Jamaica Towns

Capital:Kingston

Population:2,738,000

Joined Commonwealth:1962

Official language:English

Jamaican dollar (J$)

Official places of interest in Jamaica

Negril, Montego bay, Lucea, Spanish Town, Portmore, May Pen, Old Harbor bay, Linstead, Savanna-la-Mar, Half Way Tree, Port Antonio, Bog Walk, Ewarton, St Anns Bay, Ocho Rios. Black River. the white house, Junction.

Small towns and villages are sometimes hidden away from the main roads, and some do not have easy access

There are quite a number of villages where public roads are in need of repair, many with pot holes made increasingly worse by the rainy weather and general wear and tear. Many of these villages have good agricultural life, and people build their own homes and produce good crop.

Names of some villages are. Santoy, Silver spring, Springfield, ketto , spring garden, Delve land, orange bay green island, logwood, Sheffield, phoenix town, march town, cave valley, frome, red ground, Brampton, green island, little London, we could go as far as Lucea.

Jamaica, whose name comes from the Arawak Xaymaca, meaning Land of Wood and Water, lies south of its nearest neighbors, Cuba and west of Haiti and Dominica republic,.

Jamaica:is the third largest island in the Caribbean, it has a land area of 10,991 sq. km.

Topography:Jamaica is the ridge of a submerged mountain range. The land rises to 2,256m at Blue Mountain Peak. The coastline is indented, with many good natural bays. Fine sandy beaches occur on the north and west coasts. Small fast-flowing rivers, prone to flash flooding, run in forested gullies.Climate: Tropical at the coast (2234C), with fresh sea breezes; markedly cooler in the mountains. Rainfall ranges from 1,500mm p.a. in Kingston to 3,850mm p.a. in Port Antonio. Jamaica lies in the hurricane zone.Environment: The most significant environmental issues are deforestation; pollution of coastal waters by industrial waste, sewage and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; and air pollution in Kingston due to vehicle emissions.

Vegetation:Jamaicas luxuriant tropical and, at higher altitude, subtropical vegetation is probably the richest in the region. There are more than 3,000 flowering species, including 194 orchid-species, several cactus-species, of which seven are unique to Jamaica, and 12 native palm-species. Forest covers 31% of the total land area, having declined at 0.1% p.a. 19902005. Arable land comprises 16% and permanent cropland 10% of the total land area.Wildlife: Fauna include 30 bat species. There is also a rich variety of birdlife (75 species recorded in 2002, 12 of which were threatened with extinction), turtles, non-poisonous snakes, lizards, and crocodiles, 14 kinds of butterfly unique to Jamaica, and many moths and fireflies. Manatees live in the coastal waters. There are about 500 species of land shell, many of which are unique to Jamaica.

Transport: There are 18,700km of roads, 70% paved. Main ports are Kingston, with dedicated wharves for bulk cargoes of petroleum, flour, cement, gypsum and lumber, and Montego Bay in the north-west; and the international airports are Norman Manley International, 17km south

Airport

2 international airports on the island

Montego Bay and Kingston

Parishes

Jamaica

Jamaica has 14 Parishes

Capital

Kingston

Clarendon

May Pen

Hanover

Lucea

Kingston & St. Andrew

Kingston

Manchester

Mandeville

Portland

Port Antonio

St. Ann

St. Ann's Bay

St. Catherine

Spanish Town

St. Elizabeth

Black River

St. James

Montego Bay

St. Mary

Port Maria

St. Thomas

Morant Bay

Trelawney

Falmouth

Westmoreland

Savanna- la Mar