Portal:Jamaica

Jamaica
Jamaica
	Flag Coat of arms
Location	Caribbean

The Jamaica Portal

Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean, covering 10,991 square kilometres (4,244 sq mi). It is the third-largest island in the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean, after Cuba and the island of Hispaniola. Jamaica lies about 145 km (78 nmi) south of Cuba, 191 km (103 nmi) west of Hispaniola (the island containing Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and 215 km (116 nmi) southeast 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 and the fourth most populous country in the Caribbean. Kingston is the country's capital and largest city.

Jamaica is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with power vested in the bicameral Parliament of Jamaica, consisting of an appointed Senate and a directly elected House of Representatives. Andrew Holness has served as Prime Minister of Jamaica since March 2016. Jamaica is a Commonwealth realm, with Charles III as its king; the appointed representative of the Crown is the Governor-General of Jamaica, the office having been held by Patrick Allen since 2009. 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. Most Jamaicans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, with significant European, East Asian (primarily Chinese), Indian, Lebanese, and mixed-race minorities. (Full article...)

Selected article -

The Harder They Come is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor D. Rhone, and starring Jimmy Cliff. The film and The Harder They Come soundtrack played an important role in introducing reggae to international audiences.

Enormously successful in Jamaica, the film also reached the international market and has been described as "possibly the most influential of Jamaican films and one of the most important films from the Caribbean". (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that there is a video game based on the Jamaica national bobsled team?
... that Swedish naval officer Axel Lagerbielke was imprisoned in Lima for over a year, held in Callao and eventually escaped from Panama on an English packet boat to Jamaica?
... that Jamaican-Welsh noblewoman Justina Jeffreys was the inspiration for the character of Anthelia in the 1817 novel Melincourt?
... that Jamaican runner Janielle Josephs took up athletics in part because she "wanted to miss school"?
... that an early Elton John song has been described as "only marginally less horrifying" than its title?
... that Pamela Ball was prouder of her mathematics degrees than of being the first Jamaican woman to be a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England?

Selected biography -

Rodriguez performing in 1977

Emmanuel "Rico" Rodriguez MBE (17 October 1934 – 4 September 2015), also known as Rico, Reco or El Reco, was a Cuban-born Jamaican ska and reggae trombonist. He recorded with producers such as Karl Pitterson, Prince Buster, and Lloyd Daley. He was known as one of the first ska musicians. Beginning in the 1960s, he worked with the Members, the Specials, Jools Holland, and Paul Young. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

General images -

The following are images from various Jamaica-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1English map from the 1600s (from History of Jamaica)
Image 2Reconstruction of a Taíno village in Cuba (from History of Jamaica)
Image 3Christopher Coke (from History of Jamaica)
Image 41866 lithography by French cartoonist Honoré Daumier showing British Governor John Peter Grant establishing his authority following the Morant Bay Rebellion (from History of Jamaica)
Image 5Sugar cane cutters in Jamaica, 1880 (from History of Jamaica)
Image 6European colonies in the 18th-century Caribbean (from History of Jamaica)
Image 7Cane holeing, in a Jamaican plantation, 19th century (from History of Jamaica)
Image 8Governor Sir Lionel Smith, accompanied by Revd James Phillippo, proclaiming the abolition of slavery in the colony of Jamaica, on 1 August 1838, from the King's House in Spanish Town (from History of Jamaica)
Image 9Dujo, a wooden chair crafted by Taínos. (from History of Jamaica)
Image 10Easter Rebellion memorial, Claude Stuart Park (from History of Jamaica)
Image 11Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1992 (from History of Jamaica)
Image 12Insurgent slaves destroying the Roehampton Estate, January 1832 (from History of Jamaica)
Image 13Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site (batey), outlined with stones in Utuado, Puerto Rico (from History of Jamaica)
Image 14Leonard Parkinson, Maroon Leader, 1796 (from History of Jamaica)
Image 15Sugar cane cutters in Jamaica, 1891 (from History of Jamaica)
Image 16Marcus Garvey (from History of Jamaica)
Image 17Fort Haldane Turntable Cannon (from History of Jamaica)
Image 18Statue of Christopher Columbus, Saint Ann's Bay, Jamaica (from History of Jamaica)
Image 19A Rastafarian man in a rastacap at a port of Jamaica's Black River. (from Culture of Jamaica)
Image 20Cassava (yuca) roots, the Taínos' main crop (from History of Jamaica)
Image 21Port Maria Harbor, St Mary Parish (from History of Jamaica)
Image 22A French illustration of the Tacky's revolt made in 1800 (from History of Jamaica)

Good article -

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Dennis shortly before its peak intensity while approaching the Florida panhandle on July 10

Hurricane Dennis was a deadly and destructive tropical cyclone that briefly held the record for the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever to form before August. Dennis was the fourth named storm of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It originated on July 4 near the Windward Islands from a tropical wave. Dennis intensified into a hurricane on July 6 as it moved across the Caribbean Sea. Two days later, it became a strong Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale before striking Cuba twice on July 8. After weakening over land, Dennis re-intensified in the Gulf of Mexico, attaining its lowest barometric pressure of 930 mbar (27.46 inHg) on July 10. That day, Dennis weakened slightly before making a final landfall on Santa Rosa Island, Florida as a Category 3 hurricane. After moving through the central United States, the circulation associated with former Hurricane Dennis dissipated on July 18 over Ontario. While Dennis was still active as a tropical cyclone, it lost its status as the strongest hurricane before August to Hurricane Emily, which also moved through the Caribbean.

In the Caribbean, the outer bands of Hurricane Dennis brought tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain to parts of Haiti, resulting in floods and landslides. A total of 3,058 homes were damaged and 929 were destroyed. Hundreds of livestock were killed, causing significant harm to Haiti's agricultural industry. The storm resulted in 56 fatalities and caused approximately $50 million in damages. In Jamaica, Dennis produced 24.54 in (623 mm) of rainfall in Mavis Bank. The resultant floods severely affected Jamaica's agriculture industry, killing nearly 160,000 livestock and leaving around 100,000 customers without electricity. The storm killed one person in Jamaica and resulted in over $34.5 million in damages. In Cuba, rainfall peaked at 43 in (1,092 mm). Approximately 120,000 houses were damaged and 15,000 homes were destroyed. Nationwide, 2.5 million people lost access to water while 70% of the water sources in Granma Province were contaminated. Its agricultural industry was also affected, with almost 27,000 hectares (67,000 acres) of agricultural land being destroyed in the provinces of Cienfuegos and Granma. The impact led to 16 fatalities and caused an estimated $1.4 billion in damage to the country. (Full article...)

List of Good articles

Selected picture -

Portrait of Francis Williams, a Jamaican writer and teacher. Painted around 1740.

Selected cuisines, dishes and foods -

Mannish water is a goat soup in the Caribbean cuisine. It is believed to be an aphrodisiac and is made from various goat parts.

The meal has been part of Maroon celebrations for over 300 years. The pieces of goat are seasoned with local herbs and spices, and cooked along with vegetables and "food" - yam, potato, bananas and dumplings. Mannish water is still popular at "dead yard" functions, large stage shows and parties (to make sure one can drive home after a few drinks). The food company's factory is in the hills bordering Manchester and Trelawny parishes. (Full article...)

List of fare/cuisine articles

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?

Selected lists

More Jamaica-related lists

Topics

Related portals

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WikiProjects

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WikiProject Jamaica

Geographical:

Caribbean: Cuba • Dominican Republic • Puerto Rico
Latin America countries: Argentina • Brazil • Colombia • Ecuador • Peru • Uruguay • Venezuela
Central America: El Salvador • Mexico
North America: Canada • United States