49 Fun Facts About Jamaica

Which two Caribbean islands are larger than Jamaica?

Cuba and Hispaniola, the latter shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, are the only Caribbean islands larger than Jamaica; all three lie in the Greater Antilles.

The island's indigenous name, Xaymaca, is usually translated as what?

The Taino name Xaymaca is usually rendered 'Land of wood and water', though 'Land of springs' is an alternative translation.

Christopher Columbus became the first European to see Jamaica in which year, on his second voyage?

Columbus sighted Jamaica on 5 May 1494 during his second voyage, landing at a bay he named Santa Gloria; the first Spanish settlement, Sevilla, followed in 1509.

Under Spanish rule the island was known by what name?

Columbus christened the island Santiago; the Taino-derived name Jamaica replaced it after the English conquest of 1655.

Which two commanders led the English invasion of Jamaica in 1655?

Admiral William Penn, father of Pennsylvania's founder, and General Robert Venables took Jamaica in May 1655 after their assault on Santo Domingo failed.

The pirate haven Port Royal was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in which year?

The 7 June 1692 earthquake sank much of Port Royal into the harbour; Kingston was founded weeks later to house the survivors.

The free communities of escaped slaves who held out in Jamaica's mountainous interior were known as what?

The British sued for peace after the First Maroon War, signing treaties with Cudjoe in 1739 and Queen Nanny in 1740.

What distinction does Queen Nanny hold among Jamaica's National Heroes?

Nanny is the only woman among Jamaica's seven National Heroes; a 1740 land grant of 500 acres to her followers became Moore Town, and she appears on the $500 note.

Full emancipation from slavery was declared in Jamaica in which year?

Slavery ended in 1834 but a forced 'apprenticeship' followed; full emancipation came on 1 August 1838, marked each year as Emancipation Day.

The 1865 Morant Bay rebellion was led by which Baptist deacon, now a National Hero?

Paul Bogle, a Baptist deacon from Stony Gut, led the 1865 Morant Bay march; Governor Edward Eyre's brutal reprisals hanged him and got Eyre recalled.

Jamaica gained independence from the United Kingdom on which date?

Jamaica became independent on 6 August 1962 and, at independence, kept the British monarch as head of state within the Commonwealth.

Who became Jamaica's first prime minister, at the age of 78?

Alexander Bustamante, born in 1884, founded the Jamaica Labour Party and became the first prime minister at independence in 1962, aged 78.

Jamaica's national motto is what?

'Out of Many, One People', adopted at independence in 1962, nods to the island's African, European, Indian, Chinese and Lebanese roots.

The Jamaican flag's design is said to have been inspired by which other country's flag?

The gold saltire echoes Scotland's Saint Andrew's cross, a design a Scottish minister in Jamaica is said to have suggested after a striped version was dropped for resembling Tanganyika's flag.

How many parishes is Jamaica divided into?

Jamaica's 14 parishes are grouped into three historic counties, Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey, which have no administrative role.

Blue Mountain Peak, Jamaica's highest point, rises to roughly what height?

Blue Mountain Peak tops out at 2,256 m (7,402 ft); its slopes grow Blue Mountain Coffee, one of the world's most prized beans.

Which sand spit shelters Kingston Harbour and carries the road to the airport?

The Palisadoes, a long sand spit ending at Port Royal, shelters Kingston Harbour and carries the road to Norman Manley International Airport.

Which former colonial seat was Jamaica's capital before Kingston took over in 1872?

Spanish Town, founded by the Spanish as Villa de la Vega after they abandoned unhealthy Sevilla, served as the capital for more than three centuries.

Jamaica's largest and busiest airport, Sangster International, serves which city?

Kingston has Norman Manley International, and a third airport near Ocho Rios is named after Ian Fleming.

Jamaica's national symbol, the red-billed streamertail hummingbird, is known locally by what nickname?

The red-billed streamertail is Jamaica's 'doctor bird', a nickname often traced to its long tail streamers resembling a doctor's old-fashioned coat-tails.

Jamaica's national dish pairs salted codfish with which fruit?

Ackee and saltfish is the national dish; the ackee's Latin name, Blighia sapida, honours Captain Bligh, who took it to Kew in 1793, and unripe fruit is toxic.

Jerk seasoning's two key ingredients are Scotch bonnet peppers and which spice, Jamaica's biggest spice export?

Allspice, called pimento in Jamaica, is the dried berry of a tree native to the island and, with Scotch bonnet, defines jerk; the word 'jerk' likely traces to 'charqui'.

Red Stripe lager, first brewed in 1928, is made by which Jamaican company?

Desnoes & Geddes, founded in Kingston in 1918, launched Red Stripe in 1928; Guinness took control in 1993 and Heineken bought the company in 2015.

Jamaica is among the world's leading exporters of which mineral ore?

Bauxite, the ore refined into aluminium, powered Jamaica's economic boom in the decade after independence and is mined mainly in the island's central parishes.

The English-based creole spoken by most Jamaicans is called what?

Jamaican Patois, or Patwa, is an English-based creole with West African influences; linguists treat it as a language distinct from Jamaican Standard English.

Rastafari, which emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s, reveres which Ethiopian emperor?

Haile Selassie, crowned emperor in 1930, was born Tafari Makonnen and titled Ras Tafari, the name the movement took; preacher Leonard Howell hailed his coronation as prophecy fulfilled.

How did Jamaica honour Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association?

He was deported from the US in 1927 after a mail fraud conviction over his Black Star Line and reburied in National Heroes Park in 1964.

The 1968 single 'Do the Reggay', the first hit to use the word reggae, was by which group?

Toots and the Maytals' 1968 single 'Do the Reggay' gave the genre its name; UNESCO added reggae to its intangible heritage list in 2018.

Bob Marley was born in 1945 in which Saint Ann Parish village, where he is also buried?

Marley was born in Nine Mile, Saint Ann, on 6 February 1945 and was laid to rest there in a mausoleum after his death in 1981.

Which Bob Marley album did Time magazine name 'Album of the Century' in 1999?

Exodus (1977) was recorded in London after Marley survived a December 1976 shooting in Kingston; Time named it the album of the 20th century.

Marley's first international hit outside Jamaica, in 1975, was a live version of which song?

The live 'No Woman, No Cry', recorded at London's Lyceum in July 1975, reached the UK top 30 and became Marley's first hit outside Jamaica.

Usain Bolt's 100 m world record of 9.58 seconds was set in 2009 in which city?

Bolt ran 9.58 at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, where he also lowered the 200 m record to 19.19.

Usain Bolt was born in Sherwood Content, in which parish?

Sherwood Content lies in Trelawny, a north-coast parish whose capital is Falmouth; Bolt retired in 2017 as an eight-time Olympic champion.

Jamaica's bobsled team made its Winter Olympic debut in 1988 in which host city?

At Calgary 1988 the four-man sled crashed on its third run and did not finish; the story loosely inspired Disney's Cool Runnings (1993).

Jamaica's bobsled team finished 14th at Lillehammer 1994, ahead of which country among others?

Jamaica's four-man sled placed 14th at Lillehammer, ahead of the United States, Russia, Australia and France; a Jamaican women's sled debuted in 2018.

Which Jamaican sprinter won the Olympic women's 100 m in both 2008 and 2012?

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the Olympic women's 100 m in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, the first Caribbean woman to take the title.

What is Ian Fleming's Jamaican estate, where he wrote every Bond novel, called?

Fleming began Casino Royale at Goldeneye, his house on Oracabessa Bay, in February 1952; Island Records founder Chris Blackwell later bought the estate and made it a resort.

Which 1962 Bond film, the first in the series, was shot on location in Jamaica?

Dr. No (1962) shot at Laughing Waters beach, where Ursula Andress emerged from the sea as Honey Ryder; Papillon and Cocktail also filmed in Jamaica.

Kingston is described as the largest English-speaking city where in the Western Hemisphere?

Kingston is the largest mainly English-speaking city in the Americas south of the United States, well ahead of Port of Spain, Nassau and Bridgetown.

Dunn's River Falls, the climbable waterfall, lies beside which north-coast resort town?

Dunn's River Falls, a terraced cascade that visitors climb hand-in-hand, lies just west of Ocho Rios in Saint Ann parish.

Which rugged limestone region of western Jamaica is known for its conical hills and sinkholes?

Cockpit Country, a karst landscape in Trelawny and neighbouring parishes, is named for the hollow 'cockpits' between its steep limestone hills.

Post-emancipation indentured labourers on Jamaica's plantations came mainly from India and which other country?

Indian workers arrived from 1845 and Chinese from 1854; the Irish had earlier made up two-thirds of the white population.

Which city municipality did Jamaica create in 2003?

Portmore, across the harbour from Kingston in St Catherine parish, became a municipality with its own council in 2003.

Which two rival party leaders did Bob Marley bring together on stage at the 1978 One Love Peace Concert?

On 22 April 1978 Marley pulled PNP prime minister Michael Manley and JLP leader Edward Seaga on stage and clasped their hands together during 'Jamming'.

Roughly how many Rastafari were estimated to exist worldwide in the 2010s?

Scholars put the worldwide Rastafari population at roughly 700,000 to 1 million in the 2010s; followers call their way of life 'livity', including the Ital diet and dreadlocks.

Which Jamaican novelist won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings?

Marlon James, born in Kingston in 1970, was the first Jamaican to win the Booker; his earlier novels were John Crow's Devil and The Book of Night Women.

Which reggae singer starred as a musician turned outlaw in the 1970s film The Harder They Come?

Jimmy Cliff played Ivanhoe 'Ivan' Martin in The Harder They Come (1972), whose soundtrack, with 'Many Rivers to Cross', carried reggae abroad.

In which parish is Ian Fleming International Airport, one of Jamaica's three international airports?

The airport at Boscobel in Saint Mary parish, formerly Boscobel Aerodrome, was renamed for Ian Fleming in 2011 and mainly handles private jets.

Which prime minister died of natural causes within two months of taking office in 1967?

Donald Sangster, sworn in on 23 February 1967 after Bustamante retired, suffered a brain haemorrhage and died on 11 April 1967.