Jamaica
Discover Jamaica
Introduction
Jamaica is the third-largest island in the Caribbean — about 11,000 square kilometres, with some 2.8 million people — and it exerts a cultural influence out of all proportion to that size. Reggae, ska, dancehall, Rastafari and the world's fastest sprinters all came from here.
The Taíno called it Xaymaca, generally rendered as land of wood and water, which still describes it. A mountain spine runs the length of the island and rises to Blue Mountain Peak at 2,256 metres — high enough to be cold, and to grow the coffee the island is known for. The interior behind it is limestone Cockpit Country, a maze of sinkholes and conical hills that has never been fully mapped.
That interior is the reason for one of Jamaica's defining stories. Enslaved people who escaped into it — the Maroons — fought the British to a standstill and won treaties in 1739 recognising their autonomy, and their descendants still live in those communities today.
Jamaica became independent from Britain on 6 August 1962. It remains a Commonwealth realm with King Charles III as head of state, and the government has stated its intention to become a republic.