The Jamaica is an island of the Caribbean Sea. It constitutes an independent country, belonging to the the Antilles, located at the south of Cuba and the west of the island Hispaniola, territory of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
History
See also: History of Jamaica
The name of the country comes from Xamayca , meaning the ground of wood and water, in language of the Arawak S populates of South America, which colonized the island towards the Années 1000. Jamaica was annexed by the Spain after Christophe Colomb unloaded in 1494 there, there creating the Sevilla city Nueva. Colomb employed it as a private field of its family. Later, the Spaniards give up Sevilla Nueva on the northern coast, too inhospitable, to settle in the rich and fertile plains south. They thus created a new city: St Jago of Vega. The Arawaks constituted the first labor of slaves for the Spaniards. The near total of the Arawaks was quickly decimated by the ill treatments and the diseases brought by Europeans. One did not count already any more a autochtones at the end of the 16th century. The Spaniards went to capture black slaves.
The English admiral Penn and the Venables general seized the island in 1655 which became officially a British colony in 1670, meanwhile, the majority of the Spanish colonists had left the island for Cuba remained Spanish. The admiral Penn gives to St Jago of Vega the name of Spanish Town. During the 200 years of British reign, Jamaica became the largest exporter of Sucre in the world. The dedicated use of Esclave S by the Great Britain had like consequence to make of Jamaica one of the principal turntables of the treats Blacks, and at the end of the 18th century, the island counted 300.000 slaves; at the beginning of the 19th century, the black population was in proportion of 20 against 1. A series of revolts followed. During this time, the British had much evil to track the Nègres chestnuts, these slaves who succeeded in fleeing.
After the abolition of slavery in 1833, the Affranchi S left the plantations to be established on unoccupied grounds of the interior of the country, ruining the economy based on the large farms of cane with sugar. The economy remained nevertheless dominated by a minority of white growers and the black population started to rebel against discriminatory measurements whose it was the object. In front of the indifference of the British government, a rebellion burst with Morant Bay in 1865, followed by a movement of revolt which extended to all the country. This rebellion leads to the abolition of the local Assemblée and to the establishment of a colonial Gouvernement concerning Crown. It was finally controlled by the British authorities only in 1884. The nationalist movements developed under the impulse of two leaders jamaïcains, Alexander Bustamante (1884-1977) and Norman Washington Manley (1893-1969). Initially allied then political adversaries, they alternated with the capacity. Manley reached the post of Prime Minister in 1955 and was a partisan of the unit of the the anglophone Caribbean, this one being briefly carried out in the Fédération of the Western Indies (1958-1962). Jamaica obtained its independence, within the framework of the the Commonwealth, on August 6th, 1962.
Policy
See also: Political of Jamaica
Jamaica is a Constitutional monarchy, the Head of State is the monarch, currently the queen Elisabeth II of the United Kingdom.
Member of the the Commonwealth since its independence in 1962.
Geography
See also: Geography of Jamaica
The island of Jamaica consists of mountains inside the grounds, surrounded by a narrow coastal plain. For this reason, all the principal cities are located on the coast. The main cities are Kingston, the capital, and Montego Bay. The mountainous chains jamaïcaines are called the Blue Mountains; they belong to the more high summits of the Antilles.
The climate jamaïcain is tropical, with a hot and wet time, although the grounds have a climate more moderated. Precipitations are very unequal from one area to another (the more exposed North-East) and are more abundant from June to December. Risks of cyclone weigh on L `island at the end of the summer and at the beginning of L `autumn.
Economy
See also: Economy of Jamaica
The economy of Jamaica is strongly based on exports of Bauxite and the Tourisme.
Demography
See also: Demography of Jamaica
Almost the whole of the population is made up of blacks going down from the slaves. The white minority (1%) however always played a big role in policy and in the economy. There is also a considerable minority of Asian immigrants .
Culture
See also: Culture of Jamaica
Music
Jamaica saw being born from the Musical genres with success, in particular the Mento, the Ska, the Rocksteady, the Reggae, the Dub, the Ragga, and the Dancehall. Illustrated themselves in this field Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Laurel Aitken, Peter Tosh, U-Roy, Barrington Levy, Jacob Miller, Dennis Brown, Lee Perry, King Tubby, Dillinger, Garnett Silk, Capleton or Sizzla. (See Musics of Jamaica).
Religion
Christianity
See also: Parishes of Jamaica
Christianity is the majority religion in Jamaica. Jamaica is subdivided in 3 counties and 14 Paroisse S:
-
County of Surrey in the east, which contains the parishes of:
- Kingston ;
- Portland cement;
- Holy Andrew;
- Holy Thomas.
-
County of Middlesex in the center, which contains the parishes of:
- Clarendon ;
- Manchester;
- Holy Ass;
- Holy Catherine;
- Holy Mary.
-
County of Cornwall in the west, which contains the parishes of:
- Hanover ;
- Holy Elizabeth;
- Holy James;
- Trelawny;
- Westmoreland.
Movement Rastafari
Three jamaïcains out of four are of African origin.
For Jamaïcains, followers of the culture Rastafari, God is called Jah, their island native is ground of exile. And they dream of a return towards mythical Africa. A dream which creates a new culture caribéenne on the rate/rhythm of the Reggae, of the Nyabinghi.
Marcus Garvey promoter of the return of the descendants of the black slaves towards Africa is regarded as a prophet.
See too
External bonds
Beats-smg: Jamaika Be-X-old: Ямайка Nds-nl: Jamaika Simple: Jamaica Zh-min-nan: Jamaica