牙买加(Jamaica)
西印度群岛岛国，位於古巴南面，该岛东西长约235公里，南北宽约56公里。为加勒比海第三大岛。面积10,991平方公里。人口约2,624,000（2001）。首都︰京斯敦。大部分人民是非洲奴隶的後裔。语言︰英语（官方语）；广泛通行克里奥尔语。宗教：基督教；精神教派塔法里教。货币︰牙买加元（J$）。牙买加主要分为三个区：沿海低地，环绕整个岛屿，已开发过度；石灰岩高原，覆盖一半的岛屿面积；内陆高地，山区森林茂密，其中包括蓝山山脉。农业雇用1/4的劳力，主要的农业出口产品是粗糖，以及其副产品兰姆酒和糖蜜。工业以铝土矿、氧化铝的生产为主，此外还有服装工业。旅游业也很重要，有半数人民从事这行。政府形式为君主立宪政体，两院制。国家元首是代表英国君主的总督，政府首脑是总理。约西元600年时，阿拉瓦克印第安人定居於此。1494年哥伦布曾瞥见它；16世纪初，西班牙人来此殖民但并不重视它，因为牙买加没有金矿。英国在1655年获得控制权，到了18世纪末，因奴工生产了大量的糖，已成为价值甚高的殖民属地。1830年代废除奴隶制度，种植园体制随之瓦解。1959年获得内部完全自治权，1962年成为英国国协内的独立国家。20世纪末，在曼利的领导下，把许多企业收归国有。
English version：
Jamaica
Island nation, West Indies. Located south of Cuba, it is 146 mi (235 km) long and 35 mi (56 km) wide, the third largest island in the Caribbean. Area: 4,244 sq mi (10,991 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 2,536,000. Capital: Kingston. The population consists mostly of descendents of African slaves. Languages: English (official), creole. Religions: Christianity; spiritual sects, Rastafarian. Currency: Jamaica dollar. Jamaica has three major regions: the coastal lowlands, which encircle the island and are heavily cultivated; a limestone plateau, which covers half the island; and the interior highlands, with forested mountain ranges, including the Blue Mtns. Agriculture employs one-fourth of the workforce, and the major agricultural export is raw sugar, with molasses and rum as by-products. Industry focuses on the production of bauxite and alumina, and on the garment industry. Tourism is very important, and half of the population is employed in services. It is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses. Its chief of state is the British monarch, represented by the governor-general, and its head of government is the prime minister. The island was settled by Arawak Indians c. AD 600. It was sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1494; Spain colonized it in the early 16th century but neglected it because it lacked gold reserves. Britain gained control in 1655, and by the end of the 18th century it had become a prized colonial possession due to the volume of sugar produced by slave laborers. Slavery was abolished in the late 1830s, and the plantation system collapsed. Jamaica gained full internal self-government in 1959 and became an independent country within the British Commonwealth in 1962. In the late 20th century, the government, led by Michael Manley, nationalized many businesses.