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102-743: Jamaica ( / dʒ ə ˈ m eɪ k ə / jə- MAY -kə ; Jamaican Patois : Jumieka [dʒʌˈmie̯ka] ) is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies . At 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi), it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola —of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean . Jamaica lies about 145 km (78 nmi) south of Cuba, 191 km (103 nmi) west of Hispaniola (the island containing Haiti and

204-438: A Westminster-style parliamentary system . Bustamante, at the age of 78, became the country's first prime minister. Strong economic growth, averaging approximately 6% per year, marked the first ten years of independence under conservative JLP governments; these were led by successive Prime Ministers Alexander Bustamante, Donald Sangster (who died of natural causes within two months of taking office) and Hugh Shearer . The growth

306-400: A creole continuum (or a linguistic continuum ): the variety of the language closest to the lexifier language (the acrolect ) cannot be distinguished systematically from intermediate varieties (collectively referred to as the mesolect ) or even from the most divergent rural varieties (collectively referred to as the basilect ). This situation came about with contact between speakers of

408-627: A two-party system , with power often alternating between the People's National Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The party with current administrative and legislative power is the Jamaica Labour Party, after its 2020 victory. There are also several minor parties who have yet to gain a seat in parliament; the largest of these is the National Democratic Movement (NDM). The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF)

510-474: A . These are not verbs , but rather invariant particles that cannot stand alone (like the English to be ). Their function also differs from those of English. According to Bailey (1966), the progressive category is marked by /a~da~de/ . Alleyne (1980) claims that /a~da/ marks the progressive and that the habitual aspect is unmarked but by its accompaniment with words such as "always", "usually", etc. (i.e.

612-502: A Coast Guard fleet and a supporting Engineering Unit. The infantry regiment contains the 1st, 2nd and 3rd (National Reserve) battalions. The JDF Air Wing is divided into three flight units, a training unit, a support unit and the JDF Air Wing (National Reserve). The Coast Guard is divided between seagoing crews and support crews who conduct maritime safety and maritime law enforcement as well as defence-related operations. The role of

714-487: A Jamaican woman ( Lois Kelly Miller ). In addition, early Jamaican films like The Harder They Come (1972), Rockers (1978), and many of the films produced by Palm Pictures in the mid-1990s (e.g. Dancehall Queen and Third World Cop ) have most of their dialogue in Jamaican Patois; some of these films have even been subtitled in English. It was also used in the second season of Marvel's Luke Cage but

816-655: A consecutive win occurred for the JLP was in 1980. However, the turnout at this election was just 37%, probably affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy . The head of state is the King of Jamaica (currently King Charles III ), represented locally by the Governor-General of Jamaica . The governor-general is nominated by the Prime Minister of Jamaica and

918-593: A decline in support for the Seaga government, exacerbated by criticism of the government's response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Having now de-emphasised socialism and adopting a more centrist position, Michael Manley and the PNP were re-elected in 1989 , winning 45 seats to the JLP's 15. The PNP went on to win a string of elections, under Prime Ministers Michael Manley (1989–1992), P. J. Patterson (1992–2005) and Portia Simpson-Miller (2005–2007). In

1020-507: A directly elected House of Representatives. Andrew Holness has served as Prime Minister of Jamaica since March 2016. As a Commonwealth realm , with Charles III as its king , the appointed representative of the Crown is the Governor-General of Jamaica , an office held by Patrick Allen since 2009. The indigenous people , the Taíno, called the island Xaymaca in their language , meaning

1122-586: A federation of several of Britain's Caribbean colonies . Membership of the Federation proved to be divisive, however, and a referendum on the issue saw a slight majority voting to leave. After leaving the Federation, Jamaica attained full independence on 6 August 1962. The new state retained, however, its membership in the Commonwealth of Nations (with the British monarch as head of state) and adopted

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1224-719: A high rate of emigration for work since the 1960s, there is a large Jamaican diaspora , particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The country has a global influence that belies its small size; it was the birthplace of the Rastafari religion, reggae music (and such associated genres as dub , ska and dancehall ), and it is internationally prominent in sports, including cricket , sprinting , and athletics . Jamaica has sometimes been considered

1326-547: A magisterial recount. On 5 March 1998, he lost the seat, as the Election Court had ordered a re-election. In April, Blake won the re-election, but due to irregularities in a group of four polling stations at Taylor Basic School, the JLP lodged allegations with the Constituted Authority, who agreed to run a re-election in those polling stations. In the ensuing re-election, Holness won, and he was sworn in

1428-756: A move would undermine efforts at promoting the use of English. The Patois New Testament was launched in Britain (where the Jamaican diaspora is significant) in October 2012 as " Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment ", and with print and audio versions in Jamaica in December 2012. The system of spelling used in Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment is the phonetic Cassidy Writing system adopted by

1530-462: A number of Niger–Congo languages and various dialects of English, the latter of which were all perceived as prestigious and whose use carried socio-economic benefits. The span of a speaker's command of the continuum generally corresponds to social context. The tense/aspect system of Jamaican Patois is fundamentally unlike that of English. There are no morphologically marked past participles ; instead, two different participle words exist: en and

1632-618: A possession of Spain, under the name Santiago , until 1655, when England (part of what would become the Kingdom of Great Britain ) conquered it and named it Jamaica . It became an important part of the colonial British West Indies . Under Britain's colonial rule, Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with a plantation economy dependent on continued importation of African slaves and their descendants. The British fully emancipated all slaves in 1838, and many freedmen chose to have subsistence farms rather than to work on plantations. Beginning in

1734-591: A republic with a president. 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, which was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom , which gave Jamaica independence. The Parliament of Jamaica is bicameral , consisting of the House of Representatives (Lower House) and

1836-451: A result of this incident Golding resigned and was replaced by Andrew Holness in 2011. Independence, however widely celebrated in Jamaica, has been questioned in the early 21st century. In 2011, a survey showed that approximately 60% of Jamaicans believe that the country would have been better off had it remained a British colony, with only 17% believing it would have been worse off, citing as problems years of social and fiscal mismanagement in

1938-461: A second time as MP in July 1998. After his election, Morris Cargill commented: "I am glad that Andrew Holness won, not out of any narrow political bias, but because it would be good for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to have a new young man in its ranks." Shortly after entering the house, Holness was appointed as the opposition spokesperson on land, development, and housing, and he became a member of

2040-690: A term also used as a lower-case noun as a catch-all description of pidgins , creoles, dialects , and vernaculars worldwide. Creoles, including Jamaican Patois, are often stigmatized as low- prestige languages even when spoken as the mother tongue by the majority of the local population. Jamaican pronunciation and vocabulary are significantly different from English despite heavy use of English words or derivatives. Significant Jamaican Patois-speaking communities exist among Jamaican expatriates and non Jamaican in South Florida , New York City , Hartford , Washington, D.C. , Nicaragua , Costa Rica ,

2142-625: A type of professional doctorate . His thesis focused on the impact of American gun laws on violence in Jamaican society. Holness joined the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in 1992, and became actively involved from 1993, while a student at the University of the West Indies. Holness was first elected to the Jamaican parliament in the 1997 general election as the member of parliament for Saint Andrew West Central , representing

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2244-556: Is absent as a grammatical category). Mufwene (1984) and Gibson and Levy (1984) propose a past-only habitual category marked by /juusta/ as in /weɹ wi juusta liv iz not az kual az iiɹ/ ('where we used to live is not as cold as here'). For the present tense, an uninflected verb combining with an iterative adverb marks habitual meaning as in /tam aawez nua wen kieti tel pan im/ ('Tom always knows when Katy tells/has told about him'). As in other Caribbean Creoles (that is, Guyanese Creole and San Andrés-Providencia Creole ; Sranan Tongo

2346-414: Is also considered a profanity. A rich body of literature has developed in Jamaican Patois. Notable among early authors and works are Thomas MacDermot 's All Jamaica Library and Claude McKay 's Songs of Jamaica (1909), and, more recently, dub poets Linton Kwesi Johnson and Mikey Smith . Subsequently, the life-work of Louise Bennett or Miss Lou (1919–2006) is particularly notable for her use of

2448-403: Is excluded) /fi/ has a number of functions, including: The pronominal system of Standard English has a four-way distinction of person , number , gender and case . Some varieties of Jamaican Patois do not have the gender or case distinction, but all varieties distinguish between the second person singular and plural (you). This is akin to Spanish in that both have two distinct forms of

2550-467: Is the small but professional military force of Jamaica. The JDF is based on the British military model with similar organisation, training, weapons and traditions. Once chosen, officer candidates are sent to one of several British or Canadian basic officer courses depending on the arm of service. Enlisted soldiers are given basic training at Up Park Camp or JDF Training Depot, Newcastle, both in St. Andrew. As with

2652-447: The 1993 Jamaican general election , Patterson led the PNP to victory, winning 52 seats to the JLP's eight seats. Patterson also won the 1997 Jamaican general election , by another landslide margin of 50 seats to the JLP's 10 seats. Patterson's third consecutive victory came in the 2002 Jamaican general election , when the PNP retained power, but with a reduced seat majority of 34 seats to 26. Patterson stepped down on 26 February 2006, and

2754-552: The Cayman Islands , and Panama , as well as Toronto , London , Birmingham , Manchester , and Nottingham . The Cayman Islands in particular have a very large Jamaican Patois-speaking community, with 16.4% of the population conversing in the language. A mutually intelligible variety is found in San Andrés y Providencia Islands, Colombia, brought to the island by descendants of Jamaican Maroons (escaped slaves) in

2856-554: The Dominican Republic ), and 215 km (116 nmi) southeast of the Cayman Islands (a British Overseas Territory ). The indigenous Taíno peoples of the island gradually came under Spanish rule after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Many of the indigenous people either were killed or died of diseases, after which the Spanish brought large numbers of Africans to Jamaica as slaves. The island remained

2958-658: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge 's tour of Jamaica in March 2022, on behalf of the Jamaican monarch , Queen Elizabeth II , and as part of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of her accession , Holness told the royal couple that their nation was "moving on and we intend to attain in short order our development goals and fulfil our true ambitions as an independent, developed, prosperous country". In 1997 he married Juliet Holness ( née Landell), an accountant, whom he had met as

3060-650: The Igbo language . Red eboe describes a fair-skinned black person because of the reported account of fair skin among the Igbo in the mid-1700s. De meaning to be (at a location) comes from Yoruba . From the Ashanti-Akan, comes the term Obeah which means witchcraft, from the Ashanti Twi word Ɔbayi which also means "witchcraft". Words from Hindi include ganja (marijuana). Pickney or pickiney meaning child, taken from an earlier form ( piccaninny )

3162-427: The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) since 2011. Holness previously served as prime minister from 23 October 2011 to 5 January 2012. He succeeded Bruce Golding as prime minister and decided to go to the polls in the 29 December 2011 general election in an attempt to get his own mandate from the Jamaican electorate. He failed in that bid, however, losing to the People's National Party led by Portia Simpson-Miller , with

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3264-558: The "Land of Wood and Water" or the "Land of Springs". Yamaye has been suggested as an early Taino name for the island as recorded by Christopher Columbus . Jamaicans often refer to their home island as "yaad" - the Jamaican Patois word for yard, meaning home. Other colloquial names such as "Jamrock", "Jamdown" ("Jamdung" in Jamaican Patois ), or briefly "Ja" are also widely used. There is no archaeological evidence of any human presence on Jamaica until about 500. A group known as

3366-502: The "Redware people" after their pottery arrived circa 600, followed by the Taíno circa 800, who most likely came from South America . They practised an agrarian and fishing economy, and at their height are thought to have numbered some 60,000 people, grouped into around 200 villages headed by caciques (chiefs). The south coast of Jamaica was the most populated, especially around the area now known as Old Harbour. Though often thought to have become extinct following contact with Europeans,

3468-487: The 17th century when enslaved people from West and Central Africa were exposed to, learned, and nativized the vernacular and dialectal language spoken by the slaveholders and overseers: British English , Hiberno-English and Scots . Jamaican Creole exists in gradations between more conservative creole forms that are not significantly mutually intelligible with English, and forms virtually identical to Standard English . Jamaicans refer to their language as Patois ,

3570-716: The 1840s, the British began using Chinese and Indian indentured labourers for plantation work. Jamaicans achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962. With 2.8 million people, Jamaica is the third most populous Anglophone country in the Americas (after the United States and Canada), and the fourth most populous country in the Caribbean. Kingston is the country's capital and largest city. Most Jamaicans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, with significant European , East Asian (primarily Chinese ), Indian , Lebanese , and mixed-race minorities. Because of

3672-685: The 18th century, slaves ran away and joined the Maroons in increasing numbers, and resulted in The First Maroon War (1728 – 1739/40), which ended in stalemate. The British government sued for peace, and signed treaties with the Leeward Maroons led by Cudjoe and Accompong in 1739, and the Windward Maroons led by Quao and Queen Nanny in 1740. A large slave rebellion, known as Tacky's War , broke out in 1760 but

3774-774: The 18th century. Mesolectal forms are similar to very basilectal Belizean Kriol . Jamaican Patois exists mainly as a spoken language and is also heavily used for musical purposes, especially in reggae and dancehall as well as other genres. Although standard British English is used for most writing in Jamaica, Jamaican Patois has gained ground as a literary language for almost a hundred years. Claude McKay published his book of Jamaican poems Songs of Jamaica in 1912. Patois and English are frequently used for stylistic contrast ( codeswitching ) in new forms of Internet writing. Accounts of basilectal Jamaican Patois (that is, its most divergent rural varieties) suggest around 21 phonemic consonants with an additional phoneme ( /h/ ) in

3876-655: The 1960s, the status of Jamaican Patois rose as a number of respected linguistic studies were published, by Frederic Cassidy (1961, 1967), Bailey (1966) and others. Subsequently, it has gradually become mainstream to codemix or write complete pieces in Jamaican Patois; proponents include Kamau Brathwaite , who also analyses the position of Creole poetry in his History of the Voice: The Development of Nation Language in Anglophone Caribbean Poetry (1984). However, Standard English remains

3978-473: The Americas. His probable landing point was Dry Harbour, called Discovery Bay , and St. Ann's Bay was named "Saint Gloria" by Columbus, as the first sighting of the land. He later returned in 1503; however, he was shipwrecked and he and his crew were forced to live on Jamaica for a year while waiting to be rescued. One and a half kilometres west of St. Ann's Bay is the site of the first Spanish settlement on

4080-635: The Baptist preacher Samuel Sharpe . The rebellion resulted in hundreds of deaths and the destruction of many plantations, and led to ferocious reprisals by the plantocracy class. As a result of rebellions such as these, as well as the efforts of abolitionists, Britain outlawed slavery in its empire in 1834, with full emancipation from chattel slavery declared in 1838. The population in 1834 was 371,070, of whom 15,000 were white, 5,000 free black; 40,000 "coloured" or free people of colour ( mixed race ); and 311,070 were slaves. The resulting labour shortage prompted

4182-639: The British had outlawed the importation of slaves, some were still smuggled in from Spanish colonies and directly from Africa. While planning the abolition of slavery, the British Parliament passed laws to improve conditions for slaves. They banned the use of whips in the field and flogging of women; informed planters that slaves were to be allowed religious instruction, and required a free day during each week when slaves could sell their produce, prohibiting Sunday markets to enable slaves to attend church. The House of Assembly in Jamaica resented and resisted

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4284-554: The British model, NCOs are given several levels of professional training as they rise up the ranks. Additional military schools are available for speciality training in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. The JDF is directly descended from the British Army 's West India Regiment , which was formed during the colonial era. The West India Regiment was used extensively throughout the British Empire in policing

4386-459: The British to begin to "import" indentured servants to supplement the labour pool, as many freedmen resisted working on the plantations. Workers recruited from India began arriving in 1845, Chinese workers in 1854. Many Jamaicans are descendants of South Asian and Chinese people. Over the next 20 years, several epidemics of cholera , scarlet fever , and smallpox hit the island, killing almost 60,000 people (about 10 per day). Nevertheless, in 1871

4488-458: The British to support pirates attacking Spanish ships in the Caribbean; as a result piracy became rampant on Jamaica, with the city of Port Royal becoming notorious for its lawlessness. Spain later recognised English possession of the island with the Treaty of Madrid (1670) . After that, the English authorities sought to rein in the worst excesses of the pirates. In 1660, the population of Jamaica

4590-775: The Father of the Forest (2015), British-Trinidadian author Wayne Gerard Trotman presents dialogue in Trinidadian Creole , Jamaican Patois, and French while employing Standard English for narrative prose. Jamaican Patois is also presented in some films and other media, such as for example the character Tia Dalma 's speech from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest , and a few scenes in Meet Joe Black in which Brad Pitt 's character converses with

4692-623: The JDF has been called on to assist the nation's police, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), in fighting drug smuggling and a rising crime rate which includes one of the highest murder rates in the world. JDF units actively conduct armed patrols with the JCF in high-crime areas and known gang neighbourhoods. There has been vocal controversy as well as support of this JDF role. In early 2005, an Opposition leader, Edward Seaga, called for

4794-449: The JLP back in in 1980 under Edward Seaga , the JLP winning 51 seats to the PNP's nine seats. Firmly anti-Communist, Seaga cut ties with Cuba and sent troops to support the US invasion of Grenada in 1983. The economic deterioration, however, continued into the mid-1980s, exacerbated by a number of factors. The largest and third-largest alumina producers, Alpart and Alcoa , closed; and there

4896-417: The JLP and prime minister on 23 October 2011, making him the ninth person to hold the office. As prime minister, he chose to retain the education portfolio. In February 2023, a commission cleared him of corruption allegations of which he was accused. On 5 December 2011, Holness called an election set for 29 December 2011. The JLP campaigned in its strongholds, and Holness highlighted the accomplishments during

4998-399: The JLP to a second consecutive general election victory, but this time by a much larger margin. The JLP won 49 seats, as compared to the 14 seats for the PNP. However, the turnout was just 37%, probably affected by the coronavirus pandemic. With this victory, he became the youngest person in Jamaica's history to be elected twice. He was sworn in for another term on 7 September 2020. During

5100-449: The JLP won the 2016 election winning 32 seats compared to 31 seats for the incumbent PNP. His wife Juliet also won a seat in parliament, the first time a prime minister or opposition leader and their spouse sat simultaneously in the Parliament of Jamaica . As a result, Simpson-Miller became Opposition Leader for a second time. The voter turnout dipped below 50% for the first time, registering just 48.37%. On 3 September 2020, Holness led

5202-430: The JLP's 13. The turnout was a very high 85 percent. However, the economy faltered in this period due to a combination of internal and external factors (such as the oil shocks). The rivalry between the JLP and PNP became intense, and political and gang-related violence grew significantly in this period. By 1980, Jamaica's gross national product had declined to some 25% below its 1972 level. Seeking change, Jamaicans voted

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5304-519: The JLP's 16. Manley's government enacted various social reforms, such as a higher minimum wage , land reform, legislation for women's equality, greater housing construction and an increase in educational provision. Internationally he improved ties with the Communist bloc and vigorously opposed the apartheid regime in South Africa . In 1976, the PNP won another landslide, winning 47 seats to

5406-399: The JLP's 32. As a result, Simpson-Miller became Opposition Leader for a second time. The voter turnout dipped below 50% for the first time, registering just 48.37%. In the 2020 general election , Andrew Holness made history for the JLP by accomplishing a second consecutive win for the Jamaica Labour Party, winning 49 seats to 14 won by the PNP, led this time by Peter Phillips . The last time

5508-435: The JLP. The election in the constituency was, principally, between Holness and Warren Blake, representing the People's National Party (PNP). The initial result was very close, although by the end Holness was declared the victor. The PNP lodged allegations of tampering with the Constituted Authority, part of the electoral regulation system in Jamaica. Holness was sworn in as member of parliament on 24 February 1998, delayed by

5610-596: The Jamaica Language Unit of the University of the West Indies, and while most Jamaicans use the informal "Miss Lou" writing system, the Cassidy Writing system is an effort at standardizing Patois in its written form. Andrew Holness Andrew Michael Holness , ON PC (born 22 July 1972) is a Jamaican politician who has served as Prime Minister of Jamaica since 3 March 2016, having previously served from 2011 to 2012, and as Leader of

5712-575: The Maroon community under the leadership of Juan de Bolas switched sides from the Spanish, and began supporting the English. With their help, the Spanish defeat was secured. In 1661 English civil government was formed and Roundhead soldiers turned their attention to governance and agricultural responsibilities. When the English captured Jamaica, most Spanish colonists fled, with the exception of Spanish Jews, who chose to remain. Spanish slave holders freed their slaves before leaving. Many slaves dispersed into

5814-522: The PNP gaining 42 seats to the JLP's 21. Following that defeat, Holness served as Leader of the Opposition from January 2012 to March 2016, when he once again assumed the position of prime minister. In 2020, the Labour Party won a landslide in another general election, and on 7 September Holness was sworn in for another term as prime minister. In October 2011, at the age of 39, Holness became

5916-460: The Senate (Upper House). Members of the House (known as Members of Parliament or MPs ) are directly elected, and the member of the House of Representatives who, in the governor-general's best judgement, is best able to command the confidence of a majority of the members of that House, is appointed by the governor-general to be the prime minister. Senators are nominated jointly by the prime minister and

6018-425: The Taíno in fact still inhabited Jamaica when the English took control of the island in 1655. Some fled into interior regions, merging with African Maroon communities. The Jamaican National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any remaining evidence of the Taíno. Christopher Columbus was the first European to see Jamaica, claiming the island for Spain after landing there in 1494 on his second voyage to

6120-501: The United States whilst also developing links with Communist states such as Cuba. The optimism of the first decade was accompanied by a growing sense of inequality among many Afro-Jamaicans, and a concern that the benefits of growth were not being shared by the urban poor, many of whom ended up living in crime-ridden shanty towns in Kingston. This led to the voters electing the PNP under Michael Manley in 1972. The PNP won 37 seats to

6222-585: The Western dialect. There are between nine and sixteen vowels . Some vowels are capable of nasalization and others can be lengthened. Examples of palatalization include: Voiced stops are implosive whenever in the onset of prominent syllables (especially word-initially) so that /biit/ ('beat') is pronounced [ɓiːt] and /ɡuud/ ('good') as [ɠuːd] . Before a syllabic /l/ , the contrast between alveolar and velar consonants has been historically neutralized with alveolar consonants becoming velar so that

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6324-620: The accents were described as "awful" by Jamaican Americans. In December 2011, it was reported that the Bible was being translated into Jamaican Patois. The Gospel of Luke has already appeared as Jiizas: di Buk We Luuk Rait bout Im . While the Rev. Courtney Stewart, managing the translation as General Secretary of the West Indies Bible Society, believes this will help elevate the status of Jamaican Patois, others think that such

6426-470: The census recorded a population of 506,154 people, 246,573 of whom were males, and 259,581 females. Their races were recorded as 13,101 white, 100,346 coloured (known as the Browning Class), and 392,707 black. There was an economic slump in this period, with many Jamaicans living in poverty. Dissatisfaction with this, and continued racial discrimination and marginalisation of the black majority, led to

6528-410: The colony was rocked by an earthquake that resulted in several thousand deaths and the almost complete destruction of Port Royal. During the 1700s the economy boomed, based largely on sugar and other crops for export such as coffee , cotton and indigo . All these crops were worked by black slaves, who lived short and often brutal lives with no rights, being the property of a small planter-class. In

6630-489: The condition of workers, Garvey was also a prominent Pan-Africanist and proponent of the Back-to-Africa movement . He was also one of the chief inspirations behind Rastafari, a religion founded in Jamaica in the 1930s that combined Christianity with an Afrocentric theology focused on the figure of Haile Selassie , Emperor of Ethiopia . Despite occasional persecution, Rastafari grew to become an established faith on

6732-563: The conquest of 1655. The majority of Irish were transported by force as political prisoners of war from Ireland as a result of the ongoing Wars of the Three Kingdoms . Migration of large numbers of Irish to the island continued into the 18th century. A limited form of local government was introduced with the creation of the House of Assembly of Jamaica in 1664; however, it represented only a tiny number of rich plantation owners. In 1692,

6834-424: The country. Holness and the JLP were defeated in the 2011 Jamaican general election , which saw Portia Simpson-Miller and the PNP return to power. The number of seats had been increased to 63, and the PNP swept to power with a landslide 42 seats to the JLP's 21. The voter turnout was 53.17%. Holness's JLP won the 2016 general election narrowly, defeating Simpson-Miller's PNP, on 25 February. The PNP won 31 seats to

6936-465: The early 17th century it is estimated that no more than 2,500–3,000 people lived on Jamaica. The English began taking an interest in the island and, following a failed attempt to conquer Santo Domingo on Hispaniola , Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables led an invasion of Jamaica in 1655. Battles at Ocho Rios in 1657 and the Rio Nuevo in 1658 resulted in Spanish defeats; in 1660

7038-439: The economy and production and infrastructure and physical development committees. In 1997, he became a member of parliament for West Central St. Andrew and served as Opposition Spokesperson on Land and Development from 1999 to 2002. In 2002, he switched portfolio to Housing and then Education in 2005. Holness became Minister of Education in the cabinet of Bruce Golding in 2007. He succeeded Bruce Golding as both leader of

7140-764: The empire from 1795 to 1926. Other units in the JDF heritage include the early colonial Jamaica Militia, the Kingston Infantry Volunteers of WWI and reorganised into the Jamaican Infantry Volunteers in World War II. The West Indies Regiment was reformed in 1958 as part of the West Indies Federation , after dissolution of the Federation the JDF was established. The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) comprises an infantry Regiment and Reserve Corps, an Air Wing,

7242-548: The entire Cabinet and then formally appointed by the monarch. All the members of the Cabinet are appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister. The monarch and the governor-general serve largely ceremonial roles, apart from their reserve powers for use in certain constitutional crisis situations. The position of the monarch has been a matter of continuing debate in Jamaica for many years; currently both major political parties are committed to transitioning to

7344-402: The four years of JLP government, such as economic growth and crime reduction, which the JLP said the PNP failed to do during its own eighteen years' rule of the country. The JLP, however, lost the election to the PNP, which gained a large majority of 42 to the JLP's 21 parliamentary seats. Portia Simpson-Miller and the PNP returned to power. The voter turnout was 53.17%. On 25 February 2016,

7446-457: The island, Sevilla , which was established in 1509 by Juan de Esquivel but abandoned around 1524 because it was deemed unhealthy. The capital was moved to Spanish Town , then called St. Jago de la Vega , around 1534. Meanwhile, the Taínos began dying in large numbers, both from introduced diseases and from enslavement by the Spanish. As a result, the Spanish began importing slaves from Africa to

7548-538: The island, later spreading abroad. The Great Depression of the 1930s hit Jamaica hard. As part of the British West Indian labour unrest of 1934–39 , Jamaica saw numerous strikes, culminating in a strike in 1938 that turned into a riot. As a result, the British government instituted a commission to look into the causes of the disturbances; their report recommended political and economic reforms in Britain's Caribbean colonies. A new House of Representatives

7650-563: The island. Many slaves managed to escape, forming autonomous communities in remote and easily defended areas in the interior of Jamaica, mixing with the remaining Taino; these communities became known as Maroons . Many Jews fled the Spanish Inquisition to live on the island. They lived as conversos and were often persecuted by the Spanish rulers, and some turned to piracy against the Spanish Empire's shipping . By

7752-465: The language, with the aim of supporting non-English-speaking Jamaicans according to their constitutional guarantees of equal rights, as services of the state are normally provided in English, which a significant portion of the population cannot speak fluently. The vast majority of such persons are speakers of Jamaican Patois. It was argued that failure to provide services of the state in a language in such general use or discriminatory treatment by officers of

7854-594: The merger of the JDF and JCF. This has not garnered support in either organisation nor among the majority of citizens. In 2017, Jamaica signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons . Jamaica is the 91st most peaceful country in the world, according to the 2024 Global Peace Index . Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes , which are grouped into three historic counties that have no administrative relevance. Jamaican Patois language Patois developed in

7956-790: The more prestigious literary medium in Jamaican literature . Canadian-Caribbean science-fiction novelist Nalo Hopkinson often writes in Trinidadian and sometimes Jamaican Patois. Jean D'Costa penned a series of popular children's novels, including Sprat Morrison (1972; 1990), Escape to Last Man Peak (1976), and Voice in the Wind (1978), which draw liberally from Jamaican Patois for dialogue, while presenting narrative prose in Standard English. Marlon James employs Patois in his novels including A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014). In his science fiction novel Kaya Abaniah and

8058-407: The mountains, joining the already established maroon communities. During the centuries of slavery, Jamaican Maroons established free communities in the mountainous interior of Jamaica, where they maintained their freedom and independence for generations, under the leadership of Maroon leaders such as Juan de Serras . Meanwhile, the Spanish made several attempts to re-capture the island, prompting

8160-472: The new laws. Members, with membership then restricted to European-descended Jamaicans, claimed that the slaves were content and objected to Parliament's interference in island affairs. Slave owners feared possible revolts if conditions were lightened. The British abolished the slave trade in 1807, but not the institution itself. In 1831 a huge slave rebellion, known as the Baptist War , broke out, led by

8262-509: The outbreak of the Morant Bay rebellion in 1865, led by Paul Bogle , which was put down by Governor John Eyre with such brutality that he was recalled from his position. His successor, John Peter Grant , enacted a series of social, financial and political reforms while aiming to uphold firm British rule over the island, which became a Crown Colony in 1866. In 1872 the capital was transferred from Spanish Town to Kingston. In 1907, Jamaica

8364-625: The parliamentary Leader of the Opposition and are then appointed by the governor-general. The Judiciary of Jamaica operates on a common law system derived from English law and Commonwealth of Nations precedents. The court of final appeal is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council , though during the 2000s Parliament attempted to replace it with the Caribbean Court of Justice . Jamaica has traditionally had

8466-514: The previous two decades, declined significantly. In 2007 the PNP was defeated by the JLP by a narrow margin of 32 seats to 28, with a turnout of 61.46%. This election ended 18 years of PNP rule, and Bruce Golding became the new prime minister. Golding's tenure (2007–2010) was dominated by the effects of the global recession , as well as the fallout from an attempt by Jamaican police and military to arrest drug lord Christopher Coke in 2010 which erupted in violence, resulting in over 70 deaths. As

8568-490: The rich colorful patois, despite being shunned by traditional literary groups. "The Jamaican Poetry League excluded her from its meetings, and editors failed to include her in anthologies." Nonetheless, she argued forcefully for the recognition of Jamaican as a full language, with the same pedigree as the dialect from which Standard English had sprung: Dah language weh yuh proud a, Weh yuh honour an respec – Po Mas Charlie, yuh no know se Dat it spring from dialec! After

8670-510: The sense of "he told me that..." = /im tel mi se/ ), taken from Ashanti Twi , and duppy meaning ghost , taken from the Twi word dupon ('cotton tree root'), because of the African belief of malicious spirits originating in the roots of trees (in Jamaica and Ghana, particularly the cotton tree known in both places as "Odom"). The pronoun /unu/ , used for the plural form of you , is taken from

8772-967: The state based on the inability of a citizen to use English violates the rights of citizens. The proposal was made that freedom from discrimination on the ground of language be inserted into the Charter of Rights. They standardized the Jamaican alphabet as follows: Nasal vowels are written with -hn , as in kyaahn (can't) and iihn (isn't it?) h is written according to local pronunciation, so that hen (hen) and en (end) are distinguished in writing for speakers of western Jamaican, but not for those of central Jamaican. Jamaican Patois contains many loanwords , most of which are African in origin, primarily from Twi (a dialect of Akan ). Many loanwords come from English, but some are also borrowed from Spanish , Portuguese , Hindi , Arawak and African languages , as well as Scottish and Irish dialects. Examples from African languages include /se/ meaning that (in

8874-559: The support battalion is to provide support to boost numbers in combat and issue competency training in order to allow for the readiness of the force. The 1st Engineer Regiment was formed due to an increased demand for military engineers and their role is to provide engineering services whenever and wherever they are needed. The Headquarters JDF contains the JDF Commander, Command Staff as well as Intelligence, Judge Advocate office, Administrative and Procurement sections. In recent years

8976-409: The verb "to be" – ser and estar – in which ser is equative and estar is locative. Other languages, such as Portuguese and Italian, make a similar distinction (see also: Romance Copula ) . Patois has long been written with various respellings compared to English so that, for example, the word "there" might be written ⟨de⟩ , ⟨deh⟩ , or ⟨dere⟩ , and

9078-547: The word "three" as ⟨tree⟩ , ⟨tri⟩ , or ⟨trii⟩ . Standard English spelling is often used and a nonstandard spelling sometimes becomes widespread even though it is neither phonetic nor standard (e.g. ⟨pickney⟩ for /pikni/ , 'child'). In 2002, the Jamaican Language Unit was set up at the University of the West Indies at Mona to begin standardizing

9180-525: The word for 'bottle' is /bakl̩/ and the word for 'idle' is /aiɡl̩/ . Jamaican Patois exhibits two types of vowel harmony ; peripheral vowel harmony, wherein only sequences of peripheral vowels (that is, /i/ , /u/ , and /a/ ) can occur within a syllable; and back harmony, wherein /i/ and /u/ cannot occur within a syllable together (that is, /uu/ and /ii/ are allowed but * /ui/ and * /iu/ are not). These two phenomena account for three long vowels and four diphthongs : Jamaican Patois features

9282-458: The world's least populous cultural superpower . Jamaica is an upper-middle-income country with an economy heavily dependent on tourism; it has an average of 4.3 million tourists a year. The country performs favourably in measures of press freedom , democratic governance and sustainable well-being . Jamaica is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with power vested in the bicameral Parliament of Jamaica , consisting of an appointed Senate and

9384-612: The youngest person ever to be prime minister in Jamaica's history. In March 2016, aged 43, he became the youngest to ever be elected prime minister. He is also the first prime minister to have been born after Jamaica gained independence in 1962. He is currently the longest serving prime minister from the Jamaica Labour Party. In 1997, Holness described his father as "a thinker and an academic socialist" and his mother as "pragmatic and frugal." He grew up in Ensom City, Spanish Town , and attended St. Catherine High School . At school, he

9486-528: Was a noted debater and became head boy and valedictorian . After graduating, he taught at the school for a year, and at the age of 19 he began his undergraduate studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona , and later graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in management studies . After completing his degree, Holness worked as executive director of the Voluntary Organization for Uplifting Children (VOUCH) from 1994 to 1996. It

9588-461: Was a significant reduction in production by the second-largest producer, Alcan . Reynolds Jamaica Mines, Ltd. left the Jamaican industry. There was also a decline in tourism, which was important to the economy. Owing to rising foreign and local debt, accompanied by large fiscal deficits, the government sought International Monetary Fund (IMF) financing, which was dependent on implementing various austerity measures. These resulted in strikes in 1985 and

9690-462: Was about 4,500 white and 1,500 black. By the early 1670s, as the English developed sugar cane plantations worked by large numbers of slaves, black Africans formed a majority of the population. The Irish in Jamaica also formed a large part of the island's early population, making up two-thirds of the white population on the island in the late 17th century, twice that of the English population. They were brought in as indentured labourers and soldiers after

9792-418: Was defeated by the British and their Maroon allies. After the second conflict in 1795–96, many Maroons from the Maroon town of Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town) were expelled to Nova Scotia and, later, Sierra Leone . By the beginning of the 19th century, Jamaica's dependence on slave labour and a plantation economy had resulted in black people outnumbering white people by a ratio of almost 20 to 1. Although

9894-531: Was established in 1944, elected by universal adult suffrage. During this period Jamaica's two-party system emerged, with the creation of the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) under Alexander Bustamante and the People's National Party (PNP) under Norman Manley . Jamaica slowly gained increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. In 1958 it became a province in the Federation of the West Indies ,

9996-492: Was fuelled by high levels of private investment in bauxite / alumina , tourism , the manufacturing industry and, to a lesser extent, the agricultural sector. In the 1967 Jamaican general election , the JLP were victorious again, winning 33 out of 53 seats, with the PNP taking 20 seats. In terms of foreign policy Jamaica became a member of the Non-Aligned Movement , seeking to retain strong ties with Britain and

10098-444: Was replaced by Portia Simpson-Miller , Jamaica's first female Prime Minister. The turnout slowly declined during this period of time, from 67.4% in 1993 to 59.1% in 2002. During this period various economic reforms were introduced, such as deregulating the finance sector and floating the Jamaican dollar, as well as greater investment in infrastructure, whilst also retaining a strong social safety net. Political violence, so prevalent in

10200-593: Was struck by an earthquake which, together with the subsequent fire, resulted in considerable destruction in Kingston and caused the deaths of between 800 and 1,000 people. Unemployment and poverty remained a problem for many Jamaicans. Various movements seeking political change arose as a result, most notably the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League founded by Marcus Garvey in 1917. As well as seeking greater political rights and an improvement for

10302-602: Was there that he met Edward Seaga , at that time the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). During his time at VOUCH, Holness completed a Master of Science (MSc) degree in development studies at the University of the West Indies. Holness joined the Premium Group of Companies, led by Seaga, and worked as his special assistant and financial manager. In 2024, Holness completed a doctor of law and policy degree at Northeastern University in Boston , Massachusetts ,

10404-667: Was ultimately borrowed from the Portuguese pequenino (the diminutive of pequeno , small) or Spanish pequeño ('small'). There are many words referring to popular produce, food items, and Jamaican cuisine — ackee , callaloo , guinep , bammy , roti , dal , kamranga . Jamaican Patois has its own rich variety of swearwords . One of the strongest is bloodclaat (along with related forms raasclaat , bomboclaat , pussyclaat and others)—compare with bloody in Australian English and British English , which

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