Jamaica

**Jamaica** is an island country in the Caribbean; it is part of the Greater Antilles. The island,  in area, lies about  south of Cuba, and  west of Hispaniola. Its capital city is Kingston; other towns include Montego Bay, St. Ann's Bay and Spanish Town. The island is divided into three counties – Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey – which are subdivided into 14 parishes: Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, St. James, Trelawny, St. Ann, St. Mary, Portland and St. Thomas.

Jamaica is the third-largest island country in the Greater Antilles. Its Taíno name is *Xaymaca*, meaning "Land of Springs". Jamaica is part of the West Indies.

## History of Jamaica 
The Taino indigenous people, originating in South America, settled on the island between 4000 and 1000&nbsp;BC. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494, there were more than 200 villages ruled by *caciques* (chiefs of villages). The south coast of Jamaica was the most populated, especially around the area now known as Old Harbour.

In 1503, during his fourth voyage, Columbus had to spend one year on the northern coast of the island, and he named the island *Isla de Santiago* (by Sant Iago Apostol, in Spanish *Santiago*).

In 1509, the new Governor of the Hispaniola, Diego Columbus, sent Juan de Esquivel, a Conquistador born in Seville, Spain, with 70 men to Jamaica to complete the conquest of that island. They first lived in the St. Ann's Bay area and soon Esquivel founded a town, *Sevilla La Nueva* (in English, "The New Seville") on the north coast, one mile to the west of St. Ann's Bay.

Sevilla was abandoned around 1524 because it was deemed unhealthy.

### British rule
In 1654 Oliver Cromwell decided to break the Spanish control of the West Indies and he sent a fleet in an expedition) led by William Penn and General Robert Venables. The fleet arrived to the Santo Domingo island on 13 April 1655 but the British lost in two battles on 17 and 25 April and they decided to move to Jamaica.

On 10 May 1655, Penn and Venables led a successful attack on Jamaica. The Spanish surrendered to the English, freed their slaves and then fled to Cuba. It was this set of freed slaves and their descendants living in the Jamaican mountains who became known as the Maroons.

## Government and politics
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Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with King Charles III serving as the monarch. However, as Charles III is shared as head of state of fifteen other countries (the Commonwealth realm) in addition to the UK and resides mostly in the United Kingdom, he is thus often represented as King of Jamaica in Jamaica and abroad by the Governor-General of Jamaica. The governor-general is nominated by the Prime Minister of Jamaica and appointed by the monarch. All the members of the Cabinet are appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister. The monarch and the governor-general serve largely ceremonial roles.

The Parliament of Jamaica is bicameral. This means that it consists of two Houses, the Senate, also called the Upper House, and the House of Representatives, also known as the Lower House. The members of the House (known as Members of Parliament or *MPs*) are elected by the people of Jamaica. The leader of the political party with most members in the House of Representatives is appointed by the governor-general to be the prime minister. Senators are nominated jointly by the prime minister and the parliamentary leader of the opposition and are then appointed by the governor-general.

Tarch 2016. Prime Minister Holness acts as head of government of Jamaica.

Jamaica has traditionally had a system of two parties, with power often alternating between the People's National Party and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The party with current administrative and legislative power is Jamaica Labour Party, with a two-thirds Parliamentary majority as of 2016.

### Parishes
Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes, which are grouped into three historic counties that have no administrative relevance.

## Population
### Demographics
In 2011 (last national census), there were 2,697,983 people living in Jamaica: 1,334,533 men and 1,363,450 women. There were 1,453,438 (53.9%) living in towns and cities. The population density was 245.5 persons/km².

The following table shows the parishes with their populations in the 2011 census.

### Language
The official language of Jamaica is English and the population also speaks Jamaican Creole English.

### Religion
The people of Jamaica is 62.5% Protestant (10.8% Seventh-day Adventist Church, 9.5% Pentecostal, 8.3 Other Church of God, 7.2% Baptist, 6.3% New Testament Church of God, 4.8% Church of God in Jamaica, 4.3% Church of God of Prophecy, 3.6% Anglicans, 7.7% other Christian), 2.6% Catholics, 14.2% other or unspecified, 20.9% none.

## Geography
 map of Jamaica]]
Jamaica is between latitudes 17° 42"N and 18° 31"N and longitudes 78° 22"W and 76° 11", that is between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer. It has an area of .

The **Blue Mountains** are the longest mountain range in Jamaica. They include the island's highest point, Blue Mountain Peak, at . It rises close to the island's geographic centre, flows generally south-southwest and reaches the Caribbean Sea at Carlisle Bay in the central south coast, to the west of the island's southernmost point, Portland Point.

The **Black River** is one of the longest rivers in Jamaica. At a length of , it was believed to be the longest until it was discovered that the Rio Minho was longer. It was originally called Rio Caobana.

## Famous people 
The island is known for the Rastafarian movement, as well as reggae artist Bob Marley. The popular sprinter Usain Bolt is also an asset from the country. Usain Bolt won gold in the 100 and 200 races in Rio 2016. England goalkeeper Joe Hart is also born in Jamaica. The captain of AS Roma Lorenzo Pellegrini is also born in Jamaica.

## References
## Other websites