Introducing Jamaica
Travel Alert: The security situation in parts of Kingston remains uncertain due to civil unrest. The Jamaican government has declared a state of emergency in the West Kingston and St Andrews districts. For further information see Safe Travel for updated government warnings and the BBC for the latest news updates.
Despite its location almost smack in the center of the Caribbean Sea, the island of Jamaica doesn’t blend in easily with the rest of the Caribbean archipelago. To be sure, it boasts the same addictive sun rays, sugary sands and pampered resort-life as most of the other islands, but it is also set apart historically and culturally.
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Today’s visitors will appreciate their trip to Jamaica all the more if they embrace the island’s unique character and the inherent ‘African-ness’ of its population. Aside from its people, Jamaica has much to offer, the curious, thirsty or weary traveller. The Blue Mountains boasts the world’s best coffee, try a cup in the century-old factory at Mavis Bank. There are world-class reefs for diving including those at Runaway Bay and Ocho Rios and great stretches of palm-fringed sand at Treasure Beach or Frenchman’s Cove near Port Antonio. There are offbeat bush-medicine hiking tours, congenial fishing villages, pristine waterfalls, cosmopolitan cities, wetlands harboring endangered crocodiles and manatees, unforgettable sunsets – in short, enough variety to comprise many utterly distinct vacations.
Nowhere else in the Caribbean is the connection to Africa as keenly felt as it is in Jamaica. Kingston was the major nexus in the New World for the barbaric triangular trade that brought slaves from Africa and carried sugar and rum to Europe, and the Maroons (runaways who took to the hills of Cockpit Country and the Blue Mountains) safeguarded many of the African traditions – and introduced jerk seasoning to Jamaica’s singular cuisine. St Ann’s Bay’s Marcus Garvey founded the back-to-Africa movement of the 1910s and ’20s; Rastafarianism took up the call a decade later, and reggae furnished the beat in the 1960s and ’70s. Little wonder many Jamaicans claim a stronger affinity for Africa than for neighboring Caribbean islands.
This is a country infused with pride in its unique history, stunning landscape and influential culture. Welcome to Jamaica.
Last updated: May 31, 2010
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Jamaica
Our Top Picks For Jamaica
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1 Little Ochie
Savor the finest and freshest fish in the Caribbean at this atmospheric seaside restaurant
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2 Pelican Bar
Play dominoes with a fisherman at this singular bar in the middle of the sea
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3 Black River Great Morass
Boat up a swampland waterway to find alligators and birds
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4 Negril Beaches
Throw your cares to the wind and toast the sunset in Jamaica's 'capital of casual'
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5 Appleton Rum Estate
Tour this distillery and find out about the rum that adds fuel to the island's fire
Fast Facts about Jamaica
- GDP (per head)
GDP (per head) : US$4600
- Number of orchid species found only on the island
73 (there are more than 200 overall)
- Unemployment
11.3%
- Area
10, 992 sq km
- Length of coastline
1022km
- Amount of rum produced annually
50 million liters
- Inflation
5.8%
- Population
2, 780, 200
- Average annual rainfall
78in
Related Groups
Our favourite Jamaica Blogs (beta)
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Nesta Robert Marley - a detailed look at "the man".
Blog: Blogging Travel Tips - 30 August 2010
Looking back I'm trying to remember just when in my young life I was exposed to Bob Marley. I'm pretty sure it was sometime around 1989 when I was a junior in High School. My friend had the Legends CD, released by Island records on May 8, 1984, and wanted me to have a listen. We used this CD as a backdrop to summers of outdoor volleyball the next few years.
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Countdown: Four more days before I am back in the United States
Blog: Fourteen months, four countries, and three kids - Tales from the Field - 8 August 2010
My summer in Negril, Jamaica is nearly over. More importantly, my 14 and a half months outside of the United States will end in just four days.
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Kool Runnings Water Park: Sun, Splashing, and Dance Contests
Blog: Fourteen months, four countries, and three kids - Tales from the Field - 28 July 2010
On Tuesday, I took the kids to Kool Runnings Water Park. After being in Negril for two months, my daughters, aged 9, 9, and 6, often complain that we always do the same thing – go to the beach. I decided that before we left Negril, we could splurge a bit and take the kids to Kool Runnings.
