an island in the Caribbean Sea which is an independent state and a member of the British Commonwealth. Population: 2,666,000 (2001). Capital: Kingston. Many slaves were brought there from Africa from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Jamaica is the home of reggae music and the Rastafarian religion. Island country, West Indies
an island in the West Indies south of Cuba and west of Haiti a country on the island of Jamaica; became independent of England in 1962; much poverty; the major industry is tourism
Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. It occupies about 20 sq mi (50 sq km) along the southwestern shore of Long Island, in southeastern New York, U.S. Part of the Port of New York, it is sheltered on the south by Rockaway Peninsula and connects with the ocean through Rockaway Inlet. Near the entrance channel is Coney Island. On the northeastern shore, at Idlewild, is the John F. Kennedy International Airport
small tree of West Indies and Florida having large odd-pinnate leaves and panicles of red-striped purple to white flowers followed by decorative curly winged seedpods; yields fish poisons
() Taino Xaymaca (“land of wood and water”). The term Jamaica originates as a common Anglicization of several different indigenous American words, as detailed below.