History and Culture

History and Culture

Some of the island's earliest residents were the Arawak Indians, who arrived from South America around 650 AD, named the island Xaymaca or "land of wood and water." Centuries later, the Arawaks welcomed Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World. Later when the Spanish arrived, the peaceful inhabitants were executed or taken as slaves.

The Spanish maintained control of the island until 1655 when the English arrived. Soon, slavery increased as sugar became a booming industry. In 1834, slavery was abolished, but the sugar as well as banana industries continued. Jamaica's plantation owners looked for another source of labor. From 1838 to 1917, over 30,000 Indians immigrated here, followed by about 5,000 Asians as well as immigrants from the Middle East, primarily what is now Lebanon.

In the early 1900s, the boats that took the banana crop off the island began returning with travelers. By 1960, the tourism industry had become Jamaica's most important form of income. In 1962, Jamaica became an independent nation.

Although 95% of the population traces its bloodlines to Africa, Jamaica is a stockpot of cultures, including those of other Caribbean islands, Great Britain, the Middle East, India, China, Germany, Portugal, and South America. The third-largest island in the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola), Jamaica enjoys a considerable self-sufficiency based on tourism, agriculture, and mining.