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| Common name | Jamaica | | Name | Jamaica | | Motto | "Out of Many, One People" | | Anthem | "Jamaica, Land We Love" | | Royal anthem | "God Save the Queen" | | Capital | Kingston | | Largest city | capital | | Official languages | English | | Regional languages | Spanish, Caribbean Hindustani, Hindi, Jamaican Patois, Portuguese, Chinese, Levantine Arabic | | Ethnic groups | 76.3% African descent, 15.1% Afro-European, 3.4% East Indian and Afro-East Indian, 3.2% Caucasian, 1.2% Chinese and Afro-Chinese and 0.8% Other. | | Demonym | Jamaican | | Government | Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy | | Monarch | Elizabeth II | | Governor-General | Patrick Allen | | Prime Minister | Bruce Golding | | Prime Minister-designate | Andrew Holness | | Independence | Independence | | from the United Kingdom | 6 August 1962 | | Total Area | 4244 sq mi (10992 km2) (166th) | | Water % | 1.5 | | Population Est. | 2,847,232 (133rd) | | Density (pop.) | 253.2/km2 (49th) (656|population_density_rank=49th/sq mi) | | GDP PPP | $23.716 billion (2010) | | GDP (PPP) per capita | $8,727 | | GDP (nominal) | $13.694 billion (2010) | | GDP (nominal) per capita | $5,039 | | Gini | 37.9 (2000) (medium) | | HDI | (+) 0.688 (2010) (high) (80th) | | Currency | Jamaican dollar (JMD) | | Drives on the | left | | Internet TLD | .jm | | Calling code | +1-876 |
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Jamaica c-enaudio=En-us-Jamaica.oggdʒəˈmeɪkə is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 234 km (145.4 mi) in length and as much as 80 km (49.7 mi) in width, and amounts to 10,990 square kilometres (4,243 sq mi). It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about 145 km (90.1 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 km (118.7 mi) west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the "Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs".
Once a Spanish possession known as , in 1655 it became an English, and later a British, colony, known as "Jamaica". It achieved full independence in 1962. With 2.8 million people, it is the third most populous anglophone country in the Americas, after the United States and Canada. It remains a Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Kingston is the country's largest city and the capital.
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