Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 234 kilometres (146 mi) in length and as much as 80 kilometres (50 mi) in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about 620 kilometres (385 mi) northeast of the Central American mainland, 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 190 kilometres (120 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 either the "Land of Springs," or the "Land of Wood and Water." Formerly a Spanish possession known as Santiago, it later became the British West Indies Crown colony of Jamaica.

Area
10,991 sq km (4244 sq miles).

Population
2,624,700 (2002).

Population Density
238.8 per sq km (2002).

Capital
Kingston. Population: 697,000 (1994).

Geography
Jamaica is the third-largest island in the West Indies and is a narrow outcrop of a submerged mountain range. The island is crossed by a range of mountains reaching 2256m (7402ft) at the Blue Mountain Peak in the east, and descending towards the west with a series of spurs and forested gullies running north and south. Most of the best beaches are on the north and west coasts. The islands luxuriant tropical and subtropical vegetation is probably unsurpassed anywhere in the Caribbean.

Language
The official language is English. Local patois is also spoken.