Bob Marley's Jamaica
Constitutional monarchy in the West Indies

Jamaica today

Although the official language is English, the daily language is Creole, which may explain the distinct Jamaican dialect of English among the Jamaicans. Today, a quarter of Jamaica’s surface is cultivated, where they mainly produce bananas, sugar canes, cocoa and citrus fruits. In addition to bananas and sugar, aluminium and bauxite are Jamaica’s main export articles, and Jamaica is the second largest producer in the world of those last two articles. Furthermore they have a considerable cement industry, and on the northern coast tourism is an important part of the economy.

Miscellaneous

The Jamaican coat-of-arms has been the same since 1661, with its silver shield and red George-cross plated with five golden pineapples, and the text: ”Out of many, one people”.

Their flag from 1962 consist of a yellow or golden Andreas-cross, which divides the flag into two black and two green triangles.

Two parties today, dominate the Jamaican politics – the Labour party and the more leftwing party PNP.

Jamaica has a warm tropical climate with an average temperature of 26-27 degrees Celsius all year round. The population is about 2.3 million, which consists of ¾ who are descendants of the early slaves, and the rest are mulattos and have European, Indian and Chinese origin. The majority of the people live in the three biggest cities: Kingston, Montego Bay and Spanish town. The population is much to big for Jamaica to support on its own, and therefore many of the inhabitants chooses to emigrate, and their choices of destinations are often USA and Great Britain. To compensate for the emigration and the loss of skilled labour, Jamaica prioritises vocational training. As you can see, Jamaica is a mixture of many different cultures, and this friendly and exciting country is standing by to welcome you if you should decide to pay a visit.

Jamaica page 4