Laurie English, age 14, of Biloxi, Miss., for her question:
WHO OWNS JAMAICA?
Jamaica is an island nation in the West Indies. It is located about 480 miles south of Florida and it covers an area that is slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut. Jamaica is not owned by another nation. In 1962, Jamaica became fully independent as a~nation and a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Jamaica also joined the United Nations in 1962 and joined the organization of American States in 1969.
Arawak Indians were living in Jamaica when Christopher Columbus arrived there in 1494 and claimed the island for Spain. The Spaniards enslaved the Arawak and later brought Africans to the island as slaves. Disease and overwork killed almost all of the Arawak.
The British invaded Jamaica in 1655 and controlled most of the island by 1660.
Jamaica prospered during the 1700s. Sugar became the major crop and the island ranked as the most important slave market in the Western Hemisphere.
In 1838, the British Parliament freed the slaves. Most of the freed slaves left the plantations and became independent farmers. The sugar industry was hurt because thousands of laborers were lost from the work force.
In 1865, disputes between the planters and their workers resulted in a peasant revolt. British troops put down this uprising. For the previous 200 years, Jamaicans had elected a governing body, the House of Assembly, to help the British rule the island. But after the revolt, Jamaica became a crown colony, governed entirely by Britain.
During the 1930s, Jamaican labor leaders urged the British Parliament to give the people more political power. In 1944, Britain gave Jamaica a new constitution.
Jamaica was a member of the West Indies Federation from 1958, when the federation was established, until Britain dissolved it in 1962. And then later in 1962 Jamaica became fully independent.
The Arawak Indians named the island Xaymaca, which means island of springs.
Although about a half million tourists visit Jamaica each year now, tourism isn't the chief industry. Jamaica is among the world's leading producers of bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is made. Also, the island produces bananas, sugar and various manufactured goods.
More than 90 percent of the people have African or mixed African and European (Afro European) ancestry. More than half of the people live in rural areas.
Jamaica is now a constitutional monarchy. The prime minister, who leads the majority party in Parliament, is the chief executive. Cabinet members head the executive departments of government. The British monarch appoints the governor general of Jamaica. The governor general represents the monarch but has few governing powers.
The Jamaican Parliament has a Senate and a House of Representatives. The people elect from 45 to 60 persons to five year terms in the House of Representatives. The governor general appoints the 21 senators on the advice of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition or minority party in Parliament.