Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
lies 140 km (87 mi) south of
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and west of
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
. At its greatest extent, Jamaica is long, and its width varies between .
Jamaica has a small area of .
However, Jamaica is the largest island of the
Commonwealth Caribbean
The Commonwealth Caribbean is the region of the Caribbean with English-speaking countries and territories, which once constituted the Caribbean portion of the British Empire and are now part of the Commonwealth of Nations. The term includes ma ...
and the third largest of the
Greater Antilles
The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...
, after
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
.
Many small islands are located along the south coast of Jamaica, such as the
Port Royal Cays
The Port Royal Cays is a small group of uninhabited islands or cays off Port Royal, Jamaica, located at {{coord, 17, 55, 06.36, N, 76, 49, 11.96, W and arranged in the shape of an atoll with a diameter between 4 and 5 km, and a total area of ...
. Southwest of mainland Jamaica lies
Pedro Bank
Pedro Bank is a large bank of sand and coral, partially covered with seagrass, about 80 km south and southwest of Jamaica, rising steeply from a seabed of 800 metres depth. It slopes gently from the Pedro Cays to the west and north with depths f ...
, an area of shallow seas, with a number of
cay
A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...
s (low islands or reefs), extending generally east to west for over .
To the southeast lies Morant Bank, with the
Morant Cays
The Morant Cays is an offshore island group 51 km Points of the compass#Compass point names, SSE off Morant Point, Jamaica. It is one of two offshore island groups belonging to Jamaica, the other one is the Pedro Bank#Cays, rocks and reefs, Pedr ...
, from
Morant Point
Morant Point in Saint Thomas Parish is the easternmost point of mainland Jamaica and the site of Morant Point Lighthouse.
History
It is called ''Cape Morante'' on several early maps including one dated 1572. It has had the name ''Morant Point'' ...
, the easternmost point of mainland Jamaica.
Alice Shoal
Alice Shoal (Spanish: ''Banco Alicia'' or ''Bajo Alicia'') is a wholly submerged reef, located in the western Caribbean Sea, about southwest of Jamaica. The mainland of Colombia lies away to the southeast.
Alice Shoal is situated 31 km nor ...
, southwest of the main island of Jamaica, falls within the Jamaica–Colombia Joint Regime. It has an
Exclusive Economic Zone of .
Geology and landforms
Jamaica and the other islands of the Antilles evolved from an arc of ancient volcanoes that rose from the sea millions of years ago.
During periods of submersion, thick layers of limestone were laid down over the old igneous and metamorphic rock.
In many places, the limestone is thousands of feet thick.
The country can be divided into three landform regions: the eastern mountains, the central valleys and plateaus, and the coastal plains.
The highest area is the
Blue Mountains range.
These eastern mountains are formed by a central ridge of metamorphic rock running northwest to southeast from which many long spurs jut to the north and south.
For a distance of over , the crest of the ridge exceeds .
The highest point is
Blue Mountain Peak
Blue Mountain Peak is the highest mountain in Jamaica and one of the highest peaks in the Caribbean at . It is the home of Blue Mountain coffee. It is located on the border of the Portland and Saint Thomas parishes of Jamaica.
The Blue Mounta ...
at .
The Blue Mountains rise to these elevations from the coastal plain in the space of about , thus producing one of the steepest general gradients in the world.
In this part of the country, the old metamorphic rock reveals itself through the surrounding limestone.
To the north of the Blue Mountains lies the strongly tilted
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
plateau forming the
John Crow Mountains
The John Crow Mountains are a range of mountains in Jamaica. They extend parallel with the northeast coast of the island, bounded to the west by the banks of the Rio Grande, and joining with the eastern end of the Blue Mountains in the southeast. ...
.
This range rises to elevations of over .
To the west, in the central part of the country, are two high rolling plateaus: the
Dry Harbour Mountains
The Dry Harbour Mountains are a range of mountains in north central Jamaica. More accurately described as a plateau than a true mountain range, they form the eastern boundary of the Cockpit Country. This is also the mountain that people used to g ...
to the north and the Manchester Plateau to the south.
Between the two, the land is rugged and here, also, the limestone layers are broken by the older rocks.
Streams that rise in the region flow outward and sink soon after reaching the limestone layers.
The limestone plateau covers two-thirds of the country, so that
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
formations dominate the island.
Karst is formed by the erosion of the limestone in solution.
Sinkholes, caves and caverns, disappearing streams, hummocky hills, and terra rosa (residual red) soils in the valleys are distinguishing features of a karst landscape; all these are present in Jamaica.
To the west of the mountains is the rugged terrain of the
Cockpit Country
Cockpit Country is an area in Trelawny and Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Ann, Manchester and the northern tip of Clarendon parishes in Jamaica. The land is marked by steep-sided hollows, as much as deep in places, which are separated ...
, one of the world's most dramatic examples of karst topography.
The Cockpit Country is pockmarked with steep-sided hollows, as much as deep in places, which are separated by conical hills and ridges.
On the north, the main defining feature is the fault-based "Escarpment", a long ridge that extends from Flagstaff in the west, through Windsor in the centre, to Campbells and the start of the Barbecue Bottom Road (B10). The Barbecue Bottom Road, which runs north-south, high along the side of a deep, fault-based valley in the east, is the only drivable route across the Cockpit Country. However, there are two old, historical trails that cross further west, the Troy Trail, and the Quick Step Trail, both of which are seldom used and difficult to find. In the southwest, near Quick Step, is the district known as the "Land of Look Behind," so named because Spanish horsemen venturing into this region of hostile runaway slaves were said to have ridden two to a mount, one rider facing to the rear to keep a precautionary watch.
Where the ridges between sinkholes in the plateau area have dissolved, flat-bottomed basins or valleys have been formed that are filled with terra rosa soils, some of the most productive on the island.
The largest basin is the Vale of Clarendon, long and wide.
Queen of Spains Valley,
Nassau Valley Nassau Valley is a valley in Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica. It is one of the three main valleys in Jamaica.
The valley is located in Cockpit Country and averages 443 feet above sea level, with a dry sub-humid (0.5 - 0.65 p/pet) climate. Appleton Estate ...
, and Cave Valley were formed by the same process.
Coasts
The coastline of Jamaica is one of many contrasts.
The northeast shore is severely eroded by the ocean.
There are many small inlets in the rugged coastline, but no coastal plain of any extent.
A narrow strip of plains along the northern coast offers calm seas and white sand beaches.
Behind the beaches is a flat raised plain of uplifted coral reef.
The southern coast has small stretches of plains lined by black sand beaches.
These are backed by cliffs of limestone where the plateaus end.
In many stretches with no coastal plain, the cliffs drop straight to the sea.
In the southwest, broad plains stretch inland for a number of kilometres.
The
Black River courses through the largest of these plains.
The
Rio Minho
The Rio Minho is the longest river in Jamaica at . It rises close to the island's geographic centre, flows generally south-southwest and reaches the Caribbean Sea at Carlisle Bay in the central south coast, to the west of the island's southernmo ...
is 92.8 km long and is the longest river in Jamaica (previously, the Black River was thought to be the longest).
[Jamaica National Heritage Trust - Black River](_blank)
The swamplands of the Great Morass and the Upper Morass fill much of the plains.
The western coastline contains the island's finest beaches.
Climate
![Koppen-Geiger Map JAM present](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Koppen-Geiger_Map_JAM_present.svg)
Two types of climate are found in Jamaica.
An upland tropical climate prevails on the windward side of the mountains, whereas a semiarid climate predominates on the leeward side.
Warm trade winds from the east and northeast bring rainfall throughout the year.
The rainfall is heaviest from May to October, with peaks in those two months.
The average rainfall is per year.
Rainfall is much greater in the mountain areas facing the north and east, however.
Where the higher elevations of the John Crow Mountains and the Blue Mountains catch the rain from the moisture-laden winds, rainfall exceeds per year.
Since the southwestern half of the island lies in the rain shadow of the mountains, it has a semiarid climate and receives fewer than of rainfall annually.
Temperatures in Jamaica are fairly constant throughout the year, averaging in the lowlands and at higher elevations.
Temperatures may dip to below at the peaks of the Blue Mountains.
The island receives, in addition to the northeast trade winds, refreshing onshore breezes during the day and cooling offshore breezes at night.
These are known on Jamaica as the "Doctor Breeze" and the "Undertaker's Breeze," respectively.
Jamaica lies in the Atlantic
hurricane belt
Hurricane Alley is an area of warm water in the Atlantic Ocean stretching from the west coast of northern Africa to the east coast of Central America and Gulf Coast of the Southern United States. Many hurricanes form within this area. The sea su ...
; as a result, the island sometimes experiences significant storm damage. Powerful hurricanes which have hit the island directly causing death and destruction include
Hurricane Charlie in 1951
and
Hurricane Gilbert
Hurricane Gilbert was the second most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic basin in terms of barometric pressure, only behind Hurricane Wilma in 2005. An extremely powerful tropical cyclone that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurri ...
in 1988.
Several other powerful hurricanes have passed near to the island with damaging effects. In 1980, for example,
Hurricane Allen
Hurricane Allen was a rare and extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that affected the Caribbean, eastern and northern Mexico, and southern Texas in August 1980. The first named storm and second tropical cyclone of the 1980 Atlantic hurrican ...
destroyed nearly all Jamaica's banana crop.
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlan ...
(2004) swept past the island causing heavy damage and a number of deaths; in 2005, Hurricanes
Dennis
Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius.
The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...
and
Emily brought heavy rains to the island.
A Category 4 hurricane,
Hurricane Dean
Hurricane Dean was the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the most intense North Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Wilma of 2005, tying for eighth overall. Additionally, it made the fourth most intense A ...
, caused some deaths and heavy damage to Jamaica in August 2007.
The
first recorded hurricane to hit Jamaica was in 1519. The island has been struck by tropical cyclones regularly. During two of the coldest periods in the last 250 years (1780s and 1810s), the frequency of hurricanes in the Jamaica region was unusually high. Another peak of activity occurred in the 1910s, the coldest decade of the 20th century. On the other hand, hurricane formation was greatly diminished from 1968 to 1994, which for some reason coincides with the great
Sahel drought
The Sahel region of Africa has long experienced a series of historic droughts, dating back to at least the 17th century. The Sahel region is a climate zone sandwiched between the Sudanian Savanna to the south and the Sahara desert to the north, ...
.
Vegetation and wildlife
Although most of Jamaica's native vegetation has been stripped in order to make room for cultivation, some areas have been left virtually undisturbed since the time of European colonization.
Indigenous vegetation can be found along the northern coast, from Rio Bueno to
Discovery Bay
Discovery Bay (DB) is a resort town on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It consists of mixed, primarily residential, development, in particular upmarket residential development and private and public recreational facilities, including garden houses, ...
, in the highest parts of the Blue Mountains, and in the heart of the Cockpit Country.
As in the case of vegetation, considerable loss of wildlife has occurred, beginning with the settlement of the
Taíno
The Taíno were a historic Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the ...
in the region millennia ago. For example, the
Caribbean monk seal
The Caribbean monk seal (''Neomonachus tropicalis''), also known as the West Indian seal or sea wolf, was a species of seal native to the Caribbean which is now believed to be extinct. The main predators of Caribbean monk seals were sharks and h ...
(''Neomonachus tropicalis'') once occurred in Jamaican waters, and has now been driven to
extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
. Mongooses (''
Urva auropunctata''), introduced to Jamaica in 1872 to reduce rat populations that damaged commercial sugarcane (''
Saccharum officinarum
''Saccharum officinarum'' is a large, strong-growing species of grass in the genus ''Saccharum''. Its stout stalks are rich in sucrose, a simple sugar which accumulates in the stalk internodes. It originated in New Guinea, and is now cultivated ...
'') crops, prey on several Jamaican species, including the critically endangered Jamaican iguana (''
Cyclura collei
The Jamaican iguana (''Cyclura collei''), also known commonly as Colley's iguana, is a large species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. The species is endemic to Jamaica. It is critically endangered, even considered extinct between 1948 and 1990. ...
''), and have been implicated in the historical population declines and extinctions of many others.
Other wildlife species inhabiting the island include the West Indian manatee (''
Trichechus manatus
The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the eastern US to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it feeds on un ...
''), the American crocodile (''
Crocodylus acutus
''Crocodylus'' is a genus of true crocodiles in the family Crocodylidae.
Taxonomy
The generic name, ''Crocodylus'', was proposed by Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in 1768. ''Crocodylus'' contains 13–14 extant (living) species and 5 extinct spec ...
''), and the endemic and endangered
Homerus swallowtail butterfly (''
Papilio homerus
''Papilio homerus'', commonly known as the Homerus swallowtail or Jamaican swallowtail, is the largest butterfly species in the Western Hemisphere. The species is endangered and faces a potentially bleak future. Only two small populations of the ...
''), which is the largest butterfly species in the Western Hemisphere.
Extreme points
* Northernmost point:
Half Moon Point
Half Moon Point is the northernmost point of mainland Jamaica. It is named for the resort on whose property it sits. Immediately to its west is Half Moon Bay, and a little to its east is Rose Hall.UK Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1:50,000 ma ...
,
Saint James Parish
* Southernmost point:
Portland Point
Portland Point is the southernmost point in Jamaica.UK Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1:50,000 map of Jamaica sheet H, 1973. It is halfway along the island's south coast at the end of a hilly peninsula in Clarendon. A large bay, Portland Bight ...
,
Clarendon Parish[UK ]Directorate of Overseas Surveys
The Ordnance Survey International or Ordnance Survey Overseas Directorate its predecessors built an archive of air photography, map and survey records for the United Kingdom from 1946 to 1999. The Ordnance Survey International Collection (formerly ...
1:50,000 map of Jamaica sheet H, 1973.
* Westernmost point:
South Negril Point
South Negril Point is the westernmost point of mainland Jamaica.UK Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1:50,000 map of Jamaica sheet B, 1958. It is located a little south of the resort town of Negril and a little north of Negril Lighthouse
Negril ...
,
Westmoreland Parish
Westmoreland is the westernmost parish in Jamaica, located on the south side of the island. It is situated south of Hanover, southwest of Saint James, and northwest of Saint Elizabeth, in the county of Cornwall. The chief town and capital is ...
* Easternmost point:
Morant Point
Morant Point in Saint Thomas Parish is the easternmost point of mainland Jamaica and the site of Morant Point Lighthouse.
History
It is called ''Cape Morante'' on several early maps including one dated 1572. It has had the name ''Morant Point'' ...
,
Saint Thomas Parish
See also
*
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
*
List of cities and towns in Jamaica
The following is a list of the most populous settlements in Jamaica.
Definitions
The following definitions have been used:
*City: Official city status on a settlement is only conferred by Act of Parliament. Only three areas have the designati ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geography Of Jamica