Portal:Jamaica

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The Jamaica Portal

Shortcut: P:CARIB

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 240 kilometers (150 mi) in length and as much as 85 kilometers (50 mi) in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is 635 kilometers (391 mi) east of the Central American mainland, 150 kilometers (93 mi) south of Cuba, and 180 kilometers (112 mi) west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated. Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning either the "Land of Springs," or the "Land of Wood and Water." Formerly a Spanish possession known as Santiago, then the British West Indies Crown colony of Jamaica. It is the third most populous Anglophone country in the Americas, after the United States and Canada.

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Politics of Jamaica takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy. The 1962 Constitution established a parliamentary system based on the United Kingdom model. As chief of state, Queen Elizabeth II appoints a governor general, on the advice of the her representative in Jamaica. The governor general's role is largely ceremonial. Executive power is vested in the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. Jamaica is an independent country and Commonwealth Realm. It is a parliamentary democracy whose political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.

Jamaica's current Constitution was drafted in 1962 by a bipartisan joint committee of the Jamaican legislature. It came into force with the Jamaica Independence Act, 1962 of the United Kingdom Parliament, which gave Jamaica political independence. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English common law.

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Did you know...

• ...that the Empire Windrush (pictured) was a ship that transported a group of 492 immigrants from Jamaica to Tilbury near London on 22 June 1948 to start a new life in Britain? And that these arrivals were the first of many subsequent migrants from the Caribbean to the United Kingdom via immigration campaigns created by successive British governments?

• ...that record producer Lee "Scratch" Perry's first single "People Funny Boy" was directed as an insult to fellow Jamaican music mogul and former collaborator Joe Gibbs?

• ...that Jamaican artist Carl Abrahams served in the Royal Air Force in England before becoming a painter of religious subjects.

• ...that Bunny Wailer, an original member of Jamaican reggae group The Wailers, was born was born Neville O'Riley Livingston?

• ....that Jamaican Creole contains many words borrowed from English as well as from Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, and African languages?

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WikiProjects

Geographical:

• Caribbean: Cuba • Dominican Republic • Puerto Rico
• Latin America countries: Argentina • Brazil • Colombia • Ecuador • Peru • Uruguay • Venezuela
• Central America: El Salvador • Mexico
• North America: Canada • United States

History and Society:

• African diaspora • Mesoamerica

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• Edit existing articles about Jamaica
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Credit: U.S. Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection

Marcus Garvey, National Hero of Jamaica.

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In the news

• August 17: Hurricane Dean is on a direct path toward the southern coast of Jamaica. The prime minister called an emergency meeting to prepare for the hurricane, which could disrupt the August 27 general elections.(iol World)
• Jamaican police are treating the death of Pakistan cricket team coach Bob Woolmer during the ongoing Cricket World Cup as a case of murder.
• March 18: Trinidad and Tobago has backed the move by the Venezuelan Government to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Jamaica by 2009.(JAMAICAN GLEANER)
• March 12: The 2007 Cricket World Cup opens at the Greenfield Stadium in Jamaica with a ceremony showcasing West Indian musicians including Sly and Robbie, Sean Paul, Kevin Lyttle, Alison Hinds and Jimmy Cliff.(BBC NEWS)
• March 2: Jamaica Labour Party Member of Parliament for north-west St Elizabeth, J C Hutchinson, is cleared of charges related to a 2005 roadblock incident after the prosecuting officer arrived too late for the trial at the Santa Cruz Resident Magistrate's Court. (JAMAICA OBSERVER)
• March 1: The West Indies cricket team make final preparations for the oncoming Cricket world cup, which begins on March 13 at the newly completed Sabina Park in Kingston. (CRICKET WORLD CUP NEWS)

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