's motto: "Out of Many One People."

The official language is English, although the patois form Jamaican English is widely spoken. About three-quarter of the Jamaicans practice Christianity, with a Protestant majority and Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, and Roman Catholic minorities. The island has also historically maintained strong Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Bahai communities. Rastafarianism is not so much a religion as it is a way of life, much of the Rastafarian belief system was cobbled together from other belief systems as well as African Animist and Coptic mysticism, and heavily influenced by the Hinduism brought to the island by Asian Indian laborers.

Over the past several decades, hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans have emigrated, especially to the United States but also to Canada and the United Kingdom. This emigration appears to have been tapering off somewhat in recent years.

Culture

Main articles: Culture of Jamaica, Music of Jamaica

Though a small nation, Jamaica is rich in culture, and has a strong global presence.

The musical genres rocksteady & calypso gave birth to offshoots like reggae, ska, and, more recently, dancehall originated in Jamaica. Bob Marley, perhaps the best known reggae musician, was born in Jamaica, and is very respected.

Jamaican Jews have contributed much to the island's rich history and cuture. Poet Daniel Lopez Laguna, 1635-1730, a survivor of the Spanish Inquisition who converted biblical Psalms into poems. A book of these poems, "Espejo Fiel de Vidas," The True Mirror of Life, was published in 1720 and holds the distinction of being the first book to be published in Jamaica under British rule. 19th century painter Isaac Mendes Belisario, whose famed "Belisario" prints of Jamaican characters are cultural icons, now featured on a series of Jamaican stamps. Newspapermen Jacob and Joshua de Cordova, who founded the "Gleaner" in 1833. Jacob went on to found the city of Waco, Texas.

Ward Theatre architect Rudolph Henriques, a noted artist whose firm Henriques and Sons was awarded the commission in a competition. The majestic landmark was built in 1912. Jorge Ricardo Isaacs, 1837-1895, author of Maria, considered the "national novel" of Columbia. Sir Neville Noel Ashenheim, a member of a family known as legal luminaries, served as Jamaica's first ambassador to Washington, 1960s. Richard Stern, the Hon. Ernest Altamont da Costa and Councillor Senator Hon. Eli Matalon, served as Mayors of Kingston in 1896-97, 1925-27 and 1971-73 respectively. The Matalon family, known as one of Jamaica's longstanding captains of industry and supporter of the arts.

Chinese and East Indian Jamaicans have also made significant contributions to the Island, and Jamaica's chinese population is the largest in the Caribbean. Anglican priest Easton Lee, explores his Chinese Jamaican roots in the book Encounters: Poems from a Chinese-Jamaican Experience.

• National Bird - Doctor bird (Swallowtail Hummingbird)
• National Flower - Lignum Vitae
• National Tree - Blue Mahoe

Miscellaneous topics

• Geography of Jamaica
• Communications in Jamaica
• Transportation in Jamaica
• Military of Jamaica
• Foreign relations of Jamaica
• Technology in Jamaica
• Public Holidays in Jamaica
• Marcus Garvey
• List of famous people from Jamaica

External links

• Cabinet Official Website
• Jamaica national symbols
• Jamaica Tourist Board Official Website
• Yard-links: Travel guide with island photography and information about the cities