The island of Jamaica is located in the Caribbean Sea to the south of Cuba. With a total land area of 10,831 square kilometers, Jamaica's terrain is mostly mountainous with narrow, discontinuous soastal plains. Its hights point is the Blue Mountain Peak which stands at 2,256 meters.
Kingston, the present capital of Jamaica, was founded after an earthquake that destroyed Port Royal in 1692. However, the frist captial was Villa de la Vega, mushc which was burnt during the struggle between the Spanaish and the English for possession of the island, and which the English renamed Spanish Town.
If there was a prize handed out for tenacity among the world's cities, Kingston, Jamaica would be up there with the winners. A real survior, this hardy metropolis has risen like a phoenix from fires, floods, earthqualkes and hurricanes.
The Jamaica Olympic Assoicatio is the official National Olympic Committee (NOC) for the island of Jamaica.
Jamaica first participated ath the Olympcic Games in 1948, and ahs sent athlete to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then.
Jamaican athletes have won a toal of 53 medals , will all but one medal won in atheltics, and the large majority of those i the individual and relay sprint events.
Jamaia, one of the largest Caribbean islands, was inhabited by Arawak natives prior to the arrival of Christopher Coluymbus in 1494. The Arawaks lived in simple communities based on fishing, hunting and small scale cultivation of cassava. The impact of the contact with the Spanish was traumatic, and these communities disappeared in 70-80 years.
When Christopher Columbus arrived at the island, he claimed the land for Spain. Still, it was truly colonized until after his death in 1506. Spain held the island against many pirate raids at the main city, whic is now called Spanish Town. Eventually England claimed the island in a raid in 1655, bu the Spanish did not relinquish their claim to the island until 1670.
Jamaicans are interanlly renowned for their prowes in fields such as athletics ( the names Donald Quarrie, Herb McKenley and Merlene Ottey should come readily to mind) and music.