Overview

One of the four large islands of the Caribbean archipelago, Jamaica measures 4,441 square miles, slightly smaller than the size of Connecticut. Its mountainous terrain, which exceeds 7,400 feet at its Blue Mountain peak, makes traveling from one end of the island to another more interesting than one would expect. Jamaica's northern shores are lined by many miles of lovely white sand beaches that attract thousands of American, Canadian, and a growing number of European tourists annually. Kingston, the capital and largest English-speaking city south of Miami, is Jamaica's chief commercial and administrative center. The island is well known for its rich-tasting Blue Mountain coffee and its bauxite mining and aluminum processing industries.

Jamaica's motto, "Out of Many, One People," is a national ideal for its diverse population of 2,506,000 in 1990. As many as 90 percent of all Jamaicans can lay claim to African ancestry. About 26 percent of the...