Portal:Jamaica

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Location of Jamaica
LocationCaribbean

Jamaica (/əˈmkə/ jə-MAY-kə; Jamaican Patois: Jumieka [dʒʌˈmie̯ka]) is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi), it is the third largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about 145 km (90 mi) south of Cuba, 191 km (119 mi) west of Hispaniola (the island containing Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and 215 km (134 mi) south-east of the Cayman Islands (a British Overseas Territory).

With 2.8 million people,0 Jamaica is the third most populous Anglophone country in the Americas (after the United States and Canada), and the fourth most populous country in the Caribbean. Kingston is the country's capital and largest city. Most Jamaicans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, with significant European, East Asian (primarily Chinese), Indian, Lebanese, and mixed-race minorities. Because of a high rate of emigration for work since the 1960s, there is a large Jamaican diaspora, particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The country has a global influence that belies its small size; it was the birthplace of the Rastafari religion, reggae music (and such associated genres as dub, ska and dancehall), and it is internationally prominent in sports, including cricket, sprinting, and athletics. Jamaica has sometimes been considered the world's least populous cultural superpower. (Full article...)

Illustration by George Edward Lodge, 1907
The Jamaican poorwill (Siphonorhis americana), also known as the Jamaican pauraque or Jamaican least pauraque, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is (or was) endemic to Jamaica and has not been recorded since 1860. (Full article...)
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Yellowman performing in 2007

Winston Foster OD, (1956 or 15 January 1959) better known by the stage name Yellowman and also known as King Yellowman, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. He first became popular in Jamaica in the 1980s, rising to prominence with a series of singles that established his reputation.

Yellowman is considered to be one of the genre's pioneers and has been credited with "almost single-handedly [creating] the coarse, crude and fearlessly direct sound of today's dancehall." Spearheading the first generation of dancehall deejays, he brought the genre to an international audience. (Full article...)

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Hurricane Dennis passing between Jamaica and Haiti on July 7

In early July 2005, Hurricane Dennis brushed Jamaica, bringing torrential rain and damaging floods to the island nation. Forming from a tropical depression on July 4, Dennis began impacting Jamaica three days later. Approximately 6,000 people evacuated from coastal and flood-prone areas prior to the storm's arrival while relief agencies allocated resources for recovery operations. Passing northeast of the island, impact from Dennis stemmed primarily from rainfall—accumulations peaked at 24.54 in (623 mm) and reached 1-in-50 year event levels. Widespread flooding and landslides damaged homes and isolated communities. Saint Thomas and Portland Parishes were hardest-hit; hundreds required evacuation as multiple rivers burst their banks.

Overall, 209,000 people were affected with 6,000 households requesting assistance. A week after Dennis, Hurricane Emily brought further rain to the island, exacerbating damage. Their combined effects damaged or destroyed 440 homes with total losses reaching J$5.976 billion (US$96.87 million), of which at least J$2.128 billion (US$34.5 million) can be attributed to Dennis alone. One person died due to flooding. Relief operations began before the hurricane subsided, and international communities provided further aid. The overall effects of Dennis were limited and the nation's economy sustained no major ramifications. (Full article...)

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Satellite image of Jamaica in November 2001. Cropped image, original taken from NASA's Visible Earth
Satellite image of Jamaica in November 2001. Cropped image, original taken from NASA's Visible Earth
Credit: NASA
Satellite image of Jamaica in November 2001.

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A plate of rondón

Run down, also referred to as rundown, run dun, rondón, fling-me-far, and fling mi for, is a stew dish in Jamaican cuisine and Tobago cuisine. The traditional Jamaican dish is eaten in several Latin American countries that share a coast with the Caribbean Sea.

It consists of a soup made up of reduced coconut milk, with different types of seafood (fish, crabs, small lobsters or shellfish), plantain, yam, tomato, onion, and seasonings. Mackerel and salted mackerel are often used in the dish. Other fish are also used, including locally caught fish, cod, salt cod, shad, other oily fish, red snapper, swordfish, pickled fish, bull pizzle, and cassava. Traditionally, the dish is served with side dishes of dumplings or baked breadfruit. (Full article...)

More did you know

  • ...that Trenchtown, a neighbourhood in Kingston, Jamaica, gets its name from a large open-trenched sewer that ran through the neighbourhood?

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