Jamaica

American  

[juh-mey-kuh] / dʒəˈmeɪ kə /

noun

1. an island in the West Indies, S of Cuba. 4,413 sq. mi. (11,430 sq. km).

2. a republic coextensive with this island: formerly a British colony; became independent in 1962, retaining membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. Kingston.

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Jamaica British  

/ dʒəˈmeɪkə /

noun

1. an island and state in the Caribbean: colonized by the Spanish from 1494 onwards, large numbers of Black slaves being imported; captured by the British in 1655 and established as a colony in 1866; gained full independence in 1962; a member of the Commonwealth. Exports: chiefly bauxite and alumina, sugar, and bananas. Official language: English. Religion: Protestant majority. Currency: Jamaican dollar. Capital: Kingston. Pop: 2 909 714 (2013 est). Area: 10 992 sq km (4244 sq miles)

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Jamaica Cultural  

1. Nation in the West Indies, situated south of Cuba and west of Haiti, in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital and largest city is Kingston.

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Discover More

The country has a high level of poverty.

Tourism is a major industry.

It was the leading world sugar producer in the eighteenth century, when a large slave population grew up around sugar plantations.

A British colony from 1865 to 1962, Jamaica then became completely independent.

Example Sentences

But when Lee shared her frustrations with her graduate school adviser, noted author and avid gardener Jamaica Kincaid, she got the encouragement she needed.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026

I lived in the basement of a distant aunt I’d never met, and the commute from Jamaica, Queens, was over an hour.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026

The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season included four major hurricanes ending with Melissa, which struck Jamaica as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded.

From Barron's • May 21, 2026

“He’s island,” recalled Blake, 42, who was born in Jamaica.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026

William Beckford, the lord mayor of London, owed his fortune to his sugar plantations in Jamaica.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson