Jamaica (
pronounced
/ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə/
) is an
island nation
of the
Greater Antilles
,
kilometres
( mi) in length and as much as kilometres ( mi) in width situated in the
Caribbean Sea
. It is about kilometres ( mi) northeast of the
Central American
mainland, kilometres ( mi) south of
Cuba
, and kilometres ( mi) 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 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
. |