Jamaica 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, and 215 km (116 nmi) southeast of the Cayman Islands.
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island. Kingston is the largest English-speaking city south of the United States in the Western Hemisphere.
Port Royal is a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and commerce in the Caribbean Sea by the latter half of the 17th century. It was destroyed by an earthquake on 7 June 1692 and its accompanying tsunami, leading to the establishment of Kingston, which is now the largest city in Jamaica. Severe hurricanes have regularly damaged the area. Another severe earthquake occurred in 1907.
Spanish Town is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and British capital of Jamaica from 1534 until 1872. The town is home to numerous memorials, the national archives, and one of the oldest Anglican churches outside England.
Lucea is a coastal town in Jamaica and the capital of the parish of Hanover.
Hurricane Charlie was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane of the 1951 Atlantic hurricane season, the most powerful tropical cyclone to strike the island of Jamaica until Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, and at the time the worst natural disaster to affect that island. The third named storm, second hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, it developed from a tropical wave east of the Lesser Antilles. It moved briskly west-northwest, passing between the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe. It strengthened to a hurricane in the eastern Caribbean Sea, and it struck Jamaica as a high-end Category 3 hurricane. It strengthened to a peak intensity of 130 mph (215 km/h) prior to landfall on Quintana Roo, Yucatán Peninsula. It weakened over land, but re-strengthened over the Gulf of Mexico before making a final landfall near Tampico with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h).
Portmore is a large urban settlement located along the southeastern coast of Jamaica in Saint Catherine, and a dormitory community for Kingston and Spanish Town, which neighbour it.
The railways of Jamaica were constructed from 1845, making it the second British colony to receive a railway system, following Canada in 1836 with the Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad. Construction started only twenty years after the Stockton & Darlington Railway commenced operations in the United Kingdom.
Port Maria is the capital town of the Jamaican parish of Saint Mary.
Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre, formerly Fort Augusta Prison, is Jamaica's only prison for women. It was built to accommodate 250 female inmates but has held over 280 on occasions. It has been known to run short of food. It is operated by the Department of Correctional Services for the Ministry of National Security.
The 1692 Jamaica earthquake struck Port Royal, Jamaica, on 7 June. A stopped pocket watch found in the harbor during a 1959 excavation indicated that it occurred around 11:43 AM local time.
Kingston East and Port Royal is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Representatives of the Jamaican Parliament. It elects one Member of Parliament MP by the first past the post system of election. It is one of the original 32 Parliamentary seats.
The Battle of Rio Nuevo took place between 25 and 27 June 1658 on the island of Jamaica between Spanish forces under Cristóbal Arnaldo Isasi and English forces under governor Edward D'Oyley. In the battle lasting over two days the invading Spanish were routed. It is the largest battle to be fought in Jamaica.
Kenneth Wykeham McNeill, MD, MP, CD is a Jamaican politician and former member of parliament for Westmoreland West, Jamaica. He is a former government minister. He was the Minister of Tourism of Jamaica from 2012 to 2016. He was elected the first vice chair of the Executive Council of the United Nations World Tourism Organization representing Jamaica in 2012 and elected chairman of the Executive council for the 2014-2015 period. McNeill was elected a Vice President of The People's National Party at the Party's annual conference in September 2016.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kingston, Jamaica.
Fort Charles was built between 1650 and 1660, the first fort constructed in Port Royal, Jamaica.
Royal tours of Jamaica by Jamaica's royal family have been taking place since the 20th century. Elizabeth II, Queen of Jamaica, visited the island six times; in 1953, 1966, 1975, 1983, 1994, and 2002.
Events in the year 2022 in Jamaica.
