Jamaica
Today many Jamaicans will be marking the island's 40th anniversary as an independent Commonwealth state. Read our guide to the best sites.
1. Jamaica today celebrates its Independence Day, marking 40 years since the island became free of British colonial rule.
2. The island, brought to European attention by Christopher Columbus in 1494 (though he possibly thought it was part of Asia) was taken by the Spanish from the indigenous Arawak in 1509, who soon died of the invader's plundering and diseases, and captured by the British in 1655.
3. From its inception as a European colony the lush and beautiful island was turned over to sugar plantations. After experiments with indentured European and Native American labour failed, enslaved Africans were brought to the Caribbean in their millions.
4. Like its neighbours, Jamaica was at one end of the triangular trade. Goods from Britain were traded on the African coast for slaves who were then sold in the Caribbean. The empty ships were loaded with sugar, rum and other exotic produce to sell on their return to Europe.
5. The trade made cities such as Liverpool, Bristol and London immensely rich but its inhumanity slowly dawned (around the time sugar became less profitable) and slavery was declared illegal in Jamaica on August 1 1838 - now known as Emancipation Day
6. On the route to indepence, the decolonisation movement produced many people now regarded as national heroes, such as Marcus Garvey, who spoke up for black unity, black pride and a return to a black-governed nation in Africa
7. But the island is not as free as many would like. The Queen is still the head of state and the British privy council remains its final court of appeal until a new Caribbean supreme court is convened.
8. Its refusal to allow the execution of death row prisoners from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands has dismayed the Jamaican prime minister, PJ Patterson, who argues the death penalty is needed to halt growing lawlessness and one of the highest murder rates in the world.
9. The island today is a popular tourist destination but many of its people are poor. Outside the Caribbean the Jamaican diaspora has made its mark in Britain and the US; the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, being its most powerful member (though Lennox Lewis could probably land the best punch).
10. But its best known export is reggae, coming from the Trenchtown area of Kingston as did Bob Marley, noted for his songs of freedom
2. The island, brought to European attention by Christopher Columbus in 1494 (though he possibly thought it was part of Asia) was taken by the Spanish from the indigenous Arawak in 1509, who soon died of the invader's plundering and diseases, and captured by the British in 1655.
3. From its inception as a European colony the lush and beautiful island was turned over to sugar plantations. After experiments with indentured European and Native American labour failed, enslaved Africans were brought to the Caribbean in their millions.
4. Like its neighbours, Jamaica was at one end of the triangular trade. Goods from Britain were traded on the African coast for slaves who were then sold in the Caribbean. The empty ships were loaded with sugar, rum and other exotic produce to sell on their return to Europe.
5. The trade made cities such as Liverpool, Bristol and London immensely rich but its inhumanity slowly dawned (around the time sugar became less profitable) and slavery was declared illegal in Jamaica on August 1 1838 - now known as Emancipation Day
6. On the route to indepence, the decolonisation movement produced many people now regarded as national heroes, such as Marcus Garvey, who spoke up for black unity, black pride and a return to a black-governed nation in Africa
7. But the island is not as free as many would like. The Queen is still the head of state and the British privy council remains its final court of appeal until a new Caribbean supreme court is convened.
8. Its refusal to allow the execution of death row prisoners from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands has dismayed the Jamaican prime minister, PJ Patterson, who argues the death penalty is needed to halt growing lawlessness and one of the highest murder rates in the world.
9. The island today is a popular tourist destination but many of its people are poor. Outside the Caribbean the Jamaican diaspora has made its mark in Britain and the US; the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, being its most powerful member (though Lennox Lewis could probably land the best punch).
10. But its best known export is reggae, coming from the Trenchtown area of Kingston as did Bob Marley, noted for his songs of freedom
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