Jamaica

Jamaica - Is officially known as Jamaica. Jamaica is a North American island nation in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba, and west of the island of Hispaniola, (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). The island of Jamaica was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1494 and was settled by the Spanish early in the 16th century. The native Taino Indians, who had inhabited Jamaica for centuries, were gradually exterminated and replaced by African slaves. England seized the island in 1655 and established a plantation economy based on sugar, cocoa, and coffee. The abolition of slavery in 1834 freed a quarter million slaves, many of whom became small farmers. Jamaica gradually obtained increasing independence from Britain, and in 1958 it joined other British Caribbean colonies in forming the Federation of the West Indies. Jamaica gained full independence when it withdrew from the Federation in 1962.

The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for more than 60% of the Gross Domestic Product. Jamaica's economy, already saddled with the lowest economic growth in Latin America, will face increasing difficulties as the global economy slows. Jamaica is a mixed economy with state enterprises as well as private sector businesses. Major sectors of the Jamaican economy include agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism and financial and insurance services. Tourism (mainly from the USA) and mining are the leading foreign exchange earners.

The Arawak and Taino indigenous people originating from South America settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. When the Spanish arrived in 1494 there were over 200 villages ruled by chiefs or caciques, with the south coast of Jamaica being the most populated, especially around what is now known as Old Harbour.