Jamaica
The Country of the Week
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Kingston
- Population
- 2,938,503 (2025 est.)
- Area
- 10,991 sq km
- Government
- parliamentary democracy (Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
- Languages
- English, Jamaican patois
- Religions
- Protestant 64.8% (includes Seventh Day Adventist 12.0%, Pentecostal 11.0%, Other Church of God 9.2%, New Testament Church of God 7.2%, Baptist 6.7%, Church of God in Jamaica 4.8%, Church of God of Prophecy 4.5%, Anglican 2.8%, United Church 2.1%, Methodist 1.6%, Revived 1.4%, Brethren 0.9%, and Moravian 0.7%), Roman Catholic 2.2%, Jehovah's Witness 1.9%, Rastafarian 1.1%, other 6.5%, none 21.3%, unspecified 2.3% (2011 est.)
- Ethnic Groups
- Black 92.1%, mixed 6.1%, East Indian 0.8%, other 0.4%, unspecified 0.7% (2011 est.)
- Currency
- Jamaican dollars (JMD)
- Life Expectancy
- 76.3 years (2024 est.)
- Internet Domain
- .jm
- Climate
- tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior
- Terrain
- mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
- Natural Resources
- bauxite, alumina, gypsum, limestone
- Major Exports
- aluminum oxide, refined petroleum, natural gas, liquor, processed fruits and nuts (2023)
Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)
Overview
Europeans first saw Jamaica when Christopher COLUMBUS arrived in 1494, and the Spanish settled the island early in the 16th century. The Native Taino, who had inhabited Jamaica for centuries, were gradually exterminated and replaced with African slaves.