Jamaica ( } is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about south of Cuba, and 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 the "Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs". Formerly a Spanish possession known as lang: Santiago, it later became 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.

History

main: History of Jamaica

The Arawak and Taino indigenous people originating from South America settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BCFact: date=September 2008. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494 there was already an established governmentFact: date=September 2008 with a Cacique or chief as the headFact: date=September 2008 who was supported by a group of noblesFact: date=September 2008. In addition the island was divided into districtsFact: date=September 2008 and regional chiefdoms.Fact: date=September 2008 The Taino population was largely increasing when the Spanish arrivedFact: date=September 2008. Although some claimFact: date=September 2008 they became virtually extinct following contact with Europeans, others claimFact: date=September 2008 that they survived for a while.Fact: date=September 2008 It has been proposed that the Taino bloodline has been absorbed into the population.Fact: date=September 2008.The Jamaican National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any evidence of the Taino/Arawaks.

Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there in 1494. Columbus' probable landing point was Dry Harbour, now called Discovery Bay. St. Ann's Bay was the "Saint Gloria" of Columbus who first sighted Jamaica at this point. One mile west of St. Ann's Bay is the site of the first Spanish settlement on the island, Sevilla, which was abandoned in 1554 because of numerous pirate raids.

The capital was moved to Spanish Town, now located in the parish of St. Catherine, as early as 1534. It was then called "Santiago de la Vega". Spanish Town has the oldest Cathedral in the British colonies. The Spanish were forcibly evicted by the English at Ocho Rios in St. Ann. However, it was not until 1655 that, at Tower Isle, the English took over the last Spanish fort in Jamaica. The Spaniard Don Arnoldo de Yassi kept Tower Hill (the site of Tower Isle) from the English for five years, before escaping to Cuba. The site of his departure was fittingly called "Runaway Bay", which is also in St. Ann. The name of Montego Bay, the capital of the parish of St. James, was derived from the Spanish name lang: manteca bahía (or Bay of Lard) for the large quantity of boar used for the lard-making industry.