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| Independence Year : 1962 Population : 2583000 Life Expectancy : 75.2 Capital : 1530 GNP : 6871.00 GNP Old : 6722.00 Local Name : Jamaica Government Form :Constitutional Monarchy Location : Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba Terrain : Mountainous, less than one-fifth of the land is relatively flat Climate : Jamaica's climate is tropical marine. The mountainous terrain, the north-east trade winds and land-sea breezes modify the climate Ethnic Group : multi-ethnic society, with blacks predominating - 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, Chinese 0.2%, White 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1%. Religions : Anglican, Baptist and other Protestant, Roman Catholic, Rastafarian, Jewish Official Website :www.cabinet.gov.jm |  Genral Information - Jamaica Background Jamaica is the third largest of the Caribbean islands, and the largest English-speaking island in the Caribbean Sea. Situated 90 miles south of Cuba, 600 miles south of Florida, USA, and 100 miles south-west of Haiti. In pre-columbian times Jamaica was inhabited by an estimated 60,000 Arawak Indians. In 1494 Christopher Columbus "discovered" the island and claimed it at once for the King and Queen of Spain. In 1517 first Africans brought to Jamaica by the Spaniards. The British arrived in 1655, defeated the Spaniards and claimed the island for the King of England. By the late 17th and early 18th centuries the island was virtually divided. Colonial planters and their slaves inhabited and worked in the costal plains, while high up in the Blue Mountains there lived fugitive slaves, the free community of the Maroons. More than 300 years later on August 6, 1962, Jamaica became an independent sovereign state and a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. |
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