..... Click the link for more information. .
Land and People
Although largely a limestone plateau more than 3,000 ft (914 m) above sea level, Jamaica has a mountainous backbone that extends across the island from the west and rises to the Blue Mts. in the east; Blue Mt. (7,402 ft/2,256 m) is the highest point. Rainfall is heavy in this region (where there are extensive timber reserves) but diminishes westward across the plateau, which is a rugged area deeply dissected by streams and underlain by subterranean rivers. The heart of the plateau, known as the Cockpits, is used mostly for livestock grazing. A narrow plain along the northern coast and several larger plains near the south shore are Jamaica's major agricultural zones. The north coast also has fine beaches and is the focus of the tourist industry. The Rio Grande and the Black River are the country's chief waterways, but neither is navigable for long distances. The coastal bands widened by broad river valleys, as well as the mountain slopes, support the bulk of Jamaica's export crops.
In addition to Kingston, important cities are Spanish Town Spanish Town, city (1991 pop. 110,379), SE Jamaica, on the Cobre River. It is the commercial and processing center of a rich agricultural region, as well as the main rail and highway communications hub for traffic to and from Kingston (the capital) and other parts of
..... Click the link for more information. and Montego Bay Montego Bay (mŏntē`gō), city (1991 pop. 82,002), NW Jamaica.
..... Click the link for more information. . Slightly more than one half of the population is urban, and migration to the cities continues; the greatest urban concentration is around Kingston. People of African descent predominate in Jamaica. The small upper class is largely of European descent. Afro-Europeans and such Middle Eastern and Asian groups as Lebanese, Syrians, Chinese, and Indians, make up the rest of the population. Although English is the official language, most Jamaicans also speak a creole English. The chief religion is Protestantism, although there is considerable religious variety (including Roman Catholic and spiritualist minorities) on the island.
Economy
Jamaica's most important export crop is sugarcane, from which rum and molasses are also made. The nation's other agricultural exports include the famed Blue Mt. coffee, bananas, citrus fruits, ginger, cocoa, pimento, and tobacco. Most of these crops are grown on large plantations. Small peasant farms produce some ginger, bananas, and sugarcane for export but mainly raise such subsistence crops as yams, breadfruit, and cassava. Mining is a major source of wealth; since large, easily accessible deposits of bauxite were discovered in 1942, Jamaica has become one of the world's leading suppliers of this ore. Along with the alumina made from it, bauxite accounts for almost half of Jamaica's foreign exchange.
Tourism, centered on the north coast, is the biggest earner of exchange. Among Jamaica's internationally known resort areas are Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril. Clothing constitutes the chief export item of the manufacturing sector. Jamaica's other industries (mainly concentrated in the Kingston area) include oil refining, sugar and tobacco processing, flour milling, and the production of chemicals, cement, textiles, and processed foods. Since the late 1960s industry has generated a greater share of the national income than agriculture. Remittances from Jamaicans working abroad are also a major source of income. The United States, Great Britain, and Canada, Jamaica's top trading partners, also provide much-needed capital for economic development.
Government
Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy governed under the constitution of 1962. It has a bicameral legislature made up of a 21-member senate and a 60-member house of representatives. The executive branch consists of a cabinet, which is headed by the prime minister. The official heads of government are the governor-general, appointed by the British sovereign, and the prime minister. The country has two main political parties: the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) generally favors private enterprise, while the People's National Party (PNP) advocates a moderate socialism. Administratively, the country is divided into 14 parishes.
History
History to Independence
Sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1494, Jamaica was conquered and settled in 1509 by Spaniards under a license from Columbus's son. Spanish exploitation decimated the native Arawaks. The island remained Spanish until 1655, when Admiral William Penn and Robert Venables captured it; it was formally ceded to England in 1670, but the local European population obtained a degree of autonomy. Jamaica prospered from the wealth brought by buccaneers, notably Sir Henry Morgan Morgan, Sir Henry, 1635?–1688, Welsh buccaneer. In his youth he went to the West Indies, eventually joining the buccaneers there. On the death (1667) of Edward Mansfield , Morgan took his place as commander of the buccaneers.
..... Click the link for more information. , to Port Royal, the capital; in 1692, however, much of the city sank into the sea during an earthquake, and Spanish Town became the new capital.
A huge, mostly African, slave population grew up around the sugarcane plantations in the 18th cent., when Jamaica was a leading world sugar producer. Freed and escaped slaves, sometimes aided by the maroons maroon, term for a fugitive slave in the 17th and 18th cent. in the West Indies and Guiana, or for a descendant of such slaves. They were called marron by the French and cimarrón by the Spanish.
..... Click the link for more information. (slaves who had escaped to remote areas after Spain lost control of Jamaica), succeeded in organizing frequent uprisings against the European landowners. The sugar industry declined in the 19th cent., partly because of the abolition of slavery in 1833 (effective 1838) and partly because of the elimination in 1846 of the imperial preference tariff for colonial products entering the British market. Economic hardship was the prime motive behind the Morant Bay rebellion by freedmen in 1865. The British ruthlessly quelled the uprising and also forced the frightened legislature to surrender its powers; Jamaica became a crown colony.
Poverty and economic decline led many blacks to seek temporary work in neighboring Caribbean areas and in the United States; many left the island permanently, emigrating to England, Canada, and the United States. Indians were imported to meet the labor shortage on the plantations after the slaves were freed, and agriculture was diversified to lessen dependence on sugar exports. A new constitution in 1884 marked the initial revival of local autonomy for Jamaica.
Despite labor and other reforms, black riots recurred, notably those of 1938, which were caused mainly by unemployment and resentment against British racial policies. Jamaican blacks had been considerably influenced by the theories of black nationalism promulgated by the American expatriate Marcus Garvey Garvey, Marcus, 1887–1940, American proponent of black nationalism, b. Jamaica. At the age of 14, Garvey went to work as a printer's apprentice. After leading (1907) an unsuccessful printers' strike in Jamaica, he edited several newspapers in Costa Rica and
..... Click the link for more information. . A royal commission investigating the 1938 riots recommended an increase of economic development funds and a faster restoration of representative government for Jamaica. In 1944 universal adult suffrage was introduced, and a new constitution provided for a popularly elected house of representatives.
An Independent Nation
By 1958, Jamaica became a key member of the British-sponsored West Indies Federation West Indies Associated States were created, made up of Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent. Each of the states was voluntarily associated with Great Britain and fully self-governing in its internal affairs.
..... Click the link for more information. . The fact that Jamaica received only one third of the representation in the federation, despite its having more than half the land area and population of the grouping, bred resentment; a campaign by the nationalist labor leader Sir Alexander Bustamante Bustamante, Sir Alexander (bŭs'təmăn`tē), 1884–1977, prime minister of Jamaica (1962–67).
..... Click the link for more information. led to a 1961 decision, by popular referendum, to withdraw from the federation. The following year Jamaica became an independent member of the Commonwealth. Bustamante, leader of the JLP, became the first prime minister of independent Jamaica. The party continued in power under Donald B. Sangster after the 1967 elections; he died in office and was succeeded by Hugh Shearer.
In 1972 the PNP won an impressive victory, and Michael Manley Manley, Michael Norman, 1924–97, prime minister of Jamaica (1972–80, 1989–92); son of Norman Manley . A leader of the socialist People's National party, he was first elected to parliament in 1967.
..... Click the link for more information. became prime minister. Although the PNP administration worked effectively to promote civil liberties and reduce illiteracy, economic problems proved more difficult. In 1976 the PNP won decisively after a violent election contest between the two parties. The PNP continued to promote socialist policies, nationalizing businesses and strengthening ties to Cuba. Lack of foreign investment and aid continued to hurt the economy.
In 1980 the JLP returned to power, with the moderate Edward Seaga Seaga, Edward (sē`ägä), 1930–, prime minister of Jamaica (1980–89). Born in Boston, Mass.
..... Click the link for more information. as prime minister. Seaga's administration favored privatization, distanced itself from Cuba, attracted foreign investment, stimulated tourism, and won substantial U.S. aid. However, two major hurricanes (1980, 1988) during Seaga's tenure set back prospects for substantial economic progress. In the 1989 elections the PNP ousted the JLP, and Manley returned as prime minister; he chose to continue the policy directions taken by Seaga. Manley was replaced by P. J. Patterson Patterson, P. J. (Percival James Patterson), 1935–, Jamaican political leader, prime minister of Jamaica (1992–2006). A lawyer, he became an active member of the People's National party (PNP) in the 1950s.
..... Click the link for more information. in 1992. The following year Patterson and the PNP were returned to office in a landslide. Patterson led his PNP government to a third term in 1997 and a fourth term in 2002, although the PNP majority was reduced in 2002. Patterson retired as prime minister in 2006 and was succeeded by the PNP's Portia Simpson-Miller Simpson-Miller, Portia, 1945–, Jamaican political leader, prime minister of Jamaica (2006–). A member of the People's National party (PNP), she was first elected to parliament in 1976.
..... Click the link for more information. , who became the first woman to hold the office.
Bibliography
See E. Brathwaite, The Development of Creole Society in Jamaica, 1770–1820 (1971); F. Cundall, Historic Jamaica (1915, repr. 1971); R. M. Nettleford, Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica (1972); I. Kaplan et al., Area Handbook for Jamaica (1976); E. H. Stephens, Democratic Socialism in Jamaica (1986); R. E. Looney, The Jamaican Economy in the 1980s: Economic Decline and Structural Adjustment (1987).
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Jamaica
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