Jamaica

Dip into the history and geography of Jamaica, and get a flavour for the Caribbean! We also have a full set of colouring flag, bookmarks and notebooking pages to print and use in your projects.

Ocho Rios, resort town in Jamaica

Learn About Jamaica

Geography of Jamaica

• Jamaica is a large mountainous island in the Caribbean.
• The island is the third largest in the Caribbean sea, after Cuba and Hispaniola.
• The national motto, 'Out of Many, One People", is unsurprising, given the large population of 2,880,000.
• Over half a million Jamaicans alone live in Kingston, the capital, founded after an earthquake destroyed much of the original capital, Port Royal, which was a notorious home to pirates.
• Kingston is the largest English speaking city in the Caribbean.
• The island’s highest point is Blue Mountain Peak at 7,402 feet, which is also one of the highest mountains in the Caribbean.

History of Jamaica

• The original inhabitants of Jamaica are believed to be the Arawaks, also known as Tainos. They arrived from South America 2,500 years ago and named the island Xaymaca, which meant “land of wood and water". The Arawaks led peaceful lives until the arrival of the Spanish, settling around the coast and rivers. They grew corn, cotton, vegetables and tobacco.
• Christopher Columbus landed in Jamaica in 1494 to claim the island for Spain. Under Spanish control, Jamaica was known as Santiago.
• The Spanish arrival was a disaster to the indigenous peoples, with many killed by the invaders and others dying from European diseases which they had no natural resistance to. There were no Arawaks left on the island by 1665.
• In 1655 the English, led by Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables, led a successful attack and replaced the Spanish, and grew sugar cane for export. African slaves were made to work on the plantations in harsh conditions.
• By the time of the Napoleonic wars (1792–1814), Jamaica was prosperous, exporting sugar and coffee, but after the wars, sugar prices dropped, and the slave trade was abolished in 1807.
• Jamaica became independent in 1962. Tourism started to flourish on the island around this time, and Jamaica also became the first commercial producer of bananas in the Western world.

Fun Facts about Jamaica

• Whilst English is the official language, most islanders speak Jamaican Patois.
• The coney or guitar is the only native land mammal. It looks like a guinea pig.
• There are over 100 types butterfly including the Swallowtail.
• The national bird is called the hummingbird doctor bird because its tail looks like a doctor's coat.
• Ackee is the national fruit and is served in a dish with salt fish (usually a white fish like cod).
• Pimento trees, which grow in Jamaica, produce allspice which is used to flavour food such as jerk chicken.
• Jamaica is home to over 200 species of exotic orchid.
• The national flag is one of only two in the world that have no colours in common with the U.S. flag (the other is the flag of Mauritania).

Famous Jamaicans

• Jamaica is famous for Reggae music. Musician Bob Marley came from Kingston where a museum celebrating his life is a popular tourist attraction.
• Many successful sports people hail from the island, such as Olympic Gold medal winner Usain Bolt.

About the Jamaica Flag

The flag of Jamaica was adopted on Jamaican Independence day, August 6^th 1962, when Jamaica gained independence from the British ‘Federation of the West Indies’. The design is a gold satire (diagonal cross) which splits the flag into four sections: the top and bottom sections are green representing vegetation, the right and left sections are black representing strength, and the gold represents the shining sun.

Our Jamaica Printables