Portal:Jamaica

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The Jamaica Portal

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...)

St. Jago de la Vega Cathedral
Spanish Town is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and British capital of Jamaica from 1534 until 1872. The town is home to numerous memorials, the national archives, and one of the oldest Anglican churches outside England (the others are in Virginia, Maryland, and Bermuda). (Full article...)
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Michael Lee-Chin, OJ, OOnt (born 3 January 1951) is a Jamaican-Canadian billionaire businessman, philanthropist and the chairman and CEO of Portland Holdings Inc, a privately held investment company in Ontario, Canada.

Lee-Chin was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2017. (Full article...)

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Welsh buccaneer Henry Morgan from Piratas de la America (1681) by Alexandre Exquemelin

Sir Henry Morgan (Welsh: Harri Morgan; c. 1635 – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming wealthy as he did so. With the prize money from the raids, he purchased three large sugar plantations on the island.

Much of Morgan's early life is unknown. He was born in an area of Monmouthshire that is now part of the city of Cardiff. It is not known how he made his way to the West Indies, or how the Welshman began his career as a privateer. He was probably a member of a group of raiders led by Sir Christopher Myngs in the early 1660s during the Anglo-Spanish War. Morgan became a close friend of Sir Thomas Modyford, the Governor of Jamaica. When diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of England and Spain worsened in 1667, Modyford gave Morgan a letter of marque, a licence to attack and seize Spanish vessels. Morgan subsequently conducted successful and highly lucrative raids on Puerto del Príncipe (now Camagüey in modern Cuba) and Porto Bello (now Portobelo in modern Panama). In 1668, he sailed for Maracaibo and Gibraltar on Lake Maracaibo in modern-day Venezuela; he plundered both cities before destroying a large Spanish squadron as he escaped. In 1671, Morgan attacked Panama City, landing on the Caribbean coast and traversing the isthmus before he attacked the city on the Pacific coast. This occurred after the signing of a peace treaty, and to appease the Spanish, Morgan was arrested and summoned to London in 1672, but the Welshman was popularly celebrated as a hero, and soon recovered the favor of the government and King Charles II. (Full article...)

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Credit: Kelisi
A map showing Jamaica's cities, main towns, parishes and rivers

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Hard dough bread, also called hardo bread, is a Caribbean cuisine bread similar to the Pullman loaf or pain de mie, although hard dough bread tends to be sweeter. The dough consists of flour, water, yeast, salt and sugar. Additional ingredients such as treacle, molasses, and vegetable shortening can be used. It typically has a dense consistency and is typically brushed with sugared water before baking. It is a staple food in Jamaican households.

Hard dough bread loaves are usually rectangular and can be bought already sliced or unsliced. Most loaves are wrapped in plastic when bought. (Full article...)

More did you know

  • ...that on the flag of Jamaica, black symbolises the strength and creativity of the Jamaican people, gold represents sunlight and the country's natural wealth and green represents hope for the future and agricultural richness?

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