Jamaica

Jamaica " class="IPA">/?d???me?k?/) is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 234 kilometres in length and as much as 80 kilometres in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about 145 kilometres south of Cuba, and 190 kilometres west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated. Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking Ta?no inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the "Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs". Formerly a Spanish possession known as Santiago, it later became the British West Indies Crown colony of Jamaica. It is the third most populous anglophone country in the Americas, after the United States and Canada.

History Main article: History of Jamaica

The Arawak and Taino indigenous people originating from South America settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494 there was already an established government with a Cacique or chief as the head who was supported by a group of nobles. In addition the island was divided into districts and regional chiefdoms. The Taino population was largely increasing when the Spanish arrived. Although some claim they became virtually extinct following contact with Europeans, others claim that they survived for a while. It has been proposed[by whom?] that the Taino bloodline has been absorbed into the population. The Jamaican National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any evidence of the Taino/Arawaks.

Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there in 1494. Columbus' probable landing point was Dry Harbour, now called Discovery Bay. St. Ann's Bay was the "Saint Gloria" of Columbus who first sighted Jamaica at this point. One mile west of St. Ann's Bay is the site of the first Spanish settlement on the island, Sevilla, which was abandoned in 1554 because of numerous pirate raids.

The capital was moved to Spanish Town, now located in the parish of St