The island’s landscape displays an immense beauty. It’s located south from Cuba and southwest from Haiti in the Caribbean Basin.It belongs to the Greater Antilles.The landscape is mountainous save in some lowlands on the southern coast. On the northern and eastern coasts, on the other hand, there are tropical jungles, while in the south-western strip is drier. Prairies are commonplace.A range of smaller mountains, with many crisscross spurs, stretch out along the western coast reaching over a huge plateau. The shoreline, spreading for over 800 km long, is quite irregular, mostly in the south. That’s the reason why the island has so many excellent gullies or natural ports, such as Kingston, Saint Ann’s Bay, Montego Bay and Port Maria.There are no volcanic phenomena. The island, though, is under the influence of strong earthquakes.Jamaica’s climate is tropical, that is, sunny and rainy. The rainy season comprises the months of April, May, October and November. In different zones, rain can range from 20% to 300% per square meter. In the Montego Bay area, average rain downfall gets as high as 78%. Mean temperature is around 27 degrees, with just two more degrees in summer and two less degrees in wintertime.
10.991 square kilometers. Jamaica is the Antilles’ third largest island. From east to west, a mountain ridge runs across the island, taking two thirds of its territory. The highest peaks are located on the eastern part of the country, where Blue Mountain (2,256 m) is the island’s highest point.
Jamaica is divided in 14 municipalities (Clarendon, Hanover, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmorland). 12 of these municipalities are administered by councils elected by the majority of the population, while the remaining two are ruled by elected municipal governments. Kingston’s population is 643,801 inhabitants. Other major cities are Montego Bay (83,446) and Spanish Town (92,383)Kingston, Jamaica’s capital and port, is located on the southeastern coast, right at the base of the Blue Mountains, serving as a magnificent gully. It is a trade and goods-producing center, besides being an embarking point for most of the country’s freights. A tourist place in itself, is protected southward by the Palisadoes peninsula. It is also a stopover port highly visited by Caribbean travelers and freighters. Its export trade is based on such produce as sugar, coffee, rom, molasses and banana. It counts on specialized industries for making fabrics, oil byproducts, clothing and foodstuff. A year after the catastrophe, the British founded the city of Kingston right on the same spot where Port Royal used to be. When Jamaica bacema an independent state in 1962, the city remained to be the nation’s capital. Population in the metropolitan area:(1991) 587,798
Many small rivers run across the island, but are not navigable. The only navigable river is Black River, but only along a 40-km stretch.Westward, a huge rhinestone high plateau makes its way across a deep vegetation, where more than a hundred rivulets and streams roll down.
An abundant and extraordinarily diversified vegetation distinguishes Jamaica’s flora. More than 200 blooming species have been cataloged. Among its own brand of trees, cedar, mahogany, ebony, palm tree, coconut tree, majagua, logwood, Jamaican black pepper and rosewood are found.Some of the species brought from overseas in the past, such as mango, banana, plantain and breadfruit tree, also flourish and are extensively grown.
Jamaica’s wildlife, as everywhere else in the West Indies, comprises a great diversity of birds. Parrots, humming birds, cuckoos, boars, bats and varied bird species are especially abundant. There are no native huge mammals, nor poisonous reptiles.
