Jamaica

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    Jamaica?

    No, it was her own decision...

    Now that that bad joke is out of the way, let's discuss the country. It was discovered (or re-discovered) by Christopher Columbus on his second trip to the West indies in 1493. It was wrested from the Spaniards by the British in 1655 during Oliver Cromwell's administration, and was a British colony until its independence in 1962.

    It was one of the world's leading producers of sugar during the days of slavery, in its first 200 years of British rule; between 1820 and 1824, it produced up to 77,000 tons of sugar annually for export.

    Gave the world reggae, ska, mento, Bob Marley, Grace Jones, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Anthony Winkler, Oliver Samuels, Usain Bolt, the Twin of Twins, Courtney Walsh, Keith Arthurton (these two being members or past members of the West Indies cricket team), the Reggae Boyz football/soccer team, Rastafari, the "jerk" cooking style, Blue Mountain Coffee, its trademark beef patties, Red Stripe beer, bulla cakes, bammies, and its immediately recognizable patois dialect.

    Famous for its national fruit, ackee (although the fruit is actually originally native to West Africa), and for the national dish of ackee and saltfish, the latter item being salted codfish. (Recipes for the dish can be found here.)

    Its national tree is the Blue Mahoe (used widely in cabinet-making, furniture-building and wood carvings); its national flower is the Lignum Vitae (used to treat coughs and arthritis, and also brewed into a kind of tea, and its wood is used to make a variety of items); and its national bird is Red-Billed Streamertail hummingbird (nicknamed the "Doctor Bird" and featured in the James Bond story For Your Eyes Only).

    Also famous (or infamous) for being the site of the piracy capitol of the 17th century, Port Royal, which was then governed by former privateer Henry Morgan, before being ripped apart by two earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, floods, and epidemics. The city got rebuilt, though.

    Jamaica is divided into fourteen parishes, which are in turn separated into three main counties:

    • CORNWALL
      • Hanover (capital: Lucea)
      • Westmoreland (capital: Savanna-la-mar)
      • St. James (capital: Montego Bay)
      • Trelawny (capital: Falmouth)
      • St. Elizabeth (capital: Black River)
    • MIDDLESEX
      • St. Ann (capital: St. Ann's Bay)
      • Manchester (capital: Mandeville)
      • Clarendon (capital: May Pen)
      • St. Mary (capital: Port Maria)
      • St. Catherine (capital: Spanish Town, the original nation capital)
    • SURREY
      • The parish of Kingston (capital: the city of Kingston, the current nation capital)
      • St. Andrew (capital: Half Way Tree)
      • Portland (capital: Port Antonio)
      • St. Thomas (capital: Morant Bay)

    Has seven National Heroes, listed below:

    • Marcus Mosiah Garvey, who was influential in the Back To Africa movement; Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston is named after him, he has several statues of his likeness throughout Jamaica, and his likeness is on the Jamaican $20 and 25 cent coins.
    • Samuel Sharpe, a Baptist deacon who led the 1831 Christmas Rebellion; Sam Sharpe Square and Sam Sharpe Teacher's College in Montego Bay, St. James are named after him, and his face is on the Jamaican $50 bill.
    • Paul Bogle, a Baptist deacon who led Jamaica's 1865 Morant Bay rebellion; the Paul Bogle High School in St. Thomas is named after him, and he is featured on the Jamaican 10 cent coin and the (now defunct) Jamaican $2 bill.
    • George William Gordon, a businessman, government critic, and head of the Baptist church of which Paul Bogle was a deacon; Jamaica's house of legislature, George William Gordon House, is named after him, and his face was featured on the (now-defunct) Jamaican $10 bill and is currently on the Jamaican $10 coin.
    • Nanny of the Maroons, a leader of the Jamaican Maroons who fought against the British; the local community Nanny Town in Portland is named after her, and her face is featured on the Jamaican $500 bill.
    • Sir Alexander Bustamante, Jamaica's first Prime Minister and founder of the Jamaica Labour Party; the Bustamante backbone (a local sweet treat) is named after him, and he is featured on the (now-defunct) Jamaican $1 bill and the (current) Jamaican $1 coin.
    • Norman Washington Manley, cousin of Bustamante and founder of the People's National Party; the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston is named after him, and his face was on the (now-defunct) Jamaican $5 bill and is currently on the Jamaican $5 coin.

    Current major industries are tourism, vegetable and fruit export, sugar, and bauxite (i.e. aluminium ore).

    Montego Bay, the capitol of St. James and the "Second City" of Jamaica, is touted as the island's "Tourism Mecca." As of the end of 2010, Jamaica copped numerous honours at the World Travel Awards in October, was named Best Honeymoon Destination and Best Tourist Board by the Canadian travel industry in November, and got the Best Caribbean Destination Award at the annual Travel Weekly Readers' Choice Awards in Manhattan (for the second year in a row) in December.

    Jamaica has a lot of Urban Legends revolving around ghosts, locally known as "duppies." The most well-known one is the claim that the Rose Hall Great House, located on the north coast outside of Montego Bay, is haunted by the ghost of former owner Annie Palmer, a slave-owner who is claimed to have murdered three husbands and a LOT of lovers, is said to have been a practitioner of black magic, and was basically a monster, Rich Bitch and Bitch in Sheep's Clothing. Just go ahead and try to sleep on the grounds of the Great House, much less in the mansion, for just one night. Go ahead. The security guards won't allow you to.

    Jamaica has also been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records. The country's achievements, as a nation and by individuals, are listed below:

    Oh, and Jamaica really does have a bobsled team and a rather good one at that.

    For further and more in-depth information on Jamaica, check out The Other Wiki's main entry and all the links therein.

    Jamaica in fiction:

    the Jamaican flag

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