Jamaica country profile

Known for its strong sense of self identity expressed through its music, food and rich cultural mix, Jamaica's influence extends far beyond its shores.

With luminaries such as the black nationalist Marcus Garvey and musician Bob Marley, Jamaicans are proud of their cultural and religious heritage.

Jamaicans have migrated in significant numbers to the United States, Canada and Britain and their music stars are known around the globe.

The island is the birthplace of Rastafarianism, a religious movement which has been adopted by groups around the world who venerate the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie. Once regarded as a revolutionary threat, Rastafarianism became a cultural force, reflected in art and music.

Since independence from Britain in 1962, power in Jamaica has alternated between the social-democratic People's National Party and the conservative Jamaica Labour Party.

Political stability, however, has not turned into social and economic harmony.

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JAMAICA: FACTS

• Capital: Kingston

• Area: 10,991 sq km

• Population: 2.7 million

• Languages: English, Jamaican Patois

• Life expectancy: 70 years (men) 74 years (women)

LEADERS

Head of state: King Charles III

Prime minister: Andrew Holness

Andrew Holness won a second win for the Jamaica Labour Party in the September 2022 general election. The JLP increased its majority, winning 49 seats to 14 won by the PNP - in the 2016 election it had a majority of just one seat.

Among the challenges the government faces is a high rate of youth unemployment and dealing with the country's heavy debt.

Jamaica is also at a crossroads in its relationship with the British crown.

"We're moving on," Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when they were on the island for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Polls suggest more than 50% of Jamaicans now support the idea of a republic.

MEDIA

Jamaica has a free press. Broadcast media are mainly commercial and carry diverse comment.

The country ranks highly in the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.

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TIMELINE

Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter with the help of slave labour, abolished in the 1830s

Some key dates in Jamaica's history:

c. 4000-1000BC - Jamaica is first settled.

c. 800AD - Taino people settle on island, most likely from South America.

1494 - Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica.

1509 - Jamaica occupied by the Spaniards under a licence from Columbus's son; much of the indigenous community dies off from exposure to European diseases; African slaves brought in to work on the sugar plantations.

1654-70 - Anglo-Spanish War. Oliver Cromwell launches the "Western Design", aiming to end Spanish dominance in the Americas.

1655 - Following a failed attempt to conquer Santo Domingo on Hispaniola, English forces invade and capture Jamaica.

c. 1655-70 - Spanish make several attempts to re-capture the island, prompting the English to support pirates attacking Spanish ships. Port Royal becomes a haven for pirates and privateers, most notably Henry Morgan, who leads highly lucrative raids on Puerto del Príncipe in Cuba, Porto Bello in Panama, and Maracaibo and Gibraltar in Venezuela.

1670 - Treaty of Madrid: Spain formally cedes Jamaica to England.

1671 - Henry Morgan leads a devastating raid across the Isthmus of Panama, sacking Panama City, before news of the peace treaty reaches the Caribbean. To restore relations with Spain he is recalled and arrested but is released unpunished, knighted by Charles I and made lieutenant governor of Jamaica.

Henry Morgan's attack on Panama in 1671

1692 - Port Royal is devastated by an earthquake and an accompanying tsunami.

1700s - Economy booms, based largely on sugar and other crops for export such as coffee, cotton and indigo - crops worked by black slaves often in brutal conditions.

1728-1739/40 - First Maroon War: During the 18th Century many slaves run away to join communities of free black people in the island's mountainous interior - the Maroons - in increasing numbers. Skirmishing between colonial authorities who are unable to control the interior of Jamaica and free black communities escalates. The war is a stalemate.

1760 - Tacky's War: A large slave rebellion is defeated by the British and their Maroon allies.

1782 - Battle of the Saintes: British defeat a French fleet off Dominica, ending a Spanish and French bid to invade Jamaica during the American Revolutionary War.

1795-96 - Second Maroon War: Breaks out over disagreements over the treaty ending the previous war; after the war many Maroons are expelled to Nova Scotia and later Sierra Leone.

1831-32 - Baptist War, Sam Sharp rebellion or Great Jamaican Slave Revolt. Some 500 people are killed in a rebellion involving up to 60,000 of the 300,000 slaves in Jamaica. The revolt, though militarily unsuccessful, plays a major part in the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire.

1838 - Slavery abolished in the British Empire.

1865 - Morant Bay Rebellion: Staged by freed slaves in response to acute hardship. British authorities ruthlessly suppress the protest, close down the local legislature and rule the island directly from Britain.

1870 - Banana plantations set up as the sugar cane industry declines in the face of competition from European beet sugar.

1884 - New constitution marks the initial revival of local autonomy.

Jamaican political activist and pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey

1917 - Jamaican political activist and pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey founds the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities to fight for greater political rights and an improvement in workers' conditions.

1938 - Serious riots caused by unemployment and resentment against British racial policies; People's National Party (PNP) founded by Norman Manley.

1944 - Universal adult suffrage introduced; new constitution providing for a popularly-elected House of Representatives promulgated.

1958 - Jamaica becomes a member of the British-sponsored Federation of the West Indies.

1961 - Jamaica decides to withdraw from the Federation of the West Indies.

1962 - Jamaica formally leaves the Federation and becomes independent.

Prime Minister Michael Manley championed a democratic socialist programme

1972 - PNP leader Michael Manley becomes prime minister and pursues a policy of economic self-reliance and introduces political and land reforms, as well as a minimum wage.

1976 - The PNP wins another term following elections marked by violence and proceeds to nationalise businesses and build closer ties with Cuba.

1976-80 - Jamaica sees a surge in political violence between supporters of its main two political parties, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and Manley's PNP.

1980 - Edward Seaga becomes prime minister. He proceeds to privatise state enterprises and to distance Jamaica from Cuba.

1999 - Violent protests take place against a 30% increase in fuel prices. Government orders the army to patrol the streets of Kingston following a massive increase in crime.

2001 - Troops and armoured vehicles move in to restore order in the capital, Kingston, after three days of unrest leave at least 27 people dead.

2003 - UK introduces visa requirement for Jamaicans entering UK; London says move is intended to tackle illegal immigration.

2008 - Parliament votes to keep the death penalty, as Jamaica struggles to contain one of the world's highest murder rates.

2010 - Dozens are killed in operation to arrest drug lord Christopher "Dudus" Coke, who is extradited to the US, sentenced and jailed.

2012 - Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller says that 50 years on from gaining its independence, it is time for Jamaica to become a republic.

2020 - Andrew Holness wins a second consecutive win for the Jamaica Labour Party. The JLP, which had promised a referendum on becoming a republic but had not carried one out, states that holding a referendum remains a goal.

2022 - Legal and constitutional a minister Marlene Malahoo Forte says Jamaica's move to become republic is to be completed by the next general election, currently scheduled for 2025. Popular support for republicanism grows following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Jamaica is the birthplace of reggae music and Bob Marley was one of its greatest exponents